As kids, Leah and Tanner hated each other. To this day, they still do. Tanner Cole is tall, dark, tattooed, and insanely attractive, though his ugly heart drowns all of this out to Leah. At eighteen years old, all Leah wants is to go off to college...
I wake with a piercing pain in my head and immediately lift my hands to the place, groaning in agony. It feels like someone has taken a knife to my skull. Squeezing my eyes shut, I bury myself further under the covers, wishing the pain away, but try as I might, the headache won't go. If this is what hangovers feel like, then I never want to drink again!
I must have been so out of it last night because I can't even remember what happened at the party, let alone how I got back to my dorm room.
Poor Zara. I must have been a real liability to her. The last thing she would have wanted would be to spend the night looking after her intoxicated roommate.
I try to sift through my memory to recall what I got up to, but it feels like I'm hitting a brick wall. What the hell happened last night? Think, think!
I remember being at the frat party and playing... playing... Simon Says. Yes! That was it, playing Simon Says. But then what happened? I rub my temples, willing myself to remember, but I draw a blank. Huffing loudly, I whip the cover off my head and stare at the wall, but my eyes suddenly widen in surprise as I realize something is wrong.
Where are the posters of my favorite movies, the Polaroids of my friends and family back home? Oh God, where the hell am I? And why am I in another person's bed?
My mind runs into overdrive trying to figure out how I got here, but my hazy memory and pounding head is making it impossible.
Just then, a deep snore infiltrates my ears, and I screech. I quickly roll onto my other side to identify where the sound came from, and as I peer over the bed, I find Tanner fast asleep on the hardwood floor with nothing but a pillow beneath his head for comfort.
The moment I see his angelic face, another piece of the puzzle comes back to me. That's right! He brought me here. Oh no, he brought me here after I threw up all over their yard. I run my hands down my face in embarrassment. The more I remember, the more I wish I were still asleep.
Tanner gives another snore, and I sit upright in the bed and look back at his sleeping form. Despite his uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, he seems at peace. His mouth is slightly ajar, and a bit of drool is hanging on the edge of his lower lip.
My gaze lowers, and I realize Tanner's still in the white T-shirt he wore last night, but he's ditched his jeans, meaning he's now only in a pair of black boxer shorts. As my eyes linger on his crotch, I take in a small intake of breath when I spot the hard outline against his boxers. My body begins to feel warm and I know it's in reaction to seeing Tanner like this. Though, as soon as I come to this realization I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head. I can't believe I'm lusting over Tanner Cole. For fuck's sake, pack it in!
To distract myself, I tear my eyes away from Tanner's body and scan the rest of the room. On first impressions, his bedroom isn't exactly what I imagined because it's so tidy. The desktops and floor are immaculately clean, and any clothes that are out are folded neatly.
A shimmer of light quickly catches my attention, and I zone in on a glass frame hanging on the far wall. The light dances against the glass, creating a spectrum of colors, and beneath the frame is a signed New York Islanders jersey, which is no surprise to me as he loves hockey. As I try to make out the signed names, another sharp pain pounds in my head, and I clench the comforter waiting for the ache to pass.
After a while, the throbbing becomes duller, and I feel as if I could drift off to sleep again, but my bladder has other plans for me. Groaning, I swing my legs over the bed and tiptoe across the room to avoid waking Tanner.
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