Chapter 4

– Months Ago –

The very first night that Kayla stayed at Jason’s house went smoothly. They made her bed together, putting clean sheets and picking which comforter she wanted to use.

He noticed that she had more exacting standards than him regarding the way the top sheet and blanket were tucked into the mattress. Jason smiled as he watched her correct him, entertained by the way she pointed out his inconsistent technique.

As they finished making her bed, he yawned involuntarily, and Kayla wrapped her arms around his torso, smiling up at him. “You need to get some sleep.”

He nodded, while still yawning. He held her for a moment, saying, “You can sleep in tomorrow. I have to go check on the guys in the morning.”

As he held her, he felt thankful that she was safe with him.

Even though Kayla wasn’t his daughter, he had always hoped he could help her. She had moved out of her parent’s house when she was in high school, due to some incident with her mother. Jason always imagined that Kayla had been wronged greatly, and he had been proud of her that she seemed to have a clear plan for independence, even as a teenager.

But he had always worried about her too.

That first night she was in his home, he wasn’t worried about her anymore.

The next morning, he awoke to his alarm. After getting showered and dressed, he wanted to go downstairs and check on Kayla.

The door was open, and his heart skipped a beat, wondering if she was still there. As he approached, he could see her on the bed. From under her covers, one bare leg was exposed as she slept.

The sight of her soothed his nerves. And her smooth leg made a pleasant display.

The drive downtown that morning was quiet, and the hotel was bright and bustling. He checked in with the restaurant to get a table ready for breakfast, before heading upstairs.

At the door to their suite, he listened for any signs of movement inside. Hearing nothing, he used his key to open the door.

He walked in the door, and could see a human shaped lump on the floor in the hallway, and he could hear a British voice in the main room. “The hungry mother takes a chance and leaves her cubs unattended while she hunts…”

There was an chaotic symphony of snores, and in the main room was a couch with three fully clothed men lying on each other. The sober chaperone was sitting up, with his head leaning straight back, asleep. In his lap, Jason saw the peaceful face of the groom. And one other friend used the groom’s butt as a pillow.

Quietly, Jason retrieved his phone and snapped a picture of the sleeping pile of men.

He reached forward to tap their sober friend on the shoulder. He whispered, “Hey, did everything go alright last night?”

Dale nodded, while yawning. “Yeah, we stayed at the strip club until 4, I think.”

Dale seemed to notice the man asleep in his lap for the first time. With a smile, he began flicking his ear, until the groom moaned unintelligibly.

Dale looked up at Jason with a huge grin. “It was a long night.”

Jason began filming on his phone, and poked the groom while asking him questions like a TV show host. “What would you say was your favorite part of your bachelor party?” “How many nipples did you see last night?” “How are you feeling about only sleeping with one woman for the rest of your life?”

Bryan reached a hand out to Jason, “What type of pizza are you… Stop with the… I love Suzie.”

As the room became alive, more guys joined in on interviewing Bryan to encourage his incoherent mumbles.

Dale yelled, “Oh, Hey, Suzie! Look, Bryan, Suzie’s here!”

Bryan lifted his head, and yelled, “Sooooo-zie! It wasn’t me. Don’t believe… Don’t listen to… They’re all full of SHIT!” He spat out the last word.

Jason patted Bryan’s face, in a pretty rough manner. “Bryan, I promised Suzie I’d have you at Lunch today, so you need to wake up now and start sobering up.”

Bryan covered his face with one hand, and wiggled his body, as if he could burrow into the couch and disappear.

After several more attempts at reasoning with Bryan, and several more odd and sleepy reactions, Jason asked one of their friends to fill the bathtub. After a few minutes, three guys carried Bryan and dunked him.

Bryan’s high pitch scream woke anyone else who might have still been sleeping. As he continued to scream, a woman walked into the bathroom, yelling, “What is going on in here?”

Jason thought he recognized the woman as one of the strippers. She was wearing a man’s t-shirt and a scrunched up face. “What are you all doing to him?”

She walked up to the bathtub, and felt the water. “This water’s freezing! You guys are going to kill him! Get him out of there!”

Jason pulled the plug on the bathtub, and then turned the shower onto hot. He took his shirt off so it wouldn’t get any wetter than it already was, and reached down to pick up Bryan. Standing him up in the stream of water, Bryan finally stopped screaming. Instead, he began humming the tune to “Singing in the Rain,” and then a few of the guys sang along. After everyone was laughing and they had sung a few choruses, Bryan said, “Ok, I’m fucking awake. Now leave me alone to shower, assholes!”

Jason told them breakfast was waiting downstairs, and one by one, they shuffled out of the hotel room.

Once everyone was at breakfast, Bryan asked Jason, “So you took​ that waitress home?”

Another guy whistled, “Damn. Did her ass feel as nice as it looked?”

Several guys chuckled, but waited for Jason’s answer.

Jason wasn’t sure what to say. His deal with Kayla was if she left the strip club, no one would have to know she worked there. But his friends had seen her last night.

“I know her, and she’s not the type of girl who should be working there. I was able to talk her into quitting. I just talked with her and then dropped her off at her house last night.”

“Then why didn’t you come back?”

“Um… we talked for a while.”

The guys laughed.

“How come the driver told me he took you both to a house in Walnut Hill?”

They all knew that Jason lived in Walnut Hill. He was busted.

They all “Oohed” in response.

“I wasn’t lying. That’s where she lives, as of last night.”

The guys laughed. One said, “Nice!”

Jason could feel his face growing red. He didn’t mind them thinking that he would take a woman home, but he hated them thinking Kayla was that type of person.

“Cut it out. She is one of Margo’s friends. There is nothing like that going on. Nor will there be.”

Dale asked, “You’re really planning on having her live with you, and not trying something?”

“Like I said, nothing’s going to happen.”