The Hangover

As promised, a bonus post for your Wednesday evening.  Enjoy!
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Our Friday girls' night was perfectly low key.  We laid around in our pajamas and drank too much wine and ate too much food and watched too much trashy TV.  Cassie filled us in on her date with Ben's brother, Nick.

"The date was really good, but he ruined it when he kissed me at the end," she reported, grimacing.

"Bad?" I asked.

"So bad," she groaned.  "Too much tongue.  It was like he was trying to seriously lick every surface of the inside of my mouth."

"Gross!" Kinsley shrieked.  We all agreed.

"Do you think he's trainable?" Kendra asked.  I laughed, picturing Cassie patting him on the head and telling him good job after kissing appropriately.

Cassie shook her head.  "I don't even think I want to find out."

"James is still single, if you can deal with his crazy drunk brother," I joked.

"James is hot," Cassie replied.  "I'd do him."

"Well, I can assure you that he is an excellent kisser," I said.  "But I wouldn't wish his brother on anyone."

"And I wouldn't date someone you used to date," Cassie said.

I shrugged.  "I don't care.  We didn't date that long and we're not on bad terms.  It's not like he screwed me over.  You guys would be a good match, actually."

"They would," Lauren agreed, nodding slowly.  "That's actually an excellent idea."

"We could double date!" Kinsley said excitedly.  Cassie and Kendra were both looking at us like we were insane.

"You guys are ridiculous," Cassie replied.  "I'm not even going to listen to any more of this."  I shrugged and Lauren changed the subject by asking about Brody.

"Is he still working constantly and blowing you off?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

"No, things have been really good since....well, since the weekend we were supposed to go skiing but ended up in Wisconsin," I responded.  "I mean, he's still working a ton, and I've probably seen him a little less, but he's been better about not interrupting the time we are together with work calls and stuff.  And I prefer a little less time with fewer interruptions to more time with his phone constantly ringing."

"Good," Kinsley declared.

The rest of the night disappeared into a blur of wine and snacks and gossip, and when I woke up next to Cassie in Kinsley's guest bed, my head was throbbing and my mouth was disgustingly dry.   I groaned as I rolled over, but Cassie popped up into a sitting position, grinning at me.

"Feeling good, lightweight?" she asked.  I glared and pulled the blanket over my head.  "I've never seen you that drunk before, it was excellent."

"You've never seen me that drunk because I hate being hungover," I mumbled from beneath the blanket.  "I hope you never see me drunk again."

She pulled the blanket back.  "Kinsley left a bottle of water and some aspirin on the dresser for you," she reported.   When I said nothing and continued to glare at her, she hopped out of bed and brought them over to me.  I swallowed two aspirin and drank half the bottle of water, closing my eyes against the pounding in my head.  Cassie got up and let me go back to sleep, and when I woke up again about an hour later, I felt much better already.

Cassie, Kendra, and Kinsley were sitting in the kitchen with coffee and french toast.  Lauren apparently wasn't very good shape either and was still in bed.  She definitely got uncharacteristically drunk last night too.  I grabbed a cup of coffee and a plate of french toast and sat down.

I felt almost normal after eating, which was pretty much a record hangover recovery for me.  We all left early in the afternoon, and after I showered I called Brody.

"Ready for me?" I asked when he answered.

"I can't even answer that seriously," he responded, laughing.  "My mind is in a dirty place.  But yes, come anytime."  He laughed again at his terrible inadvertent dirty joke.

"You're awful," I replied.  I picked up pizza on my way out for later, since no one delivered out there.  He took the pizza and my overnight bag when he answered the door.  After he put the pizza in the fridge and set my bag down, he kissed me.

"Hi," he said.  "You look much better than I expected you to after our conversation last night."

"I called you last night?" I groaned.  "What did I say?"

"Nothing," he said, laughing.  "You just called to say goodnight.  A very slurred and enthusiastic goodnight."

We spent most of the afternoon laying on the couch, watching movies.  At some point I fell asleep, and Brody woke me up to go upstairs and lay down.  Just walking upstairs woke me up enough that when Brody laid down next to me I slipped my hand behind his head and pulled him closer, kissing him.

"I thought we were coming up here to nap," he teased me, his hand sliding over my hip. 

"Well we were, but then I woke up a little," I replied before kissing his neck and slipping my hands under his shirt, running my fingers across his abs.

Brody stifled a yawn.  "I'm awfully tired, you might have to convince me," he said, his hand gripping my hip.   I moved my hand lower, gliding it across the front of his shorts before rolling so I was on top of him.  I pulled my shirt off and leaned down to kiss him, moving my hips in a circle against his.  He groaned and I could feel him growing harder beneath me. 

"It doesn't seem like you need that much convincing," I whispered in his ear before brushing my lips against his earlobe and moving back down to the side of his neck.  He grabbed my hips and pulled them hard against his own, then lifted his head and kissed me.

He rolled us over so he was on top of me now.  "Nope, that'll do," he said with a grin.

"Now I'm ready to nap," I said when we were finished.  I rolled onto my side and scooted backwards until my back was pressed against Brody's chest.  He wrapped his arm around me and kissed my shoulder lightly.

"And I'm wide awake," he retorted.

"Sad for you," I replied, smirking.

He tightened his arm around me.  "Or sad for you, because you're going to have to deal with me," he said with a laugh.

"Shhhhhh, I'm sleeping."

"That's weird, I didn't know you talked in your sleep."  He nuzzled his face against my hair.  "Your hair smells good."  I tried ignoring him, hoping he would get sleepy eventually.  Then I felt his lips on my shoulder.  He kissed across my shoulder and up the back of my neck.  Meanwhile, his hand was sliding up my stomach.  He ran his fingers over the underside of my breast, then brushed his thumb across my nipple before moving his hand down between my legs.

