Page 14

I dragged myself from bed and threw myself into a shower, standing under the scalding hot spray until my skin turned pink, ensuring that every ounce of tequila was scrubbed from my system. I did the same with my teeth, brushing twice and chugging so much mouthwash that it burned.

Carter floated around the corner and poked his head into the bathroom. “Morning,” he said tenderly.

I sighed, grateful for the care he’d shown me. The first time one of my brothers came home drunk, the oldest woke him up by banging a metal spoon on a soup pan and singing at the top of his lungs.

I rinsed my mouth and dried my face. “Do I look as rough as I feel?”

“I’ve seen worse. You hungry?”

“Starving,” I admitted without even thinking.

“Go sit down.” He gestured to the couch. “I stocked some ElectroBites in the fridge for you, but there’s some in the cupboard if you don’t want it cold.”

Carter strolled away gracefully, thankfully before my eyes blurred with tears again. I had to get it together. I couldn’t get so emotional over the first person to show me any attention.

Blaming my vulnerable mood on my hangover, I snatched one of the sports drinks from the fridge and fell onto the couch with it, tugging the cap open with my teeth. I hadn’t even realized that Carter had left the dorm entirely until he re-entered, with a steaming, foil-covered bowl in his hands. “Sorry; I had to run down to the kitchen to warm it up.”

The warm, nutty scent drifted across the room to me, and my stomach seemed to beg for it. “What is it?” I asked.

“Juk.” Carter fell into the seat beside me. “Basically just creamed rice and sesame oil. It’s good for your stomach.”

I was so hungry that I was likely to put anything in my mouth, but the porridge-like substance in the bowl was actually really good. Simple, but just what I needed, and the warmth settled comfortably in my stomach and spread throughout my veins. After a few more bites, I finally broke the silence. “This is really good. Thank you.”

“You want to talk about last night?”

“No,” I answered without hesitation. “I’d rather pretend it never happened.”

I didn’t raise my head from my meal, but I felt Carter’s eyes boring a hole into me.

“You know you’re not getting away with that, don’t you?”

I lazily shrugged a single shoulder. “Worth a shot, but don’t worry—I’m never drinking again.”

“I don’t mean the alcohol.”

That was the precise moment my body decided to find all the blood that had drained from it and send it rushing to my face. How was I supposed to start a conversation about creaming my pants? In college. This wasn’t like when I had my first wet dream at thirteen. Even then all I did was change the sheets and furiously research it on the family computer later… Then scrubbed the search history.

Not that my family paid much attention.

“You know you have nothing to be embarrassed about, right?” But before I could protest his words he continued. “It happens way more than you think.”

I raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, waiting for him to tell me about a time it had happened to him.

He didn’t.

Instead, his next words were extremely careful. “Tate… Are you a virgin?” He rushed to continue his thought before I could answer. “Just so you know, there’s nothing wrong with that. Absolutely nothing and if anyone ever makes you feel otherwise, swing first, then you tell me.”

I snickered. “Was it that obvious?”

“It wouldn’t have been if you hadn’t freaked out and bolted.”

I sighed, finishing off the last of my rice dish and setting the empty bowl aside. “Luc probably thinks I’m pathetic.”

“You could ask him.”

“Did you lose one of your nine lives last night? Are you insane?”

Carter shook his head. “Nope. Just a big brother that can see things the little ones can’t.”