8
KEELY
The sneaky tendrils of sunlight woke me first, I was pretty sure, but then it was the hangover that really woke me up. My head pounded, my eyes hurt when I tried to open them, and my mouth tasted like something might have died in it, so dry that I wasn’t sure there was any moisture left in my body.
What the hell had happened last night?
My brain was foggy and sluggish, even the idea that I didn’t know what had happened took a while to fully form. But then I started to remember. I remembered Kingston taking me to his friend’s party and immediately abandoning me. I remembered getting tipsy and then someone spilling their drink on me.
I frowned at the memory, but the one that immediately followed brought a smile to my face. My mysterious knight in shining armor had swept in and rescued me from reeking of alcohol and being sticky all night. He’d brought me up to this amazing bedroom and then… My face warmed — my whole body warmed at the memories of the hot, wild sex we’d had. It was so unlike me. I didn’t even know where that girl had come from, but I wasn’t regretting it.
My whole body still tingled with awareness, with the delicious soreness where he’d stretched me and filled me mercilessly, until I was screaming to the heavens.
Damn, it had been good sex.
Maybe he was up for a morning round.
I rolled over with a sultry smile, but my heart instantly stopped, a shriek bubbling from my lips before I could stop it.
Because the guy in bed next to me, the guy I was naked next to, was not at all the guy who’d brought me up here last night. That guy had been blond and kind of sweet-looking. I still remembered the long lean lines of his muscles and they weren’t the ones next to me.
This guy had dark hair, and even asleep he looked arrogant as hell. He wasn’t lacking in muscles, though, but his were bulkier, his arms huge and clearly powerful.
My sudden scream woke him and he blinked, looking at me with an unamused expression. Even in complete shock and confusion, my eyes drifted down his naked body, found his cock already semi-hard and growing as he woke up. I licked my lips, but then shook my head. What the hell was wrong with me? I wasn’t this sex-crazed lunatic.
Or at least I wasn’t. Not before last night. But…
“Who the hell are you?” I squeaked, my voice not nearly as menacing and strong as I’d hoped.
He grumbled something under his breath, then huffed out a breath. “Ryder Elliott, the guy whose house your in. My bed, too, for the record. Oh, and maybe you’ve forgotten, but you were waiting here naked for me and grabbed my cock the minute I got into bed. Wasn’t really expecting that to be honest, but I’m not complaining,” he said with a rakish grin.
I buried my head in my hands with a miserable groan. “Jesus, I am never drinking again.”
I heard him chuckling behind me, but I didn’t pay him any attention. I climbed out of the bed and found the first article of clothing I could — the t-shirt the other guy had given me to wear, which I’d assumed was his, but was probably Ryder’s. I didn’t even care. I felt his eyes still on my back and was grateful for the cover-up.
I didn’t even look back as I stormed out of his room, on a mission to find my damn phone, where ever I’d left it. If I had just remembered the damn thing last night, I probably could have avoided all of this. But apparently drunk Keely was also stupid as hell Keely and I’d somehow thought that sleeping with some random guy — no, two random guys — was easier than calling myself a cab. What. The. Hell.
Yeah, I was never touching alcohol again.
But even as I made that resolution, I knew it wasn’t the alcohol’s fault. I hadn’t been that drunk. But I was fresh out of college and the freedom of not having to worry about finals or homework or any of that other bullshit made me want to do something crazy. And being back home, knowing that I was going to settle down here and find my career and everything was about to get very adult made me want to act out in the way I never had in college.
All my other friends had stories of wild and crazy nights like the one I’d just had. But I always kept my nose clean throughout school. I didn’t fool around. I’d only had the one serious boyfriend and even he got sick of my studiousness.
So yeah, it was a crazy, reckless, rebellious thing for me to do and I didn’t know what the hell I was thinking, but I knew one thing.
My body craved more.
Even acknowledging it sent a flush of heat through my body, but before I could focus on it too much, I spotted my phone on one of the side tables and snatched it up.
And instantly cursed.
Seventeen missed calls from Kingston.
Shit.
Well, there was no point in delaying the inevitable. I knew Kingston was going to have some choice words for me, but that was the cost of having a big brother. Especially one who’d spent his whole life working out and playing a sport that prided itself on injuring players. He’d always been more than willing to go to bat to me, much to my chagrin.
I sighed and braced myself as I called him back.
The phone rang once, then twice. By the third ring, I was hoping that he wasn’t going to answer after all and I could escape the lecture until after my head stopped feeling like someone had a jackhammer to my temple.
But no such luck. Halfway through ring four, he answered.
“Key, where the fuck are you?”
