Hangover

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MITCHELL

"Damn," Jackson groaned loudly when he entered the kitchen shortly before lunchtime on Saturday. His hair was messy from sleep and he was only dressed in a pair of workout shorts.

"Headache?" I asked, trying to hold back a smirk, knowing he probably did have one. He had drunk enough after all.

We'd ended up going pretty hard at the restaurant. I'd been smart enough to add a couple of glasses of water to my drinking, in between the sangrias and the beer that is. The young waitress and her friend were more than happy to bring us whatever we wanted, especially me. I just had to look up and she was by my side.

Jackson on the other hand had not been as careful with his drinking. He just kept downing the martinis while shamelessly flirting with Sammy. He tried hard to work the whole James Bond thing Sammy had come up with, to the point where it became immature and silly, instead of just a funny joke. He also tried to get her to agree to be his Bond girl, which she didn't to my relief.

"Yeah, shit." Jackson rubbed his hands over his bloodshot eyes and up into his dark hair. "How much did we drink?"

I chuckled. "A lot."

Jackson stumbled forward and reached for a cup in the cabinet. "Then how come you're not hurting?" He asked with a scowl.

"I was when I got up a few hours ago" I offered. I had been hurting but by the look on how Jackson was moving, it was nothing compared to how he was feeling now.

Jackson just groaned and shuffled over towards the coffee pot. "Thank god," he sighed when he found that there was coffee left in the pot.

I couldn't help but laugh. Jackson was really suffering and I kind of felt bad for him now, but I had been pissed off at him last night, even if I didn't say anything about it. He'd been trying to monopolize Sammy, even going as far as interrupting the conversation I was having with her outside the restaurant when we were waiting for the car to take us back home. We hadn't been talking about anything important. That wasn't it, it was just that Jackson kept trying to keep her attention to himself all night.

When we were leaving Sammy ended up next to me but that was somehow not okay for Jackson. He had to talk to her then too. Bryce had even noticed and given me his typical questioning crooked eyebrow expression.

Whatever. I guess it was stupid to get wound up about that.

I grabbed my large, red hydro flask that was full of cold water out of the fridge and put it on the counter. "I'm heading to the gym," I told Jackson. "Are you gonna be around later?"

"Yeah. I'm not going anywhere but back to bed."

"Alright." I bit my lip to try to hold back the grin that threatened to split my face open. It felt like it was a bit of karma biting Jackson's ass for how he acted last night. "Are you eating home then?" I asked.

Jackson nodded and lifted the coffee cup to his lips.

"Lemon chicken okay?"

"The one with the garlic?" He asked, suddenly sounding a little perkier.

"Yes."

"I like that one."

I did too. It was one of the first dishes I'd learned how to make after I moved to New York. For the first time in my life, I lived all on my own, and it had been a bigger change to move out of the place I had shared with Nash to my own apartment in Manhattan, than it had been moving out of my childhood home into a dorm with Nash. We never really had home-cooked meals growing up, and neither Nash nor I knew how to cook in college, thankfully we had the cafeteria.

Once I got my own small studio apartment I used to watch the food network on TV and tried to copy the recipes. Being able to have a home-cooked meal, even if it wasn't a perfect one, was something that became important to me. It symbolized home and stability, and that meant more to me than wealth and success. I wasn't a great cook by any means, but I was able to follow recipes and one of my favorites was lemon chicken.

"Later," I said to Jackson, grabbed my gym bag and water bottle, and headed for the door.

Nash and I spent a couple of hours in the gym running on the treadmill, doing weight training but also just bullshitting. The gym was busy but not crowded which suited us just fine. We were getting close to pre-season and had increased our workouts to five days a week. I didn't mind. It was nice to have these times when it was just Nash and me.

"I saw that the other waitress tried to slip you her number last night," Nash said as he put down the dumbbells he'd been using for biceps curls.

"Yeah, that was a bit awkward." Her friend had been taking care of us all night and the first time this girl came over to deliver our drinks she'd handed me a note together with my beer.

Nash raised an eyebrow when I didn't say any more. He just waited patiently for me to continue. Being handed numbers was something we were used to. Nash more so than me. He was constantly getting notes along with indecent proposals. I got my fair share, but it usually didn't occur during a sit-down dinner with friends, especially not when it included other women.

"It's nice to be appreciated and all, you know that." I looked up at Nash and he just nodded so I went on, "but it felt weird. Like really freaking weird. We were in the middle of dinner, it wasn't like it was a bar place where that's more acceptable."

"We had quite a few drinks though," Nash commented and picked the dumbbells back up for another set. I decided to do the same and grabbed my own pair.

"I know. Jackson was paying for it big time this morning."

Nash snorted. "He deserves it. He acted like a prick by the end of the night."

"Yeah, that he did." Nash and I were usually on the same page and he obviously felt the same about Jackson's dinner behavior.

"So, nothing with either waitress? You went home alone?"

I met Nash's eyes in the mirror. "Dude, they were barely legal. You pointed that out yourself."

He sighed but continued his biceps curls. "Yeah, you're right."

We finished our rep and put the weights back down. Nash shook his arms out by his sides while I searched for a lighter pair of weights for a triceps workout.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in my sex life?" I asked.

Now Nash chuckled. "Maybe I was more thinking of your love life..."

I positioned myself with new dumbbells but focused my eyes on him. "Oh, so Kennedy has been talking in your ear?"

