I fold my napkin and place it on the table next to the plate. “No.”
Pippa slides her chair closer. “It looked like there’s a lot of sexual tension between you two.”
Picking up my glass, I take my time drinking the water. I put it back on the table. “We’re just friends.” Nothing I want to talk to Pippa about.
She puts her lips to my ear. “Friends who fuck?”
What the hell? I scan my gaze around the table to see if anyone heard her question. Thankfully, no one is paying us any attention. Not even Alyssa. She’s fanning her face with a napkin like she’s hot. Her skin is pale. Is something wrong?
“I don’t care if you are. I can share.” Under the table, Pippa trails her fingers up my thigh, brushing over my dick. Jerking, I scrape my chair back and abruptly stand. There’s only one woman I want touching me, and she’s sitting across from me, not looking the best.
“Alyssa, are you okay?” I ask.
Covering her mouth with her hand, she shakes her head. Then she jumps from the chair and dashes out of the room.
“I’ll go check on her,” I say to no one in particular. To Miss Lucia, I say, “Can you watch Lily please?”
“Of course. Let me know if you need any help,” she calls after me as I rush out of the restaurant.
Scanning the lobby, I spot the restrooms and head toward them. If she were about to throw up, like it looked like shewas going to do, that’s where she’ll be. Not caring that it’s a female bathroom, I make my way inside. Thankfully it’s empty. Only one cubicle door is closed. I knock on it. “Alyssa, are you in there?” The answering retching sound tells me she’s inside. “Open up so I can help you.”
“Go away,” she croaks.
“Open up,” I say again.
More retching, then a weak, “No.”
“Let me in.” I rap my knuckles on the door.
“I said go away.”
I hear a slight thud. Shit! Has she passed out? Knocked her head? “If you don’t open the door, I’ll break it.”
“I’m hideous. You don’t want to see me this way.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. She hasn’t passed out.
It’s driving me nuts that she won’t let me in. “I’m warning you, if you don’t open this door, Iwillbreak it down. That will really give the parents something to talk about.”
I hear a heavy sigh. “Fine.”
A few seconds later, the lock unlatches and the door swings open. Alyssa looks anything but hideous. She couldn’t if she tried. Even after spewing her guts out. What she looks is tired…vulnerable. Like she needs someone to take care of her.
She squats next to the toilet. “How can you help me?”
“I can hold your hair back. Isn’t that what your girlfriends do in public toilets?”
She gives a half-hearted chuckle before leaning over the bowl and heaving into it. Her hair is in a bun, so I squat next to her and rub her back.
When she’s done, she rips off toilet paper from the dispenser and wipes her mouth. “Please go away and let me die in peace.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Not until I know you’re okay. What’s brought this on? Was it the food?” Everyone else seemed fine.
Shuffling to get up, I help her to her feet.
“Not the food. I started feeling funny after the last class. I put it down to a busy, full day.” She flushes the toilet. “I think I’m done.” Walking to the vanity, she splashes water over her face and rinses her mouth. “Thanks for checking on me.”
Her face is pale with bright red patches on her cheeks. I place a hand on her forehead. “You’re burning up.”