There’s no way I want to scare her or yell at her before she has a chance to get to know me, but going off with a guy she’s never met and accepting drinks from him was the stupidest thing she could have done tonight. It’s one of the reasons I kept my own sister away from this place for as long as I could. At least Cara knows she messed up. No use yelling at her anymore for something she can’t fix any easier than I can. All we can do is keep her away from Caleb.

“What’s wrong, Cara? You want a drink?” Sophie asks.

“I couldn’t find you for over an hour, Sophie. You scared the shit out of me,” Cara tells her as she wipes her eyes with a tissue. “I thought you were in trouble, which you clearly were. Kipton’s been pissed at me since we got separated.”

“I’m good. It’s all good. You want to dance?” Sophie stands up, my T-shirt falling to her knees reminding me how tiny she really is. Being all of a hundred pounds, it obviously wouldn’t take much for her to get wasted.

“Your party’s over, Sophie,” I remind her while I continue to pace back and forth over the plush carpeting in my bedroom. Running my hands through my hair, I try to figure out how to handle my next problem—Caleb. He will be set straight at some point tonight. Sophie sits back down on my bed and Cara plucks another tissue out of the box before joining her.

I roll my eyes at her dramatics. Maybe I was a little hard on her, but she needs to stop worrying about guys all the damn time. “Cara, please stop crying. I can’t take you upset too.”

“Then stop yelling at me! I get it. She’s drunk. I lost her. I’m sorry, Kipton.”

“Carrraaaa, I’m not lost. I was downstairs drinking, then upstairs drinking, then through the window drinking, then dancing and now I’m sitting here with you two party poopers.” She bounces on the bed trying to get Cara to smile. Cara’s wired the same way I am though and doesn’t give in to Sophie’s playful mood.

“Sophie, I was so scared something happened to you. It was my idea to drag you here and then I lost you. Caleb doesn’t have the best reputation you know.”

Sophie reaches over and hugs Cara. “It’s okay. Stop crying and have a drink! Caleb took me, not the boogeyman. He’s not even that scary. Did you know he bites?”

“What do you mean, Sophie? Who bites?” At the mention of Caleb’s name, I start to lose my cool again. When I walk back over to the bed to get details out of her, I notice a mark on her neck and a shadow on her forehead. After turning on the bedside lamp, I discover the knot near her temple. “What the hell happened to your head, Sophie?”

“Caleb hit my head and dropped me,” she says with a giggle.

“He did what?” Cara and I shout in unison.

“He ran me into the wall, but it didn’t hurt. Then I fell off his back and went boom.” She crashes her hands together for added effect before continuing. “Ya know, I don’t feel anything actually. It’s amazing.”

“Kipton, that bump looks bad.”

“It is bad, Cara. If she wasn’t wasted I’d take her to the emergency room. But she’ll get tossed off the team and in a lot of trouble if I do.” I crouch in front of Sophie and run my hand over her forehead. She automatically leans into my touch and looks into my eyes. Her skin is as smooth as satin under my rough fingertips. I’m mesmerized by her gorgeous blue eyes as she places her tiny hand around my wrist, holding me in place. The connection is too intense. Quickly, I stand up and lean against the wall to slow down my breathing.

“How much did you drink, Sophie?” Cara asks, oblivious to the mini moment I just shared with her roommate.

“Um. Beer, wiggly shots, regular ones too. Oh, and juice out of the garbage. Can you believe they drink out of the trash around here?” She laughs hysterically, falling over on the bed in the process.

“Shit,” I grumble. How the hell could Caleb give someone her size that much alcohol? If he had any intention of screwing her tonight I’ll fucking kill him. He’s already going to hear about the hickey. As I start to envision bashing his face in, Sophie’s expression changes. Her skin becomes pale and her carefree smile disappears. Something tells me she’s not loving being drunk anymore.

“Cara, bathroom,” Sophie says in a panic while holding her stomach in both of her hands.

She will never make it down the hall in time so I grab the small trashcan next to my bed and rub her back as every ounce of alcohol she consumed reappears. When she starts to dry heave and fights to catch her breath, Cara starts to cry again. “This is all my fault. Sophie, I’m so sorry.”

“Cara, did she eat any dinner?”

“I don’t know. She went to the gym and then we came here. She didn’t go to the dining hall with me and Drew tonight.”

“I’m going to kill, Caleb,” I announce through gritted teeth. Sophie’s body goes limp next to me. Laying her on her side in case she gets sick again, I tell Cara to find me a cold wash cloth. Sophie’s eyes roll back in her head briefly and I start to worry she may have alcohol poisoning.

“Kipton.” She moans my name softly.

“Sophie? Can you hear me?” I tap her cheek gently, trying to rouse her from her sleep. She opens her eyes and smiles innocently back at me.

“Yeah. I hear you,” she whispers. “You make me stupid.”

“You’re not stupid.” I gently brush her hair out of her eyes. She watches my lips for a few seconds as I speak to her before shifting her gaze to meet mine.

“I want you to kiss me, but I threw up.” For the first time, her cheeks don’t turn pink while talking to me.

I blow out a breath, not wanting to hurt her fragile drunken feelings. “Sophie, I can’t kiss you.”

“That’s okay. I know I’m too ugly for a guy as hot as you are.” She looks sullen as she closes her eyes as if it physically pains her to look at me for another second.

“You’re not ugly and that’s not why I won’t kiss you. I won’t because you’re drunk.”

“Coach says I suck. I miss home. My mom would be so mad at me right now. I’m like him.” A tear escapes her eye and I gently brush it away before it falls down her flushed cheek.

“You’re perfect, Sophie.”

“You’re the hottest guy I’ve ever seen,” she mumbles.

She’s definitely experiencing some hard-core liquid courage right now. Alcohol must be her truth serum. While I’d love to pump as much information out of her as possible while she’s lit, I won’t. I would rather earn her sober confessions. “I’m nothing special, Sophie.” It’s the truth.

“I’m sleepy,” she says as her eyelashes flutter open and closed.

I tuck her tiny frame under the covers and pull my comforter up to her chin. She snuggles down into my bed and gives up her fight, already breathing soundly. “Rest, Sophie.”

When I stand up, Cara is watching me intently from the doorway. “I never thought I’d see the day, but you actually have a thing for her.”

“Cara, stop. She’s your roommate. Don’t make this into more than it is.” I quickly change my shirt in case anything got on it while Sophie was getting sick. Cara’s still keeping an eye on me, waiting for me to confess, but I won’t.

“I call bullshit Kippy, but whatever.” Thankfully she drops the subject quickly and lets me off the hook without one of her rounds of twenty questions.

“Stay here with her in case she gets sick; I have to talk to Caleb.” He will learn to respect the girls that come into this house. Granted some girls do come here specifically looking for a hook-up, but there are girls similar to Sophie who haven’t been here before. There’s no way I’m risking anyone’s safety as long as I live under this roof.

Cara eyes me suspiciously. We’re both relieved Sophie’s calmed down and resting peacefully, but she has something to say. She always does. “You know it’s okay to be into her, Kip. You don’t have to pretend with her. She’s the real deal.”

“I don’t know anything about her, Cara, but I get the impression she might be. I’m sorry she got mixed up with the wrong guy tonight.” Cara nods her head and sits down on the worn recliner in the corner of my room. She starts messing with her phone, probably texting the library douche who is responsible for making her lose Sophie in the first place.