False Start - Jessica Ruddick Page 0,7

got people over, so I should go.”

“Aww.” Zizzo—Little Zizzo—pouted. “I miss you.”

“Miss you too. Be good. Don’t do anything I would do.”

“Ha.” Zizzo blew her brother a kiss and put the phone facedown on the table.

Nicole came back with a drink in one hand and a plate holding a slice of cheesecake in the other. Jimmy followed, carrying a bag of chips and a tub of dip.

“Ooh.” Zizzo’s eyes locked on the cheesecake. “I forgot we had that.”

Her friend grinned. “I got two forks.”

Zizzo happily took the fork Nicole offered. “And that’s why I love you.”

“What about me?” I asked. “You laughed at me when I bought the cheesecake.”

She swiped her finger through the creamy confection and dabbed a glob of it on my nose. “I love you too, Carson. You should know that by now.”

“Thanks, LZ.” I wiped the cheesecake off my nose and licked it off my finger.

She stared at me with a dazed expression, like it was taking her brain extra time to figure out what LZ stood for. “Um, that’s a negative. I told you—Bec-cah. If you want to be fancy, you can call me Re-bec-cah.”

“Okay, Re-bec-cah,” Nicole said. “Is it you and me for Spades?”

She nodded. “Deal ’em.”

Before Nicole could finish dealing the cards, Zizzo muttered an excuse and shut herself in the hall bathroom. When she didn’t return in five minutes, Nicole went to check on her.

I heard her knock on the bathroom door. “Hey, Bec, are you okay?” Silence followed. “Bec?” She jiggled the doorknob.

A moment later, she returned to the living room. “The door is locked, and she isn’t responding.”

Jimmy laughed. “She’s probably passed out in there.”

I frowned at him. He was probably right, and while it might have been funny with some other girl, this was Zizzo. I went to the bathroom door and repeated exactly what Nicole had done, which was idiotic. I took a credit card out of my wallet and slipped it between the door and the frame. After two jiggles, the lock clicked.

“Damn,” Nicole commented. “That was fast.”

It wasn’t a skill I was necessarily proud of, but it came in handy every once in a while.

I slowly opened the door, and when I caught sight of Ziz on the floor, I swung it open. My heart pounded wildly. Her little body was curled around the bottom of the toilet, and she rested her head on the seat. Her eyes were closed, and she breathed deeply.

I exhaled. I definitely shouldn’t have made her doubles.

Behind me, Nicole chuckled softly. “Guess we’re not playing Spades.”

“Nope,” I confirmed.

Ziz’s neck was at a jaunty angle. I didn’t know how she’d managed to fall asleep like that.

“Let me get our stuff together,” Nicole said. “I’ll call an Uber and get her home.”

I shook my head. “She can stay here. No sense trying to get her home like this.”

Nicole looked uneasy about leaving Ziz, but I wasn’t insulted. Instead, I was glad she had such a good friend. But in the end, Nicole and Jimmy shared an Uber, since it turned out they lived in neighboring apartment complexes.

When I returned to the bathroom, Ziz was awake and moaning. Fuck. I should have paid more attention to how much she was drinking. Her cup had never been empty, but that hadn’t been all my doing. She’d helped herself to several refills.

“I’m dying,” she said.

I knelt next to her. “No, you’re not.”

She tried lifting her head but gave up and laid it back on the toilet seat, whimpering. The sound was so pathetic, I couldn’t hide my smile. It wasn’t funny, but it kind of was.

Yes, I was an asshole. Zizzo rarely had moments of weakness, but God knew she’d seen me at my worst too many times to count.

She met my gaze, and I quickly wiped the smile off my face. “I’m going to sleep here.”

“Yes, you are.”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

“Wait,” I said. “You’re sleeping here at my place but not in the bathroom.”

“I’m comfortable. I’m good here. Don’t worry.”

“No way. I’m not letting you sleep on the bathroom floor.” I stood and held my hand out. “Come on.”

Not opening her eyes, she shook her head. “Nuh-uh.”

I scooped her up into my arms and tucked her small body against my chest. Moaning, she wrapped her arms around my neck and clung to me.

Something stirred within me, something I had no business feeling. This was Ziz—Becca. She might as well be my little sister. But I couldn’t stop myself from bringing my face to