I won't be able to sleep until I know you got home okay.

I giggled and swayed, placing my hand on the slick acrylic bar to steady myself.

Did you even try to go sleep? I texted Tate back.

Yes, it's useless.

Then can I spend the night?

If he was going to stay up, then I could choose his place.

Of course. Text me when you're ready, and I'll come pick y'all up.

"You need another drink?"

I looked up into a tall handsome face with blond bangs hanging down over his eyebrows.

"No thank you," I smiled. "I can get my own drinks."

He nodded at me politely and turned back to his friend.

I motioned to the bartender. "Jonathan! Shots! Fruity, girly ones! Please! Oh, three of them!"

Jonathan chuckled at me as he made me three shots of something new. He didn't need to be told that I wanted three or that I wanted ridiculous sugary ones. He'd been supplying us with fun exotic shots all night.

I sounded way too loud, even to myself, but this was one of the best girls' nights I'd had in a while.

I cupped my hand over my mouth and mumbled, "Sorry," through my fingers.

He laughed and put my shots on the bar. "Melon Balls."

I smiled appreciatively at the green liquid. We'd already had Bubblegum Shooters, Strawberry Shortcakes, Pineapple Upside Downs, and a few others I couldn't remember.

The Tuesday night crowd was thinner than normal, so Alice, Millie, and I had open space to dance and the DJ was even appeasing the requests we'd yell at him.

"Rihanna!" Millie screamed when I made my way back to them.

We were those annoying girls, but sometimes it really is just so fun. We didn't care who was judging us.

We took our shots on the dance floor before the DJ blasted Where Have You Been, and we went crazy.

We were grinding on each other, twirling around, smushing ourselves into a sandwich like stereotypical drunk college girls.

This felt like the year before with my best friends—the three of us happy in our element. And it made it even sweeter that we were all happy in our romantic lives. A rare occurrence all together.

Alice and Bradley were officially together, and Millie was... you know.

We pushed away every boy who tried to get near us, and we danced for hours under the flashing lights and the buzz from the speakers.

I texted Tate a little before 1 a.m.: We don't want to leave, but we have to leave.

Yeah, Wednesdays really get in the way of fun. Be there in twenty, he replied.

Twenty-five minutes later we forced ourselves off the dance floor to wait for Tate outside.

Blond Bangs and his friends followed us out.
"I didn't get your name," he said behind me.

I spun around, unsteady on my feet. "Devin."

He smiled. It was sort of sweet; a smooth and harmless smile. "I'm Peyton. Do you go to SFU?"

"Yeah," I replied nicely, but when he put his arm around me, I removed it.

"Maybe I'll see you around campus," he said hopefully. "Maybe I could get your number, and we can hang out this weekend."

"That's sweet, but—" I started, but he tried again with his arm. I giggled drunkenly and removed it again. I took a small step back. "Please don't touch me." Even when I was trying to be bold, I sounded so polite. "I have a boyfriend, so no, I don't think so. But thank you anyway."

I turned and saw Tate leaning against his black SUV on the curb just as Peyton placed his hand on my shoulder again. He was listening to our whole exchange with a mixture of anger and slight amusement across his face.

I broke out into a huge smile, brushed Peyton's hand off me, and narrowed my eyes mischievously at Tate. "Were you even going to save me or just continue standing there?"

Tate stepped up. He couldn't figure out which emotion he wanted to win out.

"She's with me," he said sternly to Peyton, who put his hands up and went back to his group of friends. Tate half grinned at me. "Happy?"

"Yes, I want to climb you," I said, jumping into him and wrapping my legs around his waist.

Tate pulled my dress down over my butt. "I was enjoying watching you try to be assertive."

I scrunched up my nose, but Tate kissed me.

"I can't rip out every guy's throat who hits on you. No matter how badly I want to." He lowered his voice gruffly. "And you know you're mine."

I stared at his brown eye. "You're so hot."

"You're so drunk," he laughed.

He carried me to the car and opened the passenger side door to place me inside. He went back for Alice and Millie, who were giggling with the bouncer.

On the way home, I climbed into the back seat to snuggle with Alice and Millie because I didn't want to be left out. Tate watched us affectionately through the rearview mirror.

He had a hard time getting all three of us into the house by himself, trying to herd us like cattle, but finally he was able to get us each in our beds.

"Come see," I whisper-slurred when Tate crawled into my bed after tucking Alice and Millie into Millie's bed together.

"Devin." Tate kissed me softly. He pulled my hand away when I rubbed him over his boxers. "Not tonight."

I giggled and curled myself up on top of him. He stroked my hair falling down my back.

"As much as I love when you aren't the good guy, you're such a good guy."

"Don't tell anyone," Tate joked. "But you probably won't remember in the morning anyway."

"I'll remember," I argued. "You always make me feel too much."

Tate didn't respond, and my mouth wouldn't stay closed in my state.

