Page 68 of I Knew You Were Trouble

I shake my head. Pete only kissed me out of pity. I was near tears when he surprised the heck out of me. Knowing him, he saw my sob-fest coming a mile away—or the few feet from where he stood.

Laughter billows out from behind me, and I take a deep breath and peek over my shoulder. I can’t decide what’s worse, the cold or having to entertain the people who won’t get the heck out of my house. I hate parties, and this night has not made my fear of them any less palpable.

A flutter runs under my skin. I’ve spent the last hour trying to figure out how I’ll handle people crashing here. I don’t know anyone well enough to trust them not to wander upstairs and pass out in one of the beds. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to keep my eyes open. And I don’t know if I can send anyone off if they’ve been drinking.

I know Pete will stay if I ask him to. He might poke fun at me, but he’ll stay. And that is just as scary as dealing with all these people by myself.

Another shiver runs up my spine, and I cringe against the stupid weather and head back inside where it’s stuffy but warm. I turn the corner toward the kitchen and jerk back with a gasp, nearly running into Pete wandering in the hallway.

“Don’t do that.” I smack his chest.

He shrinks against my touch and chuckles. “I’m just walking.”

“Too quietly.” I shrug past him, trying to ignore my tingling lips that got an extra buzz just by looking at him. “You scared the heck out of me.”

“Sorry.” He’s not. “Just letting you know Maddie’s ready to get going.”

I notice he only says his sister is ready, not that he is.

“Oh.” I frown. I haven’t decided if I want him to stay yet. Or even if I can phrasehowI want him to stay. “You’re leaving?”

“She is my ride.”

The inside of my lip curls between my teeth, and I search for any reason other than the truth to get him to stay, but I come up empty. He leans in for a hug, since I guess that’s what we’re doing now when we say our goodbyes. I pat him on the back, the feel of his jacket reminding me of our kiss and short-circuiting my brain.

He pulls away and gives me the smallest of smiles.

“Will you sleep with me?” I blurt, stopping him in his retreating steps.

“Uh…” He lifts a brow and pretends to clean out his ear. “You wanna repeat that?”

No.

I cringe and laugh at my shoes. “I mean… will you spend the night, please?” Oh no, I feel a babble coming on and there is no stopping it. “There are just a lot of people still here, and I’m tired and want to go to bed, but I don’t want to tell everyone to get out if they’re too drunk to drive, but I also don’t want some creeper to come into my room and try to get frisky. I don’t want anyone trying to loot my parents’ house while I’m asleep. And I know sharing a bed with you is up there on my fear list, but all my other fears are trumping that one right now.”

He presses his lips together, amusement settling in his light brown eyes. “Take a breath, Candace.”

I exaggerate my breathing for his benefit instead of arguing with him. Whatever it takes to get him to stay.

“Do we need to share a bed?” he asks, his gaze lifting to the ceiling. “There are about a dozen rooms up there.”

“I don’t want to be alone.” I wring my hands together, twining my fingers in knots. “It’s a king-size. I’ll build a pillow fort between us. I know I’m supposed to be all tough right now, and this goes against all the stuff you’ve taught me, but I just…” I gulp and untie my hands. “Be my guard dog?”

He studies my face long enough for me to be super self-conscious about something in my teeth. I don’t know what he’s looking for—I’m being completely genuine, and I’m a little freaked out. All I want is sleep and to wake up to an empty house.

“Let me tell Mad.”

“You’ll stay?”

“If you build the pillow fort.”

“Done.” I know he’s teasing, but I don’t care. My shoulders relax, and I brush past him, letting him follow me to the main living room.

Tanner is passed out on my couch, Aislynn is in the recliner, and Tristan is face-down on the floor, confetti stuck to his eyebrow piercing.

Maddie and Josh are still up, playing a round of Slap Jack. When Pete walks in, she chucks her cards down, stands up, and stretches her arms sky high.

“You ready?”

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