Everyone in the apartment is awake when I get back from dropping Kat off. Emmett is on the couch playing Madden and Max is in the kitchen with Sophie making something to eat. Well, I guess that answers last night’s question. When Max sees me, he grins. “Where’ve you been? Taking home last night’s guest?”

He doesn’t have a clue. Max was already in his room, I guess with his girl, when I brought Kat inside. I don’t answer, and Max being Max, he doesn’t let it go. “C’mon man,” he cajoles. “You gotta tell us who the girl was.” He turns to Emmett and tries to pull him into the conversation. “Right, Em? Shouldn’t he tell us?”

Emmett doesn’t acknowledge him. I don’t have time to worry about it though, because Max’s girl chimes in. “Maxie, leave your brother alone.” God, her voice is annoying. I’m talking nails on a chalkboard, migraine-causing annoying. She puts a hand on Max’s arm, running it up and down in a soothing motion as she goes up on her toes to say something in his ear. It’s low enough I can’t hear it, but based on the way his eyes widen before he glares at me, I can guess.

“Kat? Kat is the girl you took home?” Before I can tell him she just slept here, alone, he moves Sophie out of the way and gets up in my face. “What the fuck, bro? Kat hates you. How’d you get her to agree to that? She never would’ve come with you willingly.”

His implication gets my back up. Now I’m pissed. I shove him backward, but he’s not as easy to push around now, so he doesn’t go far. This time, I’m the one who’s up in his face. “First of all, fuck you. I don’t have to get a girl drunk to get laid.” Max narrows his eyes, but I don’t let him say anything. “Second, if she was here for that—and I’m not saying she was—it would be none of your goddamn business. You’ve made it pretty clear you don’t think of her that way, so don’t you fucking dare put that shit off on me.”

“Then why was she here? You can’t make me believe she did a complete one-eighty and suddenly she’s all about your dick. Kat’s better than that.” I know full well I can be an asshole, but I’m nowhere near the person he’s acting like I am.

What a douchebag. “Man, for someone who’s supposed to be such good friends with her, do you know her at all? Even a little?” I step closer, to the point we’re almost nose to nose. Or, we would be if he wasn’t two inches shorter than me. “Your girl Kat, she got drunk off her ass. Drunk to the point she passed the hell out. I couldn’t find her roommate and her phone was missing, so I brought her here to sleep it off.” Max backs down, but I’m not finished. He takes a couple steps back, and I throw my hands out at my sides. “What would you have me do? Call her parents? Her sister? You?” I scoff. “Obviously, you were otherwise occupied, so that wouldn’t have worked.” Now, I’m the one backing up. I’m disappointed as hell in my little brother.

“Not that I owe your ass an explanation, but she slept in my bed. I slept on the motherfucking couch. Alone.” Throughout this entire conversation, Emmett hasn’t moved. That pisses me off more because all those times people were giving him shit about Livvie, I had his back. Even when I didn’t agree with him, I took his side. And now? He’s just watching the show. “Fuck this. Fuck you. I’m out.” I slam the door to the apartment when I leave and stomp down the stairs to my car.

After sitting in my car for a few minutes in the cool air, I’m able to calm down enough I’m no longer itching to go back upstairs and do damage to my brother. In fact, I don’t want to go back upstairs at all. Instead, I shoot Wyatt a text asking if I can come over.

Wyatt’s reply is quick.

I don’t bother to reply. I could care less if his girlfriend is there. Not like it’s shocking considering they live together and have since last summer.

The drive to their apartment doesn’t take long. It’s a little closer to campus than mine, and a lot smaller. Wyatt’s girl comes from money, but she pissed her parents off double time last year between her major and dating Wyatt. He’s not the rich guy they wanted her to be with, which meant they cut her off. She doesn’t seem to care, though. I thought she was a royal bitch the first time I met her, but she’s actually kinda cool. I can see why Wyatt digs her, and it’s not just for the fine-ass body she’s rocking. Peyton comes off as a total ice queen at first. I’m talking your dick would freeze if you stuck it in her and your balls would shrivel up and fall off due to frostbite kind of ice queen. She looks the part too with pale blond hair and pale skin. In fact, she looks a little like the chick in that cartoon Kat made us all watch. Wyatt’s girl was not amused when we all started singing the chorus and telling her to “let it go” constantly.

When I pull up outside his building, Wyatt’s standing outside waiting for me. I pull into an empty spot and get out. “I never said I was coming.”