"I hope I make you feel the way you make me feel. I think I do—the way you look at me."

Tate chuckled and rolled us over. He laid his chest against my stomach and propped himself on his elbows around me. "How do I look at you?"

I played with his hair between my fingers. "Like I'm the only thing worth looking at."

Tate took my free hand and kissed my palm. "You are. Even when you have that silly drunk smile or when you wear pants or when you're being a people pleaser."

"How did you like me all this time, and I never knew? I really must have been a huge self-absorbed bitch."

"I wanted it to be that way, Devin."

I furrowed my eyebrows and laced my fingers through his. "Why?"

"I'd rather have you in my life than not at all. I was serious about not wanting a girlfriend."

"Did all of those other girls know that?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course." Tate rolled his eyes. "But they all thought they could convince me otherwise."

"Evidently, you are convincible," I giggled. "Gus told me about Camille. How did most of them end?"

Tate shrugged. "Different ways. Some of them hated you. Some of them I couldn't stand. Some of them went on too long."

"And Audrey?"

"She broke up with me when we went into the house after she saw me talking to you," Tate laughed.

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm an asshole." Tate lifted my shirt and kissed my belly button.

"What'd you say?"

"She asked me why I ignored her when I was talking to you and got all huffy repeatedly asking me if you were more special than her. So I simply told her the truth."

"Tate!"

"Devin!"

"You were essentially just forcing them to break up with you." I smushed his cheeks. "And why did you try to kiss me if you so desperately didn't want a girlfriend?"

Tate looked at me intensely for I don't know how long. The room tilted a little as I looked back and forth from his blue to his brown eye.

"It's complicated," Tate whispered eventually.

"I'm sorry I said your name like a question. I'm so dumb. I think I wanted you to kiss me, but I thought I would end up like all the other girls. I couldn't have that. I wanted you in my life more than anything. If you felt that way, why didn't you say anything?"

"You're too drunk right now to go into it."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "I'm not that drunk."

"You tried to convince me the house next door was yours."

"That reminds me, why are we at my house? I wanted to sleep in your bed."

"It took a miracle to get you into your room. That was enough," Tate laughed. "Did you have fun tonight?"

"Yes!" I squealed. "I was so happy."

Tate gifted me a whole smile. The kind that reached his eyes, and he looked like a different person. "I love watching it. I should record you right now. All smiley and slurring your words and talking too loudly. You really are the cutest drunk."

"I'm not cute," I protested.

"Oh, but you are."

I huffed and frowned, but Tate kissed me lightly on the lips.

"You're cute and adorable. When you scrunch up your nose at me, I want to pick you up and kiss you. And when you smile your real smile when you're ridiculously happy, I want to pick you up and hug you."

I sighed playfully and pouted. "I don't want to be cute. I want to be seductive and irresistible."

"God, you are so irresistible. You don't even know how much." Tate pinched my waist. "After I think about how adorably cute you are, all I want to do is push you up against a wall and hear me take your breath away when I slide into you. Then I want to watch you take my cock like a good fucking girl as you come hard on it." He chuckled under his breath and paused. "So yeah. Lots going on inside my brain when I look at you."

I squirmed underneath Tate's weight. "Don't make me wet if you're not going to do anything about it."

Tate raised an eyebrow like he could feel the heat emanating from me. "And I love how turned on you get just from me talking. I love getting inside your brain and watching you let go for me. It's the sexiest thing I've ever seen. I'm a selfish asshole who would keep you locked away for my own personal enjoyment of making you come whenever I felt like it."

"You want to tie me up?" I asked, my thighs tightening around Tate's waist at the thought.

Tate groaned a manly low sound into my chest. "Fuck, you like that idea, don't you?"

I nodded. Belonging to Tate made me feel alive. Tate liked it too. I could feel how much.

He bit me on the inside of my wrist. "Tomorrow night I won't be a good guy." He glanced up at his medal that was hanging from my bedpost. "I'll wrap my medals around these wrists, and I'll fuck you like the seductive and irresistible girl you are. You're mine, Devin. All of you. Every breath, every smile, every moan, every orgasm is for me. I won't ever let you forget it."

"I won't forget."

"Good." Tate rolled off next to me. He pulled me in to be his little spoon and smiled into my hair. "Get some sleep. You've got a portfolio to finish tomorrow, and you can't be too hungover."

"I'm going to get the internship." I smiled confidently. Drunk but confident. "I've just got to get it printed."

"I know," Tate said, squeezing me tighter. "I'm in awe of you all the time."

"Tate." I rolled over and looked up into his face. Alcohol was about to make me do something really stupid, but it was pricking my brain, pricking my heart, every single second of every day. The wonderful pain that you feel when you love someone extremely too much, and it hurts. "I—"

He kissed me. Pain splintered in the lines of both of his irises.

"I know, Devin. Not yet."