Chapter 11: Morning After.

The following morning, Laura woke up with the worst hangover. When James took her back to her room the previous night, she took a quick shower and fell asleep. She squinted as she looked out the window from her bed and groaned when the memories from last night came pouring in.

She was planning on cutting back on alcohol for the next few weeks after going so hard the previous night. She fell into a daze as she looked at the bright scenery outside the window and remembered what happened when she was alone with James. After leaving the pool, they took the elevator and arrived at the ground floor.

She complained that she was hungry, so he went to see if there was any food left and brought some back for her. She ate her food while James, who was sitting on the opposite side, watched her eat. He would even occasionally pick something up and place it in front of her lips.

He did it so seriously that she felt a bit embarrassed by his actions. In reality, he was also just drunk, not as much as she was, but enough to significantly soften his personality.

If Jason had seen his brother’s actions, he would have been really surprised. Lucas, on the other hand, wouldn’t be too surprised since he had already experienced a lifetime of his brother’s doting.

After Laura finished eating, James took her back to her room and waited for her to go inside. Laura looked at him with eyes that were so full of regret that he felt slightly guilty.

“Just one kiss,” Laura negotiated, and James shook his head. He knew himself well, and he was not as calm as he appeared to be.

“On the cheek?” Laura continued to negotiate, and James smiled helplessly when he saw her point at her own cheek as she asked him.

“Fine, I’ll take one on the cheek,” James said and before he could react, Laura had already jumped forward and kissed the corner of his mouth, right where his dimple was located.

“Goodnight,” Laura said and dashed into her room without waiting for his reply.

James stared at the closed door for a bit before he left for his own room. Laura was now lying in bed in the morning, remembering how cheeky she had been the previous night and groaned again, but this time, she got up and off her bed.

She was only wearing her underwear with a tank top so she took the covers with her and stepped out of the room, only to come face to face with Nancy and Leanna, who looked like an even bigger mess as they lay haphazardly on the sofas in the living area.

She woke the two girls up so they could go and sleep in their rooms lest they were seen by their host before going to look for something to drink. Her throat felt dry, her head was pounding, and she was craving something refreshing. She opened the fridge and found some tonic water and after making sure the two girls were back in their beds; she went back to her room.

She went to take a shower to get herself out of her funk and put on a robe. She sat on her bed and went through her phone while drinking her tonic water, she was already feeling much better. She logged into her social media account and uploaded some of the photos she took the previous day before getting up and going to get dressed.

After putting on a pair of short shorts and a tank top, she tied up her long hair into a high ponytail and only put on some gloss on her lips before leaving her room. She was starting to feel quite stuffy by herself in her room.

She wondered if anyone was going to be awake at this time with how wildly things seemed to have gone last night as she went down the stairs, but before she could even contemplate on it, Jason appeared out of nowhere.

“Laura!” he called happily, his voice echoing across the area.

“Good morning Da... Jason,” Laura said and smiled at the man, who was smiling at her brightly.

“Good morning. Are you feeling like breakfast?” Jason asked when Laura stopped next to him.

“Maybe?” Laura said, not knowing whether or not she could stomach any food yes.

“Then let’s go. There is catering so you can just eat whatever you want,” Jason said as he walked with her towards the living room. As they got closer, Laura couldn’t help but wonder whether James would be there, too.

Once they arrived at the large dining area, there were only a few people there eating. Jason’s previous group members were there, since they crashed at the mansion the previous night, Ethan and David were also there, but none of them had any food in front of them.

“Why aren’t any of you eating yet? I carefully organised catering that suited your tastes and you lot are going to waste it?” Jason asked as he pulled a chair for Laura. Laura thanked him and sat down before greeting the clearly hungover group at the table.

“Shut up,” David said, stunning Laura, who had never heard him be rude, even jokingly, since she met him. Albeit, it was not like she had known him for a long time, but it still came as a surprise. The only other person that looked like he was equally surprised was Ethan. Everyone else looked like they were expecting him to say that.

“David, I know you are close friends with my brother, but don’t pick up his manners,” Jason said, referring to James rather than Lucas.

David ignored Jason because he knew if he engaged with him in conversation, he would end up being irritated, making his hangover even worse.

“He knows how to pick his battles,” Ethan commented with a laugh when he saw David ignore Jason. Laura was also mildly amused by their interaction. It looked like this bunch of rich and influential people were actually quite simple in reality.