Wyatt rolls his eyes as he walks up to me. “You wouldn’t have asked if I was home if you weren’t on your way. Are you okay with Peyton being here? She’s cool with leaving if you need some privacy. Says she has laundry to do anyway.” I envy him for a minute. He has someone to do his laundry. If I don’t take my stuff over to Mom’s, I have to wash my own shit. It only took one load of pink t-shirts for me to figure out what I was doing, so I don’t do it often. It’s a little weird to have my mom touching my shit now that I’m not living at home. I’m not above having her do it once a month or so when I’m in a pinch.

“Nah, it’s fine.” I think for a minute, and then say, “Actually, she might want to hear part of this too.” Wyatt looks at me with interest. His girl’s cool, but it’s not like we’re BFF’s. When I don’t explain, he leaves me to follow him down the hallway and into his apartment.

Peyton’s in the kitchen doing dishes when we walk inside. Wyatt wastes no time going over to her, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. I can’t hear what he’s saying, but it must be something about her hearing what I’m here to talk about because the water shuts off and she follows him over to the living room. I flop down on the larger of two couches in the small room, while they cuddle up on the smaller one. It’s the perfect time for me to make a smartass comment about my friend being whipped, but I just don’t have it in me right now. My head is too all over the place to worry about them.

I don’t know what to say at first. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why I came. Both Wyatt and Peyton are staring at me like they’ve never seen me before, and I guess they probably haven’t. I’m not usually out of sorts, but the thing with Kat last night and this morning has me reevaluating my judgment. I rub my palms along my sweatpants in an uncharacteristic display of nerves and try to gather my thoughts.

“Kat spent the night in my bed last night.” As soon as the words are out I want to take them back. The confused stares have turned into disbelieving ones, and I hurry to clarify. “Not the way you’re thinking. She got drunk at a party. So drunk she passed out. I didn’t know what to do with her, so I brought her home with me.” Peyton’s eyes narrow and I know she’s about to cuss me out. “I slept on the couch,” I reassure her. “I didn’t even take her clothes off. I just put her in my bed, covered her up, and got the hell out of there.” I don’t mention the sounds coming out of my bedroom early this morning. Even I’m not that stupid.

“Ooookay,” Wyatt says slowly. “What’s the big deal? It’s not like you haven’t had a girl in your bed before. Maybe not one who slept there alone, but still.” He and Peyton share a look, but I can’t decipher what it means. It’s one of those silent conversation looks that only the two of them understand.

I knew he wouldn’t get it. I’m just not sure I can explain it, but I have to try. “It’s not a big deal. It’s just, this morning? Things were really weird.” Mainly because I stood outside my door like a stalker and listened to her making sex sounds until I came with my ear against the door and my dick in my hand. I’m no stranger to pumping my python—yeah, it’s a python, not an inchworm—but that’s the first time I’ve ever done it standing just outside my door and listening to a girl get off, or dream about getting off, in my bed without me. It took all I had not to open the door and watch. The sexy as fuck noises she made were enough to keep my spank bank full to overflowing for at least a month.

“Weird how?” Peyton asks cautiously, interrupting my thoughts.

Running a hand through my hair, I sigh and explain the only safe portion of the night and morning—how the conversation was between us this morning. How I acted like my normal dick self and made her cry. I don’t say how craptastic I felt after I made her cry, but based on the looks they’re giving each other, I think they suspect. I tell them about taking Kat home, how eager she was to get out of the car and how awkward things were between us before she closed the door. Unable to sit any longer with them staring at me like I’m a freak, I stand and start to pace. “Then, when I got home, Max acted like he wanted to congratulate me on getting laid, running his mouth about me having to take her home and shit … until he found out it was Kat. He got pissed when he thought we had sex.” I stop in the middle of the room and my shoulders droop. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me. I wanted to beat the shit out of him for even thinking I would bang and bounce Kat.”

Peyton walks over to me slowly, like she’s worried I’m about to bolt and places a hand on my arm. “It’s okay to care about her, you know.” I start to protest, but she cuts me off with a sigh. “I’m not saying you’re in love with the girl Clay. No one would ever say that. I’m just saying … she’s a girl you’ve known for a long time. Of course you’re going to want to take up for her. She’s probably like a sister to you. I bet you’d do the same for Max or Linc. It’s one thing for you to tease her, but it’s not cool when someone else says something about her.”

Okay, that makes sense. Agreeing with her, I start to relax. She takes her hand from my arm and turns to Wyatt. “I’m going to go check on Kat. I’ll do the laundry when I get home, unless …“ she raises an eyebrow, “you want to do it while I’m gone?” Wyatt shrugs and she rolls her eyes with a huff. “Whatever. I’m sure you guys are just going to play video games, but it was an idea.” She goes to him, dropping a quick kiss on his lips before giving me a wave and grabbing her purse off the kitchen counter. Wyatt hands me a game controller, and I sit back down, determined to stop thinking about today’s events.