Handing him his phone from the side table, I kicked my eyebrow up. “Don’t forget a Hawaiian.”
Sophie let Mark up for air when the pizza arrived. I’d not seen her much either, pretending to have a virus so she wouldn’t come over. Swallowing a bunch of pills, cutting myself and almost dying was something I deeply regretted and didn’t want everyone to know.
“Okay, everyone, write a celebrity’s name on the post it and stick it on the person’s head to your left but don’t let them see it,” Sophie said, once she’d demanded we all sit on the floor around the pizza boxes.
I felt about eight but it was all good fun and I needed fun. Kai did, too, he’d been just as worried about me as my family and Luke but now we were here and relaxed I could feel him loosening up.
I looked between each of my friends and was so grateful that they’d accepted me for who I was. Only Sophie knew the pre-screw-up Tegan so it always surprised me that Kai, Holly and James wanted to be anywhere near the person I was now.
Kai was on my right so he was choosing for me. God knows who I was going to be and I had to pick one for Sophie. Jordan, it was an easy decision. I looked at Kai and laughed. James had given him Hugh Hefner.
“What? How bad is it?” he asked, nudging my shoulder. Laughing, I shook my head and he rolled his eyes. “James, what’ve you done?” James winked and started the game off, asking if he was male. He was Lady Gaga and there were those stupid rumours…
Fifteen minutes in and we’d all guessed ours, besides Kai. I was Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City. It could’ve been worse but Kai still got a slap.
He sighed, rubbing his face. “Okay, so I’m male, old, American and have been married more than once?”
“Yes,” me, Holly and Soph said at the same time.
“I’ll give you a clue. You’ve had a lot of sex,” James said after another five minutes watching him guess.
“I’m Sophie?” Kai joked, making everyone laugh and Sophie throw a wadded up post-it ball at him. “Alright, do I live with anyone?”
“Lots of people,” Mark replied. Kai frowned, going off somewhere in his mind to think about that one.
“Have I slept with Kim Cattrall?” he asked, chuckling. Oh, there was so a double meaning there.
“You wish.”
“Yes, I do,” he said, laughing. I laughed but didn’t open my eyes. I could practically see him smirking anyway. Thirty-five minutes. That was how long he’d been guessing for. And he hadn’t even guessed right yet. We’d all played more games but Kai was still trying to get his first.
The front doorbell rang and I knew it’d be Lucas. My two hours were up. “I’ll get it,” Holly said.
“Come on, Kai!” I snapped. It was just getting ridiculous now.
Lucas chuckled as he walked into the room and saw us sitting in a circle with pizza boxes and post it notes everywhere. “Am I Anthony Hopkins?” he asked.
I deadpanned. “Are you doing this on purpose?” He groaned and shook his head.
I got up and hugged everyone goodbye. On my way out, I bent over and whispered in Kai’s ear, “You’re Hugh Hefner!”
His mouth dropped open. “I should’ve gotten that.”
“I know,” I said, waving to the best, idiot friends in the world.
Chapter Forty-Five
Tegan
I woke up to the sound of Mum crying again. Usually I would leave it to Ava but I didn’t want to tonight, we had just started getting closer and I wanted to be there for her. Nerves rattled in my stomach even though this was my bloody mum and I should feel confident going to her.
I crept into her room and my heart fell a little. She was sitting up in Ava’s arms. Of course she was already here. I went to turn around, she didn’t need me, but I caught their attention and they both looked up. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were in here already,” I said, backing up.
“No, come in, honey,” Mum said, wiping her tears with a tissue.
Biting on my lip, I considered an excuse to leave. Not that I really wanted to but I felt like I was intruding. Mum held her hand out so I walked over to the bed and sat on the other side of her. I felt weird being with both of them, like I was in the way or just here because Mum didn’t want to hurt my feelings. Deep down I knew different but my insecurities were strong.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I am now I have my girls,” Mum replied. “Why don’t you both sleep here tonight?”
I blinked in surprise. Ava had a lot recently but I hadn’t slept in my mum’s bed since I was a baby. “Okay,” I said, still completely unsure how I felt about it, and laid down. Mum and Ava sank down and we laid in silence for a few minutes.
“So, Lucas called me,” Mum said.
I turned to look at her. “Oh?”
“He mentioned a trip.”
“Right,” I said, fiddling with the duvet.
“You can go.”
“I can what?”