Page 47 of Stetson

“I’m not surprised. Why don’t we get you home and in bed?”

He happily agreed to that, and Barrett and I helped him to his feet. “I’m s-sorry.”

“Shh,” Barrett whispered, pressing a kiss to his temple and looking to me for guidance.

“We’ll deal with it later,” I told him. “Let’s go home.”

Stetson folded himself into my arms, leaving Barrett to fish for his keys and lock the front door. We didn’t so much walk Stetson out to the car as we did carry him. The alcohol hindered his movements, seeming to weigh his legs down. Barrett helped me pour him into the seat and get him buckled in. By the time I started the ignition, he was fast asleep again. The half-hour ride home was silent, save for Stetson’s soft breathing in the back seat. When we parked, Barrett went to open the front door while I rushed to deal with the vomiting disaster that ensued. I got an odd sense of déjà vu guiding Stetson into the house. Only this time, he allowed me and Barrett to help him change and brush his teeth. When we slipped into bed, it was with Stetson between us.

Despite knowing that one hell of a conversation was coming, I found a sense of comfort in that. I combed through Stetson’s hair while Barrett’s arm wrapped around the boy’s waist, his hand softly stroking my arm. “You know we’ll have to wake him up soon, right?” I whispered.

Barrett nodded. “You go have your coffee. I’ll do it. He’ll need a couple hours to sober up.”

I leaned over, giving Barrett a soft kiss. After pressing my lips to Stetson’s temple—and resisting the urge to fall asleep with him —I slipped out of bed and went to the kitchen.

24

STETSON

I couldn’t rememberthe last time I’d been awoken by cold water to the face.

Turns out, it never got pleasant.

I shot up, coughing and sputtering as I tried to clear the ice water from my field of vision. My chest burned until my lungs remembered how to function. Once I could see, Barrett’s figure came into view. He stood in the bedroom doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and an empty glass in his hand.

“What the hell?” I choked.

“Get up. Shower. We’re leaving in fifteen.”

I groaned. “What time is it?” I was no stranger to being up before the sun, but something didn’t feel right.

“Time to get up and get in the shower. Now. You smell like a distillery.” With that, he left the room.

With my surroundings coming back to me, I noticed that Levi wasn’t in bed. A pounding headache slammed into my temples, coupled with broken memories of the night before. Right, that’s why I felt like I’d been hit by a truck: alcohol.

I really needed to stop drinking.

Hoping the shower would revive me, I trudged out of bed and into the bathroom. After I’d washed and brushed my teeth, I dressed in my gym gear and tiptoed into the kitchen. Barrett and Levi stood at the counter, having a hushed conversation that ceased the moment they noticed me.

Levi greeted me with a warm smile, which eased my nerves. Slightly. “Morning, little one. How you feeling?”

“Rough,” I admitted, bashful under the Daddy voice. His attitude was a complete one-eighty from Barrett’s. So vastly different that it was almost jarring.

Grinning, he walked over to me and handed over an electrolyte drink and a protein bar. “Eat this, and drink up.” With a soft kiss to my lips and Barrett’s cheek, he added, “I’ll see you two later.”

He grabbed his coffee from the island and skirted around me to the bedroom, leaving me alone with Barrett. Once again under his scrutinizing gaze, I fought the urge to squirm. I’d never seen that sort of stare from him. Not off the field anyway, and never directed towardme. His hazel eyes were dark, angry even. My head throbbed again, and I winced. “What are we doing?”

Instead of answering my question, he grabbed his keys from the counter and tossed me a bottle of painkillers. “Let’s go.”

Confused, but not daring enough to challenge him, I swallowed a couple pills, chasing them with the electrolyte drink as I followed him out the door.

He was silent on the drive, leaving me to my makeshift breakfast. “Where are we going?” I finally asked.

“You’ll see.” He nudged the bottle to my lips again. “Drink. You’ll need it.”

I obeyed, willing those painkillers to kick in fast. The clock on the dash read 5:52. I must have been awake for half an hour at that point. When the first bite of the protein bar churned my stomach, I threw the rest of it to the side.

Then it clicked: I’d acted out, and now I was facing the consequences. Only, I wasn’t sure why Levi had stayed behind. But the tension rolling off Barrett’s body let me know that he was Bad Cop today, so I sat back and waited. I let my eyes shut, only opening them again once the car stopped.

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