Iwake up and a flood of awareness hits; I fucking slept, and in a bed.
My body hums with happiness.
“Love you, mattress,” I murmur, as I head into the bathroom.
Then things get even better, by the merit of a shower, shave, and civilized shit. After brushing and flossing, everything is almost right with the world.
The only thing missing is Tee-Tee in my bed. Apart from that, I feel like a new person, except for the fact that I’m still me, which is a relief.
My high comes to a screeching halt when I see Wes staring at the countertop. “Hey,” I say, leaning next to him, looking at the granite surface. “What’s the haps?”
He doesn’t look up; instead, he traces lines of the polished stone with a finger, frowning deeply.
“Wes?”
He blinks, like he’s coming out of a trance. “How did I get here?”
The room is silent apart from Max’s snoring. “Um, do you still not remember anything?”
No response.
“OK, what about Theo? Do you remember her yet?”
His eyes narrow, and I regret the question.
“I don’t remember her,” he says. The coldness in his tone makes me shudder.
“No biggie,” I say, lying through my teeth, because of course it’s a biggie. I’m wondering where to go with this conversation next when the apartment door opens, and a sweaty Cosmo stalks in.
“What time is it?” Wes asks.
“Nearly nine,” Cos replies. “I’ve already called down to have breakfast delivered.”
I suddenly realize I’m starving—bless my man Cosmo Drakeward. I go and wrap my arms around him.
“Fuck off,” he says, with no heat in his tone, but a lot from his body.
“No, I need a hug.”
Cosmo sighs deeply but lets me cling on for a while until I feel a little better. He raises an eyebrow and nods in my brother’s direction, so I return my focus to Wes. “I don’t want to bug you, bro, but we’ve gotta figure this out. What’s the last thing you can, like, recall?”
The expression on Wes’s face makes it look like he’s really wrestling with his brain, trying his best to make it work. “I-I vaguely remember our first year here. And that summer, did we go somewhere tropical?”
Now we’re getting somewhere. “Yeah, we went diving in Turkey, then met Cos in Milan. The asshat wanted new leather loafers or some bullshit.” I grin at Cosmo. “Seriously, bro, I still don’t understand you at times.”
“You don’t need to understand my motivations to be my friend,” he mutters.
Huh? Is he actually butt-hurt? It’s weird for him to show he has feelings, but I don’t have time to tend to them right now.
I look into the eyes of my twin. “You remember the summer, but not coming back for sophomore year, right?”
He squints, concentrating, then shakes his head. “No.”
“We'd become joint-second in Elite standing, so got the penthouse with Cos.”
“We did?” The look on Wes’s face lightens slightly. “I guess I was still doing all your coursework for you then?”
“Well, duh. So we moved in here, and not long after, we met Theo. She was on the six-week exchange program.”
