The Hookup Pact

20| Atlas

My head felt like it had been run over by a truck and then someone decided to crush the remains with a sledgehammer.

With a groan, I turned to my side and buried my face in the pillow, waiting for the throbbing to subside. Migraines were a bitch. Even when the pain stopped it left me feeling sluggish and hungover for hours. I was about ready to go back to sleep and pass out for a few more hours when a distinctly familiar scent hit my nostrils.

The specific scent of berries that I had started to associate with that one special person was enough to make me forget about the throbbing in my head or my desire to sleep. I jolted awake fast enough to make my surroundings spin for a second. Clutching my head, I shut my eyes and took deep breaths.

And as if the floodgates of my brain had opened, events from earlier today came rushing back in excruciating detail. The way I had almost passed out in the lobby while walking back to my car, running into Evelyn, and how she had to practically haul my ass to her apartment.

Her apartment. I was in her apartment!

The realization was like another bucket of ice water dumped on my head. No wonder I was surrounded by her scent. My gaze snapped to the side where Evelyn was sleeping awkwardly hunched over her desk. God, she was going to wake up with the worst cramps. It made me feel bad for imposing myself on her.

But that didn't outweigh the embarrassment I felt. Over the last week, I had imagined the way I would face her again an alarming number of times. But none of them involved her helping me and bringing me to her apartment in a half-dead state. I had imagined meeting her during one of the shoots for the project where I would pull her to the side by some excuse and apologize.

Or at one of the parties at our house where I would apologize and then we would kiss and make up. I had even started dropping hints in conversations with the guys that I would very much like to have a party at our place just so Evelyn could come over. Because let's be honest I missed her.

To the extent that Evelyn not only ruled my dreams but also my waking thoughts. I should be ashamed of the number of times I dreamed about her. Sometimes us together in bed, sometimes me holding her, and sometimes just her smiling face. It was torture. One that I would beg for if it stopped.

It was scary how habitual I'd become of her presence in just a month. As if she had always been a part of my life and not having her beside me made it all feel strange.

I had also done some deep thinking and self-reflection once my initial anger had calmed down after our fallout at the penthouse. As much as I was furious at her for everything she'd said and for leaving like that, I realized that I was at fault too.

What kind of relationship she had with her parents wasn't my business. I had no right to lecture her on how she should behave and how she shouldn't. I was just projecting my own fears on her. And technically what she'd said wasn't completely wrong. I was no one to her. We were in a mutually benefitting situationship and that's all. I had no right to yell at her.

I knew I had to apologize and I very much intended to do so but my current predicament had thrown me off-kilter. The numerous speeches I'd formulated in my head were wiped clean and instead "fuck, I'm in her apartment" was playing on repeat.

My eyes briefly darted to the door wondering how bad it would be if I just skedaddled out of here while she was sleeping. Probably "get a slap to my face next time I meet her" bad. That would surely put me at the top of Evelyn's asshole list if I wasn't already #1 on it.

Scratching that idea, I slumped back against the headboard and let my eyes wander around her room, taking everything in. The curtains were drawn but still enough sunlight filtered in to give the room a dark yellowish hue and make everything pretty much visible.