“I’ll bring you back tomorrow,” Trey’s voice tears me out of my memories. I pick up my head and must look confused because he clarifies, “For your car.” He motions with his head.

“You assume I’ll be sleeping over,” I joke, my best defense mechanism, but he just gives me a tight smile and opens the door for me.

Before he shuts it, he reminds me, “You said you wanted me alone. The stipulation is in my bed for the night.” He chuckles quietly and the door clicks shut, leaving his last statement hanging in the air.

See, he gets me. I needed humor in that moment and he understood it. We make the drive back to the house they all share in silence. I’ve only ever heard about it, I’ve never actually stepped foot in there. When he pulls his car in the driveway, there’s a line of cars and a feeling of dread, not able to be alone, comes over me. “We live so close to downtown, we walk a lot. They might not be home,” he assures me, getting out of the car.

We enter through the back door into the kitchen, and he’s wrong because a group of guys is sitting around the table, slinging back shots with a pile of cards in front of them. I spot Dex, but I don’t recognize the others. They all stop what they’re doing and eye us at the door.

“TREY!” a guy yells.

“About time, grab a chair,” another says.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Trey says to one of them with dark spiky hair. Instantly the guy stands and walks toe to toe with him.

“Isn’t she a little too girl next door for you?” The guy stares me up and down, making me inch behind Trey slightly.

“Fuck off, jackass,” Trey places his arm in front of me, scooting me the rest of the way behind him.

“Give it a rest, Rob,” Dex says from his position shuffling the cards.

That’s Rob? Jessa’s ex Rob? Man, he’s an ass, but a hot ass. Not that I would ever tell that to Trey. But the guy’s got a jaw line that could crack marble. No piercings, but just as many tats as Trey.

“Hey, Trey’s never been opposed to me looking at the goods before. What’s up, Michaels? You’ve gone all soft, like Brady? Shit another one loses the battle,” he calls out as he makes a check mark in the air with his finger, and the table of guys laugh. He peeks around Trey, staring directly at my chest. “She might be worth it–might,” he sneers, and Trey’s hand leaves my hip and cracks him across that perfectly lined jaw.

He stumbles back before catching his footing, cupping his chin. “Get used to seeing me, Michaels, since Jessa’s living with her Frat Boy, I’m back in.” He gives Trey a condescending smirk and sits back down, turning his attention to the game.

Trey grabs my hand and two beers before pulling me to the stairs. “I’m gonna fucking kill Brady,” he mumbles as we get to the top of the stairs. And this is exactly my reason for not living with your best friends. Don’t get me wrong Kim and I are acquaintances and go out occasionally, but for the most part, we live separate lives. Unlike this house where all their lives intertwine somehow like a labyrinth.

“Kill me, huh?” Brady appears at the top of the stairs with Sadie two steps behind. If those two ever do anything separate, I’d be floored.

“What the hell? Why would you allow him back in?” Trey shakes his head in disbelief.

“Trey—,” Sadie starts, but Brady places his hand on her arm.

“Listen, Jessa’s living at Grant’s now. He’s down, the band threw him out. I’m sure he’ll find another band soon and leave. I know he’s done some questionable things, but haven’t all of us,” Brady tries to reason, and, surprisingly, Trey relents.

“Don’t expect me to be here much then,” Trey says over his shoulder, walking to his room.

“You have to leave what happened between him and Jessa between them. She’s forgiven him, you should too,” Brady adds, and I just give them an uncomfortable tight smile while being pulled by Trey into his room.

Trey slams the door after we’re both in the room, cracking open the beer, he guzzles half of it down before resting it on the nightstand. Not sure what to do, I stand there in front of his bed, shifting my feet from side to side. “Sorry,” he mumbles, “that guy just knows what buttons to press with me.” He quickly stands and places his arms around me. “This isn’t how I planned this night to go.” Me neither, I think to myself.

“Why do you hate him so much? Other than his vulgar mouth,” I ask, knowing there’s something with Jessa, since they used to date.

“Mostly Jessa, the way he treated her when they were together. The way they broke up, it’s unacceptable the way he treated her,” Trey begins to tell me, but stops and shakes his head. “Enough about the dickhead, I finally have you alone in my bedroom, willingly,” he chuckles.

“Are you telling me you had thoughts of dragging me up here against my will?” I saunter over, positioning my legs on each side of his.

“The idea of tossing you over my shoulder and locking you in my room might have crossed my mind a time or two,” he admits while his hands grab a hold of my ass, pulling me to him.

“I might not have objected,” I say, keeping my voice low and sultry. My hands reach around clasping at the back of his neck. The stubble of his short dark hair rubbing against my palms.

“Let’s not waste any more time.” His hands roam up my back, bringing chills in the wake of his path. Then his tongue licks across his lips before bringing my face to his. At first he’s gentle and soft, letting our lips graze over each other. His teeth tug on my bottom lip, dragging it down, teasingly. My hands firm against his neck, not wanting him to stop. He releases my lips with a pop and smiles up at me before licking his way down my jaw line and up to my earlobe. “I want you tonight,” he whispers and the chills reappear, making my body shiver.

As though he knows exactly what he’s done to me, he tightens his arms against me, hugging me into him. “I’ll be right back,” I say and stand up, laughing at Trey’s baffled expression. “I need to use the bathroom,” I embarrassingly admit.

Still puzzled to why I pulled away, he points me to the door. “Make sure you lock the other door, it leads to Dex’s room.” He sits back on the bed.

I escape into the bathroom, thankful that the panty liner is void of any sign of my period. A smile creeps across my face that it’s over, and I’ll be able to finally be with Trey tonight. As embarrassing as it was to leave in the middle to go to the bathroom, it would have been worse for him to find out another way. Going over to the sink to wash my hands, I let my eyes wander over the contents. His toothbrush, toothpaste, hair gel, and razor are all positioned neatly across the counter. So different than Dex’s side, whose toiletries are strewn across the counter, as though he lays it down wherever he is when he finishes using an item.

Being the snoop that I am, I open the drawer and a small bottle of perfume rolls down, hitting against the drawer door. I pick up the sample size and slowly take off the cap to smell it. A crisp flowery fragrant scent hits my nostrils. The smell is nice, but I don’t find a name on it anywhere. I half wonder if this was something some girl left behind or worse some ex-girlfriends that he never got rid of. The image of him picking it up and smelling it to remember the arms of someone else pangs me. Suddenly, the last thing I want to do is go back into that room. But how can I hold it against him, I knew he had a past before I got together with him. Fighting every fiber of me that wants to flush the bottle down the toilet, I reluctantly place it back in the drawer and will myself to forget my findings from my snooping.

I open the door and Trey is staring into his phone, but instantly looks up and smiles at me when he finds me in the doorway. “Do me a favor, baby? Shut that door and swing that latch over it,” he instructs, pointing to the small metal to flip lock on the door, so no one can get in.