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Summer went into the bathroom and filled a glass with water. When she went back into the bedroom, Natalie had left her dress puddled on the floor, along with her bra. She’d pulled on a T-shirt and curled up in bed under the covers.
“The room is spinning.”
“I bet. I’ll leave the water here for you. Drink it all as soon as you can to help with the dehydration. You’ll probably have a headache in the morning.”
“I have one standing in front of me.” Natalie giggled to herself.
Summer dismissed it. “I’ll check on you in the morning.”
“Why do you have to always be so nice.” The words were slurred by booze and sleep.
“Because I care about you.”
“Hmm.”
Summer left Natalie and walked back to the other side of the house and up to Cody’s room, where she took off most of her clothes and slipped back into his bed. She was just about to fall asleep when she heard Cody come in, undress, and slide into bed beside her. She snuggled into his side. “It’s a good thing you did tonight.”
“I’m just happy she’s safe.” Cody pulled her closer to him. “Was everything okay when you got her home?”
“Fine. She just wanted you instead of me.”
“I don’t know why. I’d pick you every time.” He kissed her on the head, making her feel loved and cherished and like she was with the right person for all the right reasons. And she didn’t want to lose this.
She also felt that maybe Natalie did see that Summer was trying to be the sister Natalie deserved. One who showed up when she needed a ride, didn’t bust her to her parents for underage drinking when she did the responsible thing and didn’t get behind the wheel. Though Nate and Miranda would probably like to know their daughter did the right thing.
Summer hoped tomorrow Natalie saw her more like a sister who helped than one who stood between her and her crush.
Chapter Forty-One
“So the guy comes into emergency high, a huge cut on his thigh that he has no idea how it happened, but he’s totally paranoid he’s going to get busted. The nurse leaves him to grab a doctor to stitch the wound. He decides instead of making a break for it by simply walking out of the curtained area, he’ll just climb into the ceiling and crawl his way out. Of course, the drop ceiling gives way and the guy ends up on the floor at the foot of the bed with a broken arm. It’s completely bent in the wrong direction. When the nurse rushes back to him, he looks at her and says, ‘I can’t fly.’”
Summer, Brooke, and Cody all broke up laughing and shaking their heads at David’s absurd story.
Cody took a sip of his beer. “It could have been worse.”
David held up his glass. “We’re about to eat, so I’ll keep the stories about the things people put inside them to myself.”
“Oh, no.” Summer cringed. “I don’t want to know.”
Brooke grinned. “You really don’t. The stories I’ve heard over the last two weeks make me think people just don’t think things through.”
David squeezed Brooke’s thigh. “Honey, the sad thing is most of them aren’t even drunk or stoned.”
The sweet smile on Summer’s face told Cody that she saw what he saw between Brooke and David. They’d become very close.
After another long week, Cody appreciated this time to be with Summer, his sister, and David. Good conversation, laughs, drinks, food, and fun. He couldn’t ask for more.
And this place was one of his favorite local restaurants. He hadn’t been here in a while, but liked the idea of sharing some of his favorite haunts with Summer.
Which made him think of going to Texas with her and experiencing the things and places she liked.
In fact, they had a double date set up with Miles and Silas in a couple of weeks.
“So are you all moved into the office Cody set up for you?” Brooke asked.
“No. Unfortunately it turned out that no one used that space because the air conditioner didn’t work, so Cody got maintenance in to check on it. Apparently during some other work, the ducting was detached from the system, so they’re repairing it.”
“It’s not the ideal office anyway,” Cody grumbled. “I want her up on my floor.”
