He stared at me, his eyes wide, then shook his head. With one last bewildered glance in my direction, he turned around and walked back to his room muttering, “And that folks, is how life, as we know it, changed forever.”

I briefly considered mainlining the cup of coffee I’d just brewed when I heard soft footsteps on the kitchen tile. I turned around and saw her standing there, wearing a pair of my boxers and my AU t-shirt, which swam on her small frame. I was suddenly thankful I was wearing loose fitting shorts and not my damn jeans, although the jeans would have solved the damn tenting issue I was about to have.

“Morning.” I smiled, holding the coffee I had just poured for myself out to her.

Her eyes lit up when they settled on the steaming cup in my hand. “Good morning,” she smiled as she took the cup from me.

“We, uh, have milk and sugar, if you want some. There isn’t any of that foo-foo creamer here though.”

“Milk and sugar is good. Thanks.”

“So, you like coffee,” I said as I poured myself a new cup.

She chuckled. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“We don’t really have much normal food in the house this morning. I might be able to scrounge up an English muffin or two.”

“Those are good.” Her voice was a little shaky.

“Look, Sam, this doesn’t have to be weird. I mean, we’re both consenting adults. This is just new territory for me. I’ve never had this kinda interaction with a girl the morning after.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Well, just what kinda interaction do you usually have then?”

“None.”

She gasped. “None? Like ever?”

“Nope, I’ve never let a girl stay overnight before.”

“What? You just use ’em and toss ’em out the front door?”

I held up my hands. “No, that’s not it. The girls I’m usually with just go back to the party or whatever when we’re done, then go home when everyone else does. There’ve been a few who wanted to sleep over, but I was up front with them from the beginning. It’s just not my thing . . . or, well it wasn’t. Until you.”

“Oh . . .” she began, but shouting from the living room suddenly interrupted us.

“What the fucking hell, Quinn? How did you let this happen?” Tamron yelled as she rushed into the kitchen.

As soon as I saw the angry look on Tamron’s face, I leaned back against the counter and stared up at the ceiling.

“Babe, just wait a minute . . .” Quinn urged as he caught up with her.

“No. I will not wait a damn minute, Quinn.” She swung her head in my direction. “And you!” she seethed. “What the hell do you think you’re doing with her?”

Sam cleared her voice. “Tamron, stop. There’s no need to be upset or yell. We spent the night together. Quite frankly, it’s none of your business.”

Tamron shook her head. “Sam, Emmett doesn’t spend the night with girls. He fucks them and moves on,” she said in an exasperated tone.

“Well, he spent the night with me,” Sam replied as she motioned to herself and the clothes she was wearing. “And I enjoyed it—every minute.”

Tamron’s face blanched, but then she turned and walked right up to me, stopping only inches away. “You should have known better. She’s too good for you. She’s not one of your whores, Emmett. And it’s not just me you have to worry about either . . .”

“What’s going on in here?” Alison yawned as she shuffled into the kitchen with Riley on her heels.

“Speak of the devil,” I muttered.

“Oh, nothing really. Apparently, Emmett fucked Sam last night and I’m in the process of chewing him a new asshole. He’ll be lucky if I don’t punch him in the junk.”

Alison’s mouth and bloodshot eyes opened wide as she glared daggers at me.

“For the love of God, will everyone just stop and relax a damn minute?” Sam said with her hands on her hips. She glanced from Tamron to Alison and back again. “I guess you two haven’t noticed, but I am an adult. I can and will make my own freaking decisions. Most especially regarding who I’m going to sleep with.”

“We know, Sam, it’s just . . .”

“No!” she yelled. “This conversation is so not happening with everyone standing here! I’m mortified! I know you two don’t have any filters, but this is beyond bullshit and way, way, way past the line of being okay,” she huffed. “Now, if you have something to say, we can take this upstairs—away from the guys. Geez.” She walked past me, set her cup down, and squeezed my hand. “Emmett, I’m so sorry about all of this.”

“It’s okay, darlin.’ I figured it was gonna be bad when they found out.”

Sam smiled up at me, lifted on to her tiptoes, and gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek before walking out of the kitchen.

The girls looked at me, Tamron finally silent in her anger.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Emmett. You knew she was our friend,” Alison scolded as they followed Sam into the living room.

I breathed a sigh of relief at their exit and turned toward Riley and Quinn, both of whom were failing miserably at holding in their laughter.

“Shut up, assholes. It’s not funny.”

Riley held up his hands. “Sorry . . . sorry.”

I walked out and climbed the stairs. I needed to get ready for my shift at the lumberyard. I stopped when I heard voices from Riley’s room.

“Sam, with what you just went through, we just don’t want to see you get hurt again. That’s all. And as I’m sure you’ve gathered, Emmett’s not exactly the stick-around kind-of-guy,” Alison finished in a frustrated sigh.

“I know he’s not. He told me last night when we were hanging out at the party, he doesn’t do the girlfriend thing. But did it ever occur to either of you . . . that that was exactly what I needed? To be able to feel something good without worrying about getting hurt again?”

That should’ve relieved me, but for some reason, it bothered me even more.

I couldn’t believe Tamron and Alison’s audacity. As I tore off Emmett’s clothes and yanked on my own from the party, I vowed to hold my grudge long enough for them to think about their actions. I took out my phone and Googled cab companies. I found one that looked good and called the number listed.

“Apple Taxi, how may I help you?”

“Hi, I need a cab.”

“Okay, what’s the pick-up address?”

Shit! I don’t know. It’s not like I freaking drove here or paid attention to the house number or street name for that matter.

“Umm, sorry, let me just look a minute.”

I looked around Emmett’s room and saw some papers lying on his dresser. Shuffling through them, I found a piece of mail from Auburn University.

“Okay, it’s 332 Mason Road.”

“All right, I have a driver about ten minutes from that area. I’ll send him over.”

“Thanks.”

I hung up then tossed my phone onto Emmett’s bed. As I glanced at the twisted sheets, my mind flashed back to us tangled up in them. Just the thought of it had me feeling warm and smiling. I’d never been with anyone but Alec. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. My heart still ached at the thought of him at that party and his cruel behavior. But I was moving on. I deserved better.

I opened Emmett’s door only to run smack into his chest . . . again. My gaze meandered up his body to his piercing blue eyes as his hands caught my shoulders, sending tingles down my arms.

He chuckled. “We really gotta stop meeting like this . . . then again, I love the feel of you.”

“Oh,” I gasped. “Sorry. I was just on my way downstairs to wait for a cab.”

“What the hell? No. I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”