"Maybe," Nash admitted slightly embarrassed. "I guess I kind of feel bad that we don't get to see each other so much anymore now that Ken's living with me. I don't know what's going on with you as much as I used to."

"You are not missing out on much."

"I didn't even know about your hookup after Isaac's wedding..."

"What?"

He didn't look upset, but couldn't he be? Because I didn't tell him about that one girl? I mean it wasn't unusual if we knew about the other one getting lucky back in the day, but why would he care now? Then it occurred to me that it had nothing to do with me not telling him. The warm fuzzy feeling that came when someone showed they cared a lot about me spread inside my chest.

"You are not neglecting me, Nash," I told him recognizing that was what he was worried about. "We still see each other a lot and it'll be even more once the season starts."

He nodded and reached for the weights again. A heavier set this time.

"You're sure you're good?" He asked without meeting my eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We're fine."

Nash and I had seen less of each other lately than we used too but that was expected. He was busy creating a new life with Kennedy. They were planning a wedding and hoping to get pregnant. I wasn't jealous of that and I didn't really feel left out either. I was happy for both of them and they constantly invited me to things, like last night's dinner.

It got quiet for a while. We both finished our reps and moved over to the pull-down machine so we could work on our backs.

"Have you heard from Louise?" Nash asked suddenly.

"What?" My eyes snapped up to Nash's. Where did that come from? I hadn't seen or talked to her in months. The last time must have been on the phone when we were in Florida.

"She reached out to Kennedy the other day so I thought maybe you had heard from her too."

"No."

"Well, maybe you will. Kennedy said she asked about you."

"Huh..." I wonder why? We only went on two dates and the second one ended kind of abruptly when she wanted sex and I didn't. Or maybe I did, but I'd thought that we could potentially be something long term, and I didn't want to ruin that by sleeping together so soon. Clearly, that hadn't been what she wanted. She kind of disappeared after that.

"She said something about having to help out with her niece. I don't know the details but it seemed like things worked out since then. She and Ken are getting together for lunch this week."

"Okay..." I stopped what I was doing and met Nash's eyes in the mirrored wall. "What are you really trying to say?"

He sighed and wiped his hand over his sweaty brow.

"I guess I just want to make sure you'll be okay with her being at the wedding? Kennedy wants to invite her."

They were worried about me being uncomfortable at their wedding... It shouldn't have been surprised, but it made me feel warm inside again. It was just the kind of people they were. Nash considered me family, and I guess that now Kennedy did too.

"Kennedy is a wonderful woman, Nash. I hope you realize how freaking lucky you are that you get to marry her."

He smiled and nodded but waited for my real answer.

"I'll be fine, Nash. There are no real hard feelings between me and Louise. It just wasn't meant to be and I've moved on. Tell Kennedy to relax. We can handle seeing each other again for the wedding."

His eyebrow rose slowly as he asked "does Louise know that?"

I rolled my eyes in response. "I think she has gotten the point by now..."

"Okay, okay."

Nash dropped the Louise subject after that and went on to discuss the housing market in Florida which I was thankful for. Nash had been searching for a second home for him and Kennedy and the future family for a couple of months now but hadn't found anything that fit exactly what they were looking for. He wanted something big enough that his extended family and friends could come to stay with them, but not something impractical.

"Maybe I should consider buying a house there too."

"Yeah?" Nash perked up. "You would?"

"Why not? I'd be a good neighbor."

"Of course." He chuckled as he turned away from the mirror and focused his green eyes on mine. "You'd seriously consider that?"

"Yeah. Real estate is as good as an investment as any, right?"

"True, probably one of the better ones." He studied me for a few seconds and then asked, "should I ask the realtor if there are any neighboring properties for sale?"

It was my turn to take a minute to think it over. Buying a house in Florida would be a large purchase, because of the area where Nash was looking and the size he was looking for, but I had money and nothing to really spend it on. I owned the Manhattan condo that I currently shared with Jackson, but I didn't own any other properties or anything significant. I didn't even have a car. Buying a house where I could go to just relax sounded like a great idea. Especially since it would be close to the people I considered the most important in my life.

I could just stay at Nash's house of course. I knew that had been his plan originally, but I didn't want to feel like I was intruding and with them trying to start a family, it would just be weird. I'd rather have my own property nearby, because hopefully one day I'd have someone to create a family with too.

"Yeah... I think you should."

"Awesome." Nash grinned and stretched his arm out giving me an old-fashioned high five. We discussed size and price limits and got ready to leave. 

Max and Gordy walked in the door as Nash and I were about to exit.

"How's everything?" Max asked.

"Good," Nash responded.

I wiped the sweat off my brow and nodded.

"How are the wedding plans going?" Gordy asked Nash.

"They're coming along. Kennedy's doing most of it." Nash smiled probably thinking about his soon-to-be wife. "You guys will be there right?" Nash asked.

"Of course," Max grinned. "It's not every day that the Nash Reed is getting married."

I tried to hold back my laugh knowing that everyone that was invited would go, including the paparazzi if they figured out when and where the wedding was to be held. Nash was fully aware of that as well, which is why his eyes narrowed as he looked at Max. The media had made a big deal about the end of Nash's bachelor day when it came out that him and Kennedy were engaged.

"Wouldn't miss it, "Gordy said. "Couldn't even if I wanted to. The wife's too excited."

I chuckled then knowing Gordy's wife, but that was a bad move. 

"What about you, Mitch?" Gordy asked and turned his attention to me. "You found anyone yet? Are you next?"

Here we freaking go again...

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