"You better let me sleep after this," I gasped before rolling over and climbing on top of him.  He was already hard and I guided him into me and slid down hard.

"Mmmmm," he breathed, pulling my head down to kiss me.  "I will, promise."  I rocked my hips against him, slowly at first, then faster.  He grabbed my hips and matched my movements, pulling my hips down against him as he thrust up into me.  He moved one hand from my hips to move his thumb in circles against me, and it wasn't long before I cried out, my legs shaking against Brody's hips.  He followed shortly after, digging his fingers hard into my hips.

I rolled off and slipped into the bathroom.  When I came back, Brody was still sprawled across the bed on his back, and he barely opened his eyes as I climbed back into bed next to him and pulled a blanket up over us.  I yawned as I settled my head on his chest.  "Sleepy now?" I asked him.  He nodded, wrapping one arm around me, and pushing my hair behind my ear with the other hand.  He repeated the movement that had finally put me to sleep after Lynn's accident, running his finger lightly over the edge of my ear and down my jaw.  I yawned again and closed my eyes, and soon we were both asleep. 

When I woke, it was nearly dark in Brody's room.  I lifted my head to try to see Brody's clock, but I couldn't see it without climbing over him.  "It's almost 7," he said softly, startling me.

"I didn't know you were awake," I said, shifting away from him so I could see his face.

He smiled at me.  "I've been awake for about 15 minutes.  I didn't want to wake you, since I said I'd let you sleep." 

"Well that was nice of you," I said, smiling back.  I yawned and stretched.  "I'm hungry."

Brody laughed.  "Of course you are."  We got up and dressed and went downstairs to eat the pizza I had picked up earlier.  When we were seated at the table with pizza, he asked, "What do you want to do for your birthday?"  I had nearly forgotten my birthday was a week from tomorrow until Lauren had brought it up the night before.

"I don't know, really," I said.  "We talked about it a little last night at Kinsley's, and I think I just want to do something low key.  Maybe just go out to dinner with everyone and grab a few drinks.  Nothing crazy."  Brody frowned.  I raised my eyebrows and said, "And don't even think about getting me anything, because you spent more than enough on my Christmas gift."

"I'll take that into consideration," he said noncommittally.  I glared at him.  He smiled.  Part of my hesitation at wanting to do much was the fact that Brody had turned 30 while he was in Miami and I hadn't even called him to wish him a happy birthday.  I still felt guilty about it, even though we weren't together at the time.  I should have at least called.  I had handled the whole Miami situation poorly from start to finish, but at least Brody didn't seem to hold it against me. 

After a few minutes he said, "I assume that if we go out, it will be on Saturday?"  I nodded.  "Can I at least take you to dinner on Sunday then?  Since Todd will be here this week, I probably won't have a ton of free time during the week, so I'd love to be able to spend Sunday with you, with no work interruptions."  Brody's former classmate in San Diego that wanted to partner with him was coming out this week to see the office and the work Brody's company was doing.

"Yes, that sounds like a plan," I replied.  Spending my birthday with Brody without any work interruptions sounded like the perfect birthday gift.

We spent the rest of the evening as lazily as we spent the afternoon.  The next day we decided to go snowshoeing.  We went to a nearby park where I could rent snowshoes since I'd never been.  Once I got the hang of the weird stride that walking with big pieces of metal strapped to your feet required, it was easy and fun.  It was just like hiking, but in the snow.  It was a much better workout than I thought it would be, and I was exhausted and sweaty after almost an hour and a half.

"That was awesome," I said, when we were in Brody's SUV on the way back to his house.

He glanced at me and grinned.  "I'm happy you liked it.  I haven't been in a long time, so I'm glad we went."

"We should go again next weekend!" I said.  Brody laughed and agreed that we should.

We went back to Brody's house and showered.  While we were making dinner together, his phone rang.  He glanced at it.  "Hey, it's Todd, I should only be a couple minutes," he said.  I nodded.  He answered, leaning against the counter out of my way.  He talked for a few minutes, giving Todd the information for the flight and hotel room he had booked for him.  Then while he was listening, he looked over at me.  "Yeah, I can talk to her and I'll let you know what works....Sounds good.  See you tomorrow then, bye."

I looked at him curiously.  "He invited us both to dinner this week.  Would you like to go?"

"Sure," I said, after hesitating for a second.

"He specifically said it would be a social dinner, not a business dinner.  He wants to meet you and catch up with me, that's all," he assured me.  I agreed and we decided on Tuesday.  Brody texted Todd to let him know, then confirmed that Tuesday would work.  He walked back over to me and slid his arms around my waist.  I leaned back against him.  "Don't look so nervous, it's just dinner," he teased.  "I'm sure Todd is just curious what kind of woman has commanded my attention enough for me to call her 'girlfriend'.  He only knew me in my anti-commitment phase."

"Oh, that helps," I said sarcastically.  "And wasn't that most of your adult life?"

"Yeah, pretty much from halfway through my senior year in high school until this summer, when someone changed my mind," he said softly, leaning his head forward to kiss my cheek.  I turned to face him and put my arms around his neck.  He kissed me gently.

As usual, I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just leaned my head against his chest, breathing in his scent.  "Can I stay here tonight?" I asked.

"Of course," he replied.  "I'm planning on being up by 5 to head to the gym before the office though."

"That's fine, I need to go home early to get ready for work anyway.  I just would rather sleep here with you tonight than go home." 

"You can stay here whenever you want, you know that," he said, tightening his arms around me.  "I sleep better with you."

"I sleep better with you too," I replied.  "Which is weird, because I usually sleep terribly when I'm not at home."

"Well, it's lucky for me, I guess."  I could feel him smiling against my hair, and I could have stood in his kitchen with him like that forever.