Tyler's Undoing (21 page)

INSTEAD OF GOING out on the town and getting wild and crazy, we opted to stay at the hotel and eat in one of the restaurants. It was perfectly fine with me considering I felt and looked like absolute shit. Bree and Cole were waiting for us in the lobby, both laughing and talking like they didn’t have a care in the world. However, when Bree saw me, she knew something was wrong. Thankfully, she didn’t ask anything in front of the guys.

Once we got seated at our table, I drank some water. I guzzled it down and wanted more.

“Are you sure you’re okay,” Tyler asked, passing me his water and putting his arm around my shoulders. Eagerly, I took it from him and guzzled it down too, sighing when I was done.

“I don’t think she is,” Bree cut in. “She looks like shit.”

“Gee,
thanks
,” I kidded halfheartedly, using most of my energy to keep the water down. I drank it so fast, I was starting to feel sick.

“Bree’s right,” Tyler agreed. “Well, not about the looking like shit part, but about you being all right. Something’s wrong.”

“I don’t know,” I admitted honestly. “I started feeling bad earlier, but I worked through it, thinking it was just the heat. I thought if we kept going it would pass.”

Exasperated, Tyler turned my chin so I’d have to look at him. His eyes were despondent. “Why didn’t you tell me? We could have taken it easy today.”

Sighing, I clasped his hand and leaned into it, exhausted. “Because you made it one of the best days of my life and I didn’t want anything to ruin it.”

About that time, the waiter came with our food and Tyler let my chin go as my plate was set down in front of me: filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes, and asparagus. If I wasn’t so nauseous I’d be able to eat. Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes and held my breath, hoping it would pass.

“Oh my God, Kacey . . . you’re not pregnant are you?” Bree shrieked. “You look like you’re about to throw up.”

Leave it to Bree to make an announcement to the whole freaking restaurant. I was on the pill and I’d only had sex with Tyler twice—the first time being just yesterday. I wasn’t pregnant, and even Tyler knew I wasn’t by the way he rolled his eyes.

“I’m not pregnant,” I hissed quietly, glaring over to Bree. “I’m just nauseated.”

“What other symptoms are you having?” Tyler asked, taking my hand. “Your skin’s a little dry, but that could be from the chlorine in the pool. Do you have a headache or anything?”

“Yeah, my head is killing me. That’s probably why I’m nauseous, but then again, I haven’t really eaten or drank anything all day.”

Smelling the food only made my symptoms worse and before I could say another word, I bolted out of my seat and ran straight for the bathroom. Thank God I noticed where it was when we walked into the restaurant. Slamming open the door, I barreled into the stall and collapsed onto my knees, throwing up every ounce of water I just drank. What was my problem?

Knowing I didn’t have anything else in my stomach, I flushed the toilet and slowly got to my feet. My whole body ached and all I wanted to do was go to bed and sleep for a week. Once I looked at myself in the mirror, I gasped. I looked pale and my eyes sunken and dark.

About that time, Bree rushed into the bathroom and before I knew it my knees gave out. She caught me before I could stumble onto the floor.

“Thank . . . you,” I sputtered.

“Kace, what’s wrong with you?” she cried. “You almost look drunk. Have you had any alcohol today?”

Once I could stand without falling over, Bree hesitantly let me go, but kept her hand on my arm. “No, no alcohol. In fact . . .”

“In fact, what?” Bree commanded.

“I haven’t had
anything
to drink today. We were so busy, I didn’t even eat or drink. I just kept going.”

Bree huffed and held my arm tighter while leading me toward the door. “And you wonder what’s wrong with you. You’re dehydrated, dumb ass. We need to get you pumped with fluids like now. Dehydration isn’t something to mess around with. You should know better than that.”

And I did know better, I was just too wrapped up in the day to even think about taking care of myself. Opening the bathroom door, Bree put her arm around my waist to give me support. I couldn’t believe how being dehydrated really did make you feel like death, it was almost like the flu.

“Thanks, Bree. I probably need to call it a night. I feel bad ruining everyone’s fun.”

“Oh, whatever. You know Tyler will be more than happy to have you all to himself, even if he has to spend it nursing you back to health. I’ll just take Cole back to our room and nurse him back to health too. That man is insatiable.”

Bree always had a way of getting a smile on my face, even when I felt horrible. However, that smile didn’t last long when I looked over at our table. “You have got to be kidding me,” I hissed.

“What is it?” Bree asked, alarmed. “Do you need to throw up again?”

“No, but I think my headache just got worse.” I pointed to our table and when she looked, her eyes went wide.

“Is that who I think it is?” she asked.

Clenching my teeth together, I closed my eyes and nodded, my blood boiling in my veins.

“WELL, LOOK WHO it is,” a voice called out. “I didn’t know you guys were staying at this hotel.”

I froze at the voice and Cole’s eyes went wide. Gabriella walked up and sat down beside me. I didn’t know she was going to be there either.

