Page 9 of Can't Be Love

What had I done? And why was Thomas being nice to me? It went against everything I knew about him and was only causing me further confusion, but I couldn’t stop to think about it, because it just made my head hurt more. I soaked down a little deeper in the tub and tried to relax.

The door to the bathroom creaked open.

“I’m fine, still alive, as promised,” I said, without bothering to open my eyes.

“Well, that’s good news,” Maddie said.

I smiled, still refusing to open my eye and gave a halfway nod towards the door.

“Rough night?” she asked.

“You could say that.”

“Thomas said you could use this,” she said, shaking a bottle.

I opened my eyes and sat up a little with a groan as the pounding in my head grew. She passed me a couple of aspirin and a bottle of water.

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver,” I said, setting the bottle on the side of the tub and sinking back into the hot water.

“What were you thinking?” she asked, and there was a hint of laughter in her voice.

“Clearly, I wasn’t.”

“Did you really pass out on Thomas? I didn’t even think you liked him.”

I silently cursed the tingling sensation that shot up my spine just at the mention of his name. “For the record, I don’t. He’s a douche. I just climbed into bed and fell asleep. I didn’t even realize he was there till this morning.”

Lies, all lies. I had been acutely aware of my mate.Not my mate, not my mate, I reminded myself. His scent had stilled all my nerves and confusion of the day, and when his arm wrapped around me and held me tightly, I had sighed and relaxed into him . . . and fortunately passed out hard. If I hadn’t, who knows what would have happened.

All I remembered was my body literally buzzing with excitement. Was it the whiskey? Or was it him? I had never been so turned on in my life as I was just before the world turned black around me. Would I have had sex with Thomas Collier? Would I have bonded with him? The thought made me retch.

“Easy there,” Maddie warned. “You really did have a rough night, huh?” She sat down on the floor beside the tub. “Want to talk about it?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I guess my wolf was stressed from being in a new territory with so many people crowded around. I met a new friend and we went to the bar. I had a little too much to drink. That’s it.”

“A little?” Maddie laughed. I grimaced as I laughed with her.

“Jesus Lily!” Liam yelled from the bedroom. “I’m never doing that again. Next time you decide to get bombed and throw up a year’s worth of food, you can clean it up yourself.”

My eyes grew wide. “I threw up? I mean I remember throwing up, but in the toilet.”

“Apparently you thought the closet was the bathroom first.”

I covered my face with my hands and groaned again.

“Thomas was on his way up to deal with it when Liam went all growly and protective over you. Serves him right,” Maddie said.

“I heard that,” Liam complained.

He peeked his head in, around the door, looking a little pale. MC closed the curtain enough that it covered me. Not that I really cared.

“Your clothes are literally thrown all over the room, Lil. Tell me you did not sleep with Thomas,” he demanded.

I snorted. “As if I’d remember.” Yeah, I would definitely have remembered, but I was not going to tell my overprotective brother that. “Nothing happened, Liam.”

“He had to have seen you naked. Your underwear and bra are in the bedroom, Lil.”

I laughed. “So what, Liam? We’re shifters. Everyone in Westin Pack has seen me naked a million times. Why do I care if Thomas Collier did, too?”

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