The door swings open behind me and a double of the blond at the table walks in with four Rottweilers on his heels. Two fully grown, and two puppies.
My heart goes squishy at the puppies when the guy pauses to look at me. “Who are you?”
I look at him properly and realize I was wrong. He isalmostthe double of the blond, but there are definitely differences between the two. The one at the table, Sawyer I think, has this golden retriever energy. He looks a bit like the quarterback in every film you watch about high school football.
This version of him, who I should probably think of as his twin, has thick black-rimmed glasses, his hair is a shade darker, his lip is pierced, and there’s ink covering one of his arms. The tank he has on with his jeans does nothing to hide it. He has a whole geeky emo thing going on and it’s hot as hell.
Jesus, I need to dial back thinking with my vagina.
“I’m Briar,” I finally answer with an awkward as fuck wave. I crouch down as the dogs approach. One of the adults stays with the geeky god, but the puppies rush at me while the other adult watches with caution.
“I’m Asher,” the geeky god says. “Seems Shadow likes you.” He nods to the puppy jumping all over me.
I pet the dogs, trying to drag my focus from the daggers I can feel being stared into my back.
Tobias serves up breakfast and leaves the kitchen as Asher sits with the other three. “Any reason you’re looking at the new girl like she pissed in your cornflakes?”
I turn to face them, wincing when Sawyer laughs. “Bro, that’s the chick from last night.”
Asher’s eyes go wide when he glances at me. “Oh shit. Well, that’s fucked up.”
“And on that note, I’m going to go.”
“Good idea,” Travis sneers. I look at the others and no one else seems to be hating on me too much. In fact, Sawyer keeps looking at me like he wouldn’t mind a repeat of last night but Cole hasn’t said much at all. Still, no one contradicts Travis, which isn’t surprising considering the dynamic I picked up on last night.
“Hold up,” Asher says, patting the chair next to him. “Maybe I want to get to know the new girl. Sorry, Briar.” He winks at me and my stomach rolls.
“Sorry, I’m really not feeling great and I need to think about getting ready to sign up for classes on Monday.” I fake an apologetic smile, pet the dogs one last time, and haul ass from the kitchen. I hear a yip behind me and realize one of the puppies has followed me out.
I wait a second but no one comes to get him, so I scoop him up and run up the stairs. I check the tag on his collar and realize this is Shadow. “At least you don’t hate me, huh?”
I kiss his squishy little face and he licks my cheek back. I always wanted a dog, but living in a tiny apartment, I never got to have one. I’m taking this as one upside from this morning. I get puppy cuddles.
I don’t even know who he belongs to, but for now at least, he’s mine, and I’m going to steal him for as long as I can get away with.
I curl up on my bed, wondering how, in all of fucking Oakwood, I managed to sleep with my new stepbrother. Shadow curls up in a ball in front of me like he’s the little spoon in this equation.
Grabbing my phone to see if there’s anything from Emerson, I’m not all that surprised to see there isn’t, so I drop her a message instead.
Me:
Please tell me you’re alive.
I drop my phone onto the bed, not expecting to hear from her any time soon, only a little pissed that she straight up abandoned me last night. I should’ve known better. She’s always been like that. Some would probably call her a frenemy rather than a friend, but she’s always just kind of been there. Which makes me sound like a shitty friend too, I guess.
I close my eyes as the room starts to spin. Here was me hoping that the shock of finding all three boys from last night in my kitchen would be enough to counter the aftereffects of the tequila, but of course I’m not that lucky.
Not today.
My phone buzzes and I groan as I open my eyes. Shadow grumbles quietly, like he begrudges the movement too.
Emerson:
I’m alive. You have fun last night?
I contemplate telling her what happened and decide against it. This isn’t something I intend to publicize. Like, ever.
Emerson might not be going to Saints U, but she also has a big fucking mouth.