As always, she looked the same with her midnight black hair and bright green eyes, wearing a pair of jeans and tight pink T-shirt. It was hard to believe that a little over a month ago we were lovers, and now our time together was just a distant memory.

“Gabriella,” I greeted, turning to her with a hesitant smile. Even though we were strictly friends, I knew Kacey would get pissed if she saw Gabriella sitting beside of me. I never thought the day would come when I didn’t want Gabriella around. Kacey and I were getting closer. She trusted me, or at least I hoped she did.

“Who are you here with?” I asked, looking around the restaurant. “Is your brother here?”

“No, he’s coming in first thing tomorrow. I’m here with Bradley. The Twins of Terror are also in town, but they’re staying somewhere else.”

“How was your visit to see Ashleigh? Have you told Ryley about her yet?”

“No, but I probably will. Something’s up with her though. I don’t know why she doesn’t want me to tell him what happened.”

“Well, whatever her reasons are, it’s not just her in this anymore. She’s messing with Ryley’s feelings too.”

Eyes wide, Gabriella sat back in the chair and laughed. “Wow, look at you being all philosophical. You seem different somehow. What’s changed?”

Everything.

When I didn’t answer right away, she lifted her brows curiously and smiled. “Well, whatever it is I think it suits you.” She looked down at all four plates of food and whistled. “Either you boys are loading up before tomorrow’s fights or you have guests. Which is it?”

Cole grinned mischievously at me, not thinking I would tell Gabriella the truth. Little did he know, I didn’t care if Gabriella knew I was with someone else. Just as I was about to explain, Bree trudged forward, struggling to hold Kacey up with her arm around her waist.

“What the hell’s going on?” I demanded, rushing out of my seat. Kacey looked worse than when she left the table.

Bree passed her to me and I lifted her into my arms, cradling her to my chest. “She’s dehydrated,” Bree explained, grabbing her glass of water off the table. “We figured it out in the bathroom. She hasn’t drank anything all day.”

Looking down at Kacey, it all made sense. “What did you do with that bottle of water I gave you after we went golfing? I told you to drink it.”

“And I was about to, but then I got
distracted
and never drank it,” she replied weakly. Finally, she looked over at Gabriella and stiffened, then turned her glare to me, her jaw tense. She had no reason to be angry, but if the situation was turned, I’d be furious if she was talking to one of her ex’s. If only she knew there was nothing to worry about.

“You know, if you can’t keep any water down we’re going to have to take you to the hospital.” Bree passed me her glass of water and held it to Kacey’s lips.

“Drink,” I commanded. She did as I said, never taking her eyes off of mine, and took a few sips, then a few more until the glass was empty.

“Is there anything you need me to do?” Gabriella asked, genuine concern showing on her face. She got to her feet and came to my side. Kacey stiffened even more. “If she’s dehydrated you need to make sure she drinks as much as she can, but slow so that she doesn’t throw it up.”

“I know,” I told her, stepping to the side, holding Kacey tighter. “I’m going to take her back to the room so she can get some rest. We had a busy day, I think a little relaxation is in order.”

Gabriella nodded at Bree and Cole before turning back to me, sneaking a quick glance at Kacey. By the look in her eyes, she knew Kacey was more than just one of my groupies. However, I could tell she was happy for me by the small smile splayed across her lips.

“Well, you all take care and I hope she gets to feeling better. Dehydration isn’t fun. But I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the fight.”

“We’ll be there.”

She smiled at us all and waved before taking a seat at the bar, where none other than Bradley Thompson sat glaring at me. Some things would never change. He didn’t like any of Gabriella’s friends, especially me because I was the one who took her away from him. But now he had her back.

“Let’s go to our room, beautiful,” I murmured in Kacey’s ear. Her eyes were closed, but I knew she wasn’t asleep from how tense she was in my arms. “She’s gone, Kacey. You have nothing to worry about with her. You are the one I want to be with.”

She relaxed just a little bit, but not much.

“Tyler, I’m going to have Kacey’s food boxed up and we’ll bring it up to you,” Bree offered. “She needs to eat something.”

I nodded and started out of the restaurant. When I got to the room, I carried Kacey straight to the bedroom and laid her down so I could fetch her a bottle of water. Lying beside of her, I pulled her into my arms and brushed the hair off of her face. “Are you hungry?”

“No,” she whispered. “I’m just really tired.”

Opening the bottle of water, I lifted her up in my arms and pressed it to her lips. “I know you’re tired, but you need to drink more . . . and I also know you’re pissed about Gabriella.”

Sighing, she opened her lips and slowly drank half of the bottle before lying back down on my chest and closing her eyes. “She’s always going to be there,” she whispered regretfully. “I can’t compete with her constantly being around you.”

Holding her tighter, I caressed my fingers up and down her back and kissed her forehead. “You’re wrong,” I murmured. “She can’t compete with you.”

I was hoping she would talk to me or at least acknowledge that she heard me, but once her breathing started to slow, I knew she was asleep. I needed to find a way to convince her.