* * *
“Holy shit,” Dominic groaned as his head threatened to explode. Hell, he could even see the white light coming for him. This must be what death felt like. He could think of no other explanation.
“Getting up today, princess?” an amused voice asked as he writhed in pain.
Rolling onto his back and blinking until he recognized Gage, Dominic had his answer. He was in hell and Gage was his executioner. The asshole had turned on every light in the room, along with opening the blinds. Come to think of it . . . where was he? He was obviously on a couch, but not his. “What the fuck, man?” he grumbled as he tried to sit up.
“You know, if Gwen could see you now, she’d be rethinking her feelings. Frankly, dude, you look like roadkill, and you smell even worse. I knew when you passed out in the bathroom at Flannigan’s last night that things weren’t gonna be pretty this morning, but I wasn’t expecting it to be quite this ugly. And FYI, you owe me a visit to the chiropractor because I almost threw my back out carrying you to the truck.”
“Where’s my bike?” Dominic asked, picturing it trashed or stolen.
“I had one of the guys pick it up last night. He dropped it off at your place. Told him to bring the keys by the office this morning.”
His head was hammering relentlessly as he tried to focus his sluggish thoughts. “How much did I have to drink last night?” he croaked out. His mouth felt like sawdust.
“I think it’d be easier to ask what you didn’t drink last night,” Gage smirked. “I tried to cut you off, but you listened to your other friends over me.”
Flopping back, Dominic asked in confusion, “What other friends?”
Gage took a loud slurp out of the cup he was holding, making Dominic’s hair stand on end before saying, “Oh, you know, most of the bar. After you buy a few rounds of drinks, you get a lot of new buddies. I’m gonna say, though, I don’t think you should invite them over for Sunday dinner anytime soon because when you were falling in the urinal, I was the only one with your back—and a wad of paper towels. When I call your ass for a favor in the future, you better not hesitate or question me. Trust me, you owe me big.”
“And Gwen?” Dominic asked. He’d probably drunk dialed her all night.
As if knowing what he was getting at, Gage pulled a phone from under the chair cushion in the corner. “Don’t worry; I took this from you early in the evening when you started trying to bring your contact list up. I knew no good was going to come of that. I hid it when we got home because I was afraid of what you’d do if you woke up. That’s one way in which you didn’t make an ass out of yourself last night.” Gage laughed as Dominic weakly flipped him the bird. “Oh, guess what. I saved the best part for last.”
“What?” Dominic asked, not sure he wanted to know if it was worse than what he’d already heard.
“We have to go to Charleston this morning. You know how fun those road trips are when you’re hungover.”
“You can’t be serious! They can’t all still be sick down there. We just got back.” His stomach was threatening to revolt at the thought of being anywhere near an interstate today.
“It’s the Oceanix—Charleston. We’re meeting Asher Jackson there. He wants to show us around the resort and get a feel for what we can do for them. He was impressed when we met yesterday and is ready to make a change. His contract with his present security company is up for renewal next month so time’s an issue. It’s a big operation, and we’ll need to know what we’re looking at staff-wise like yesterday before we put a proposal together. We’re talking big time here, brother, if we pick up that chain.”
“Fuck,” Dominic hissed, feeling like an idiot for getting wasted, especially during the middle of a busy workweek. He never did crap like that. Hell, he was just too old for it, not to mention the pain it caused. “I’ve got to go home to shower and change.”
“We don’t have time. I let you sleep as long as possible. Go hit my shower. I left some clothes out in there. We’re pretty much the same size.”
With no time to argue, Dominic got to his feet and staggered down the hallway toward Gage’s bathroom. He’d been to his friend’s apartment countless times, but he went straight to the door on the left and opened it to find—the laundry room. He couldn’t imagine that this day could get any worse.