Chapter 7


    -MILLIE-


    I groaned, struggling to get my bearings together. There was a loud pounding in my head and my entire


    body was so stiff, as if it had been cemented on the bed I was lying on. Each movement was an


    impossible feat, even opening my eyes to orientate where I was.


    Light wrestled against darkness, cloaking the room in dimmed light. Vision hazy, 1 sought to take in my


    surroundings. The gray-painted walls immediately struck me that I wasn’t in my childhood room or my


    apartment. Both had Swiss coffee paint.


    The mattress silently groaned as I shifted in my lying position. A beating ache in my head made me


    moan. A jackhammer was pounding my skull. My entire body stilled when my butt rubbed against a solid


    wall of warm muscles. Then a big hand slid to my front, fanning on my belly, and drew me back.


    The man behind me, whoever he was, had big hands and a solid body. He was hard everywhere. If he


    wasn’t awake yet, a particr part of him was. His erection, as if it had a mind of its own. kept knocking


    on the cra ck of my as s cheeks.


    Panic swelled in my throat.


    Did I have S**st night?


    I tried to scout my brain for answers and found nothing but a hazy vision of the reunion, never-ending


    sses of alcohol. and strobes of red and greenser lights.


    What the hell happened?


    This was the downside of relying on coffee to function every f ucking day. My brain remained asleep


    even when my body was awake, panicking no less.


    I remember drinking wine – lots of it – beforeing to the reunion. Then I met Madeline with Felicity


    and her minions, seeing Natalie walk in with Hunter oh g od. My lie and the hottest kiss of my life came


    forth, my hands shooting up to my mouth. I kissed Damian!”


    “What time is it?” Damian asked in a raspy voice.


    I slept with Damian? S hit! Sh it! S hit!”


    I should scramble to my feet and distance myself from my best friend’s stepbrother. But my body and


    brain were at war. My brain knew that lie should’ve ended in that reunion and not end me up in Damian’s


    bed. My body doesn’t seem to get memo, though. I was frozen, curled in a spooning position with


    Damian


    He was so warm, very masculine, and hard everywhere. The knocking of his morning wood against my


    as s jolted me back to


    life.


    S hit!


    I scooted away from him. If my skin could turn any redder, I’d spontaneouslybast. To my relief, he


    released me. 1 mbered onto the edge of the mattress, cradling my face in my palm. The jackhammer


    pounds intensified with each move


    I made.


    Damian sat beside me; his chest was bare, and gray sweatpants covered the lower half of his body.


    “What happened?” I looked down at the white shirt I was wearing, my nipples poking through its sheer


    fabric. I bite down the urge to cover myself.


    If we sleptst night, he’d seen everything by now. I was in his shirt for crying out loud.


    “You don’t remember?” Damian’s mocking tone didn’t sit well with me. I pinned him with a stare, brows


    knitted together. He replied by chuckling, rising to his full height, and headed for his closet. It dawned on


    me that we were in their mansion. But


    M


    I was unfamiliar with his room.


    I’ve only been in Hunter’s bedroom, and Damian was very minimalist inparison. He had a dresser, a


    desk with a desktop, and a shelf on the side stacked with books – lots of them.


    “You were drunk as f uck,” Damian murmured, grabbing a shirt from his closet and dragging it over his


    head. I drank in the sight of his back muscles rippling until it was concealed beneath his shirt. “I had to


    N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights.


    drag your as s out of the hotel to keep you from embarrassing yourself.”


    I hide my face in my palms. “G od. What did I do?”


    “Apart from climbing me like a tree?”


    “Oh, my G od.” Mortified, I looked into Damian’s eyes, perusing those green pools for humor, and found


    none.


    Corded arms folded over his chest, a look I couldn’t identify sailed over his features. “You really don’t


    remember?”


    I shook my head. The world spun as I did. Bile crawled from my stomach through my throat, I grimaced.


    He looked the other way. If I didn’t know Damian, I’d say he looked disappointed. He blew a resigned


    huff. “Clean up. Get something to wear from Pigtails’ room. I’ll prepare breakfast”


    Not waiting for a reply, he spun on his heels and left. Once the door slotted in its frame, I mulled over the


    conversation we just had. Questions swirled in my head as embarrassment sank into my flesh at the


    thought of climbing Damian like a tree. The biggest puzzle of all was how I ended up in his room,


    dressed in nothing but my panties and his shirt.


    ‘Did we have S**?”