“I’m fine,” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“I was looking all over for you. Had no word from you. Something bad could’ve happened to you and you weren’t answering.”
“Yeah, sorry,” I grumbled, not really sorry at all. He might be my big brother, but I felt no need to account for my every waking moment with him. He could kiss my ass.
“What the hell happened?” he groaned, and I finally realized he sounded about as bad as I felt.
“Are you as hungover as I am?”
He chuckled. “Probably worse. I vaguely remember something about being pressured into racing through a line of shots…”
I snorted. “Did you win?”
“Well, I didn’t projectile vomit, which is more than I can say for my opponent.”
I wrinkled my nose and looked around the place, but I didn’t see any obvious signs of a mess. Maybe mister Ryder Elliott had himself a housekeeper or something. I wouldn’t be surprised with the kind of money he had to throw around.
“Congrats,” I said, making my disgust clear.
He laughed again, but he wasn’t letting me get away with the change of subject. “So what happened to you? Did you have a good time?”
Knowing he couldn’t see me through the phone, I blushed, grinning despite myself and biting my lip. “It was all right, I guess. Til some chucklehead spilled his drink all over me. I looked all over for you to get a ride home since I was soaked, but I couldn’t find you.”
He sighed. “Ryder said you probably took an Uber. I’m sorry Keels, I shouldn’t have just abandoned you when we showed up.”
I tensed at the mention of Ryder. He couldn’t possibly have any idea what had happened between me and his friend, but I’d like very much to keep it that way. I wondered when he talked to Ryder. If Ryder knew I was in his bed. If he’d already fucked me with my arms pinned above my head and my body writhing under him.
Stop that, I hissed at myself internally. Whatever had happened last night had been a mistake. Maybe a fun mistake. Maybe a toe-curling, mind-blowing, world-shattering mistake, but a mistake all the same. Sleeping with one stranger had been crazy enough. But two?! Who the hell even was I?
“It’s okay. I’m a big girl, I can handle myself,” I said, even though at that particular moment I was kind of doubting it. I wasn’t having a very good track record lately.
“You’re right,” he said with a heavy sigh. “It’s just hard for me to remember that sometimes. You’re always going to be my baby sister you know. Even if you managed to graduate college early.”
“Don’t go getting all mushy on me, you big baby,” I teased.
He chuckled and heaved out another heavy breath. “It’s the hangover, I swear. Makes me stupid.”
“Oh, so now it’s stupid to care about your baby sister?” I asked, faking a pout in my voice.
He swore. “My brain’s not awake enough for these games, you asshole.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Mine either,” I admitted.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, his concern evident even though it was misplaced. He should’ve been worried about that last night if he was going to worry about it at all. By now, I’d already fucked one of his best friends and the other guy was probably a teammate, too. I just had to hope that neither of them knew who I was.
“Yeah, I’m fine. You don’t have to swoop in and save the day for me, bro. That’s my job, remember?”
I knew as soon as I said it that I shouldn’t have. Ever since I’d bailed Kingston out of that trouble in school, there had been a weird dynamic between us. Like he felt he needed to pay me back somehow or something. But I’d never asked for anything in return. My big brother had been in trouble and there was something I could do to help him. I hadn’t even thought twice.
But I knew that he’d gotten shit from his friends for his baby sister bailing him out. Because the first couple times I made a joke about it, he’d blown up at me and made me wonder if I’d somehow ruined our relationship by helping him.
Eventually, he mellowed out about it, though. I knew he was grateful, but I also knew Kingston was a proud guy and hated that he’d only gotten out of trouble because I’d been there. He hated not being the one to save himself.
Maybe we had that in common.
“Yeah,” he finally answered gruffly, all the joking and laughing gone from his voice. I cursed myself internally, but the damage was done. Hopefully after the call, he’d just roll over and go back to sleep and wake up in a better mood. I could hope.
“Hey, listen, I’ll catch you at Mom and Dad’s later, okay? I’m finally getting the keys to my place today and I want to get some stuff moved in.”
He groaned. “You know Mom is going to want me to help you with that.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell her I’m working on it yet. I’ll get most of it done before dinner and you’ll be off the hook.”
Kingston yawned on the other end of the phone and I could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke again. “You know, you’re not so bad for a poopbrain.”
I snorted. “Right back at ya, loser.”
“See ya later, sis.”
I ended the call with a smile, but then I looked around and realized I was still in Ryder’s house. Before he could stumble his sexy ass downstairs, I had to get out of there. I didn’t trust my decision making lately.
Luckily, I had a whole day’s worth of unpacking to do back at my new place, and thankfully, when the Uber dropped me off and I checked the mailbox, the key was there. I just had to put last night behind me and look to the future.