Page 59 of Salacious Star

I chuckled, and finally stepped back, taking his hand. "I was going to say."

I led Tristan into the house, the happy sounds that he made even as he stumbled settling in my stomach and warming me from the inside out. I made sure to close the door and lock the deadbolt once he was safely inside, and when I turned around to face him again warm hands captured my face and Tristan's clumsy lips landed on mine.

"Juss wan'ed to see you," he mumbled, licking at my lower lip with far less finesse than he usually did. Even so, heat curled inside of me at his confession, and I allowed myselfa moment of my boyfriend kissing me all clumsy and sloppy before I gently nudged him away.

"You're way too drunk to be trying any of that stuff, mister," I said, smiling when he pouted. His lower lip jutted out and his eyes batted at me and everything.

It was fucking cute, and I couldn't stop myself from reaching up to thumb at his lower lip with a chuckle. "Come on. You need to sleep this off."

Tristan sighed dramatically, but followed me as I turned the TV off in the living room and gently guided him down the hallway to my bedroom. My stomach squirmed a little at the realization that this was the first time that Tristan was going to be inmybedroom, and he was too drunk to appreciate the gravity of it.

It was funny, in a way, and definitely something that I was going to be giving him shit about later.

"Come on. Sit down."

Tristan went when I nudged him to sit at the edge of my bed, looking up at me with a wide smile on his face as I knelt down and started undoing the laces of his sneakers.

"Love when you're on y'knees for me," he slurred, chuckling to himself.

I laughed too; it was just so ridiculous. "Yes, well, nothing fun is going to be happening down here tonight," I teased, standing up. "Arms up."

He let me strip him all the way down to the tight black boxer briefs that he wore under his jeans, and I steadfastly ignored his half-hard cock as I pulled the comforter of my bed down and gently clicked my tongue. "Come on. Under the covers, Tris."

He sat up so fast that it made my head spin, grabbing at my wrist and looking up at me with enormous puppy-dog eyes. "Only if you're in bed with me," he insisted, the wordsthe clearest that he'd spoken since he arrived at my front door. He glared at me, as if that would make him look like he meant business, but knowing how drunk he was, it only made him look fucking adorable.

"Okay, okay, baby," I said gently, detaching his hand from my wrist. I reached down to pull my shirt up and off, and arched an eyebrow at him. "See? I'm coming. Lay down."

He continued to glare at me as he lay back against the pillows and tucked his feet under the pulled-down covers, and he nodded when I was finally free of my jeans and I walked around to climb into bed on the other side.

Immediately, he curled up into my side, snuffling as he cuddled into my neck like a needy puppy. I would have laughed, but the warmth that bloomed inside of me at the realization of howvulnerablehe was being for me...it took my breath away. So I just wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close, his skin warm where it pressed against mine, feeling sofuckingright.

"I like when you call me that," he finally sighed, snuggling a little closer to me.

"Hmm?" I stroked my fingers through his hair, relishing the feeling of being the big spoon for once. The cuddler, rather than the cuddled.

"Baby." He lifted his head and looked at me, his eyes all warm and fuzzy. "'S what you called me."

My heart fluttered, andfuck, the way this man made me feel should be fucking illegal.

"Okay, baby," I said softly. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, relishing the cute little hum that he let out. "I'll remember that. But let's get some sleep now, okay? You're going to be hungover as fuck in the morning."

"Nuh uh," he mumbled, his voice already sounding sleepy. He cuddled back into me, and my eyelids grew heavy as his breathing evened out.

I hadn't realized that I was tired when Tristan had first showed up at my door, but now that he was here with me, my body relaxed, shut down, and I drifted off to sleep with myverydrunk boyfriend in my arms.

28

Tristan

I woke up the next morning with my head throbbing and my entire body feeling like I'd put it through a wood chipper. My stomach twisted unpleasantly when I shifted around, and a soft sound of amusement prompted my eyes to flutter open, thankful that the room that I was in was dark enough not to bother them.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up." Xander smiled softly down at me, a mug in one hand that smelled strongly of dark roast, the steam wafting above telling me that it was fresh. Xan was wearing a pair of gray sweats and nothing else, his brown hair a little mussed and rumpled, and then glint of amusement in his eyes as he looked at me made me want to tease him and curl in on myself to protect myself from his ribbing all at the same time.

"Xan? Why are you..." I paused, looking around, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. I was in a bed, there was no question of that, but other than that...I was drawing a blank. "This isn't my house."

"Astute observation, Einstein," Xander teased holding out the cup of coffee for me when I shoved myself to a sitting position, ignoring the throbbing in my head. "How much of last night do you remember?"

I took a sip of the coffee - so hot, so bitter, so fucking good that it cleared at least half of the fog in my mind up right away, thank God - and sorted through my foggy memories from the night before. Carefully schooling my expression so that Xander couldn't see the complicated feelings that twisted inside of me as I remembered the conversation that Brandon and I'd had at Gunner's - specifically the reality of my feelings for Xander.

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