    I groaned. I need a f ucking coffee.


    Twenty minutester, dressed in Candice’s sweater and shorts, I entered the kitchen and instantly fell


    under Damian’s watchful stare. He scanned me over the cup of coffee licking my bare legs with his gaze


    as I sat on the barstool across from him. Candice was five-three, and I was five-six. The only clothes we


    shared were oversized sweaters.


    I silently filled a mug with coffee, shoulder rxing as I took a sip. The caffeine rush in my body was like


    a drug, kick- starting my brain to work.


    “Have you seen my phone?” I asked, reaching for a piece of bacon from the breakfast tter.


    Damian was one of those boys that could cook. It’s one of the perks of being best friends with Candice; I


    get to see Damian in a way everyone at school cannot. I’m not even surprised that it hasn’t changed over


    the years.


    He pointed towards the counter, where it was charging. I rounded the ind and grabbed my phone,


    grimacing at the number of notifications on the lock screen.


    ‘Can’t these people let me have a peaceful weekend?”


    They all could wait. I need to have food in my system first before dealing with this mess I call life.


    “So, how did I end up in your bed?” I tried to sound nonchnt. Not remembering if we had S** or not is


    bugging the hell


    out of me.


    Damian’s gaze was the epitome of calmness and serenity. “I didn’t want to take the chances of you


    burning the mansion down.””


    I choked on the coffee I was sipping. “What?!”


    He reached for the newspaper on the countertop, unfolding it. “You were very unpredictable, Millicent. I’m


    all for living in the


    moment, carpe diem, and YOLO sh it kids these days call it, but you put yourself at riskst night.” That


    calm tone, borderline concern, and scolding reminded me so much of my dad.


    III


    18 Sat,


    I


    “Put myself at risk?” I parroted, my voice rising a pitch higher.


    28%.


    He sighed, meeting my eyes. It was hard to be annoyed at him when he looked like that. He was good


    enough to be my breakfast with that disheveled dark gray hair. In the light of the day, his scruff seemed


    to rough I imagined him rubbing it against my skin. I’m a s ucker for scruff, and his was epic.


    “You were very drink. You don’t even remember half of what you did. What if I wasn’t there with you?


    “Someone could’ve taken advantage of you. There was an odd punch in “someone”


    I frowned, understanding where he wasing from. He’s been overprotective of Candice, and his


    brotherly protection also extended to my welfare.


    Bining my lip. I nced down at my coffee, making out a blurry outline of my messy hair tied in a bun in


    the dark liquid. “Thank you Things just got out of hand. It was supposed to be a quick in and out, you


    know.”


    “Drink what you can handle. The pinch of annoyance in his calm tone rubbed me the wrong way. He had


    more to say, but the shrill sound of my phone ringing cut him off.


    It’s Candice.


    Damian rose and exited the kitchen, silently bidding for me to answer Candice’s call.


    “Millicent,” Candice’s motherly tone made me sit up straighter. She only calls me by my full name when


    something is


    WTONE


    “Good morning” Myposure was a hoax, and she knew it. A heavy sigh belched from her end. My


    brows furrowed. “Is something wrong?” worryced my tone.


    “Seriously? How much alcohol did you drinkst night?” Clutters of silverware against ceramic


    apanied her groan. must’ve been dining with Aaron and covered the mouthpiece with her hand


    because I heard her muttled mumble that she needed to talk some sense to me.


    “Let me guess, you don’t remember what you didst night, she murmured usingly.


    My frown deepened. Damian telling me that was one thing, but Candice was oceans, Dread sheathed


    my entire body, my heart pounding in my cats.


    Candice took in my silence as confirmation. “Oh boy, this is gonna be interesting, You’ve got a lot of


    exining to do, but I can wait. First, check your Instagram ount, then call me.”


    Fingers trembling. I did as I was told and gasped in horror at what I saw


    My profile, which I had been using for the past six months, has now been changed to a photo of Damian


    and me


    Damian’s cheek rested against my forehead, our eyes were closed, and our toothy grins appeared as


    though we wereughing about something so freaking hrious


    I haven’t seen myself this content and happy in a long time. But Damian, he’d always been handsome.


    The longer I stares at


    picture, the stronger this unsettling feeling in my gut got


    the


    We were the epitome of a happy couple.


    Thement section kept growing like it was counting each millisecond that passed by The hearts the


    photo received were more than I got in a mouth with daily uploadsbined.


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