“Tyler?” I called, looking around. I stumbled into the kitchen to get a glass of water. The instant the cool liquid touched my throat, I felt a second of relief before vomiting violently into the sink. Just when I thought it was over, my stomach heaved again, and then again, splashing a mixture of beer, wine, and possibly tequila all over the dishes and trash that had been left in the stainless steel basin.
I turned on the water, rinsing out my mess and throwing away the trash. I started the dishwasher and then plodded down the hall toward the bedroom.
“Tyler?” I said, pushing open the door.
Tyler lifted his head, rubbing his eyes. “Hey, Ellie.” He blinked a few times, trying to focus on my expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Morning,” Finley said next to him.
Tyler nearly leapt out of the bed, but then scrambled for sheets to cover himself. Finley casually stood in her perfect form and stepped into her dress, zipping it up and grabbing her heels.
“What the fuck?” Tyler yelped, looking mortified and confused.
“I so deserved this,” I said, my voice breaking.
Tyler shook his head, touching his palm to his forehead, trying to remember what had happened. “No. You … you were drunk and went into the wrong bedroom. We just left you there so you could sleep, Ellie. I did not fuck your sister. Where’s Falyn?”
I shrugged. “Why would I know where Falyn is?”
“I swear to God, Ellie,” he begged. He pointed to Finley. “Nothing happened! I have no idea why she was in the bed naked.”
Finley winked at Tyler and then stopped next to me in the doorway. “How does it feel?”
I let out a faltering breath, feeling my eyes burn with tears. “Like death.”
“Then we’re even. Marco is waiting for us outside. He’ll give you a ride home.”
She shouldered past me, and I looked up at Tyler. He dropped the sheets, furiously looking for his clothes. “Don’t leave. Ellie,” he warned. “Don’t you fucking leave with her. We need to figure this out.”
“I deserved this,” I said, my face crumbling. “But you didn’t. I’m so sorry you were mixed up in this … in my fucked up universe. I really did think…” I blew out a slow breath, trying not to sob. “It doesn’t matter.”
Tyler found his boxer briefs and yanked them on. “Ellie, wait.”
I turned on my heels, rushing down the hall and pushing out the door. As promised, Marco was waiting for me in a rented Lexus with my sister looking freshly fucked and content in the passenger seat. I slid into the back, and Marco pulled away just as Tyler burst through the door with just a towel wrapped around his waist.
“Don’t stop,” I said, hearing Tyler scream my name until we turned the corner a block away.
“You might as well turn off your phone until you can change your number,” Finley said. “That’s what I had to do with Sterling. Are you going to your apartment, or the chateau?”
“My apartment,” I snapped, staring out the window.
My phone buzzed, and I scrambled to turn it off.
“Told you so,” Finley said. She sniffed her hair and made a noise, disgusted. “Agh, I still smell like him.”
“Shut the fuck up, Fin. Just shut up.”
Marco drove me to the MountainEar. By the time I climbed the stairs, put on a T-shirt and sweatpants, and washed my face and brushed my teeth, Tyler’s truck had slid into a parking spot, and he was banging on the back door.
I looked down at him from my window. He was wearing just a T-shirt and jeans, his boots on but untied. I could see his breath puffing out in white clouds, and he rubbed his hands together between knocks.
“Ellie!” he yelled. “I’m not fucking leaving. Open the door!”
I unlatched the window and pushed it up without effort, leaning on the windowsill as I peered down at Tyler. “I’m not mad.”
He looked up at me. “Then let me come up.”
“Go home, Tyler.”
He held out his hands. “It’s fucking freezing out here.”
“Then get in your truck and go home.”
“I didn’t fuck your sister! I was in the shower this morning. You stumbled to Taylor’s room, so I slept in there with you. I held you in my arms all fucking night. Taylor must have slept in my room and your psychotic sister must have crawled in bed with him, thinking it was me. You caught Finley with Taylor!”
I frowned, knowing I could tell them apart by now, but I had just woken up and was upset. Maybe…
“Just let me come up. Please? I’m gonna start losing fingers soon.”
“You’re going to let Taylor take the fall for you? This is beyond fooling your teachers in school, don’t you think?”
“I swear to God. Just let me come up so I can explain. We’ll call Taylor if you want.”
“He would lie for you.”
“Ellie, please? It’s my birthday.” His dimple appeared, but I stayed strong.
“Then go find your brother and celebrate it.”
He shook his head, smiling. “I want to spend it with you. Even if that means I spend the day trying to figure out what the hell happened last night.”
“It’s two degrees, Tyler.”
“Then let me in,” he said, his smile fading. “I can’t leave. It’ll ruin my whole day.”
“I think you ruined your day when you slept with my sister!”
“I didn’t sleep with your sister! Goddammit!” he yelled, kicking the door.
“Stop! Wick will kick me out!”
Tyler perched his hands on his hips, breathing hard. He shook his head, and then looked up. “Open this door, Ellie, or I’ll kick it in, I swear to God.”
“You’re a bastard,” I said.
He held out his hands. “And your sister’s a bitch.”
I closed the window and stomped downstairs, twisting the bolt lock and opening the door. Tyler passed me, jogging up to the apartment. By the time I walked into the living room, he was shivering on my sofa, wrapped in the comforter off my bed.
I rolled my eyes and turned on the Keurig.
“I almost got hypothermia over this,” he said.
“You should have dressed warmly,” I snapped.
“I didn’t have much time, considering my brother busts into the bathroom to tell me a half-ass version of the story, and I had to run after you in a towel down the block and then back. I grabbed the first clothes I saw, put them on, and ran out the door. The only woman I touched last night was you. You have to believe me.”