Page 16 of Cross the Line

Alec grins. “I told you, I didn’t get drunk.”

“You danced on the table.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You ran around in your underwear.”

Alec shrugs.

“You did all that sober.” Theo is way too hungover to monitor his tone.

Rather than get offended, Alec smirks. “Why not?”

There are a lot of reasons why not. At least for Theo. He keeps them all to himself, not trusting himself to speak right now. That’s another thing he hates about hangovers. It makes him say things he’d normally have the common sense not to say out loud.

“There’s smoothie on your mouth,” Theo points out, eyes drawn to the creamy liquid at the corner of his lips. He really does have a pretty mouth—full, pink lips and oh no, Theo is not doing this right in front of Alec and Jason. He can’t.

Alec shrugs, reaching up to wipe it away with his thumb. He looks at it for all of two seconds before pressing his thumb into his mouth and sucking on it. If Theo didn’t know better, he’d swear Alec was teasing him, but that’s impossible. Alec has no idea his older brother’s best friend is an asshole thinking about what it might look like to have something else thick and white all over his face, wondering if Alec would suck that off, too.

Theo is a horny, hungover asshole.

With a groan he drops himself back onto the ground, rolling onto his stomach. He'd rather be embarrassed about being socially awkward than let Alec or Jason notice his half-hard dick. His glasses are smashed into his cheek and he can’t quite breathe, but he can’t make himself move.

“Theo’s having a hangover spiral.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here.” Theo’s biting words have little effect since they’re half garbled by the pillow.

“I’ll leave you two to do whatever it was you were doing before.”

Theo holds his breath, waiting for Alec to leave. What he’s not expecting is to have a blanket draped over his back, or have Alec pull his glasses back off, folding them before setting them on the edge of the couch just in reach in case he needs them again.

“I’ll make you coffee after I shower.” Alec smooths back Theo’s hair. Theo might be a grown man who has taken care of himself since he was old enough to walk, but an ache forms in his throat at the offer.

It’s the hangover, it has to be. Theo doesn’t let people take care of him. He doesn’t want them to, either. He doesn’t.

For the second day in a row, Theo lies, only this time to himself.

At some point Theo must have drifted to sleep for a second time, proof of just how hungover he really is. This time when he opens his eyes it’s to see Alec in the kitchen and Jason passed out on the floor snoring. The only reason he doesn’t immediately whine and close his eyes again is because the scent of coffee is strong enough to wake the dead, or a very smashed idiot.

Theo opens his mouth to ask for some, but then snaps it shut when he realizes Alec isn’t the only person in the kitchen.

“What exactly are you doing?”

Theo’s too hungover to tell which one of the twins that is from voice alone—Charlie or Andrew. Back when he was a teenager, he couldn’t tell them apart to save his life. The only way he can now is because Charlie’s always got paint-stained clothing from his job at the art museum, whereas Andrew wears nothing but polo shirts and loafers. He claims it's to be taken seriously with the job he just got with the hockey league, but he’s pretty much always dressed like that, even on his days off, so Theo thinks it's just his personal style. Not that he has any room to judge. He is one of the least stylish people alive.

“I’m cooking, obviously,” Alec replies.

“Smart ass. Tell me what you’re really doing.”

“I’m trying to make breakfast here, Charlie. You’re distracting me.”

“You can multitask like no one else,” Charlie says. “Seriously, we should talk about how you danced with a certain someone last night and what exactly that means.”

“I danced with a lot of people.” Alec waves a spatula through the air, his tone making no secret that he doesn’t want to be having this conversation.

“You know exactly which guy you danced with.”

Alec hums. “You’re going to have to be more specific. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

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