shit,” I managed to get out before my stomach heaved. Alec sprang into action, shuffling me to his en suite.
The last thing I remember before I blacked out is Alec holding my hair as I vomited gin and tonic into his toilet.
I woke with a groan to the sound of a door banging open.
“Gym?” Ethan’s booming voice was like a sledgehammer to my already throbbing head.
Heavy curtains slid across the rail to reveal bright sunlight, which sent even more pain stabbing through my skull. The sledgehammer had the back of my head covered, while the stabbing focused on my closed eyes. I buried my head in a pillow, and my forehead bumped into another forehead. We both groaned.
Vaguely I registered I was in Alec’s bed, but his voice came from somewhere behind me, where the stabby light was coming from.
“Yep! I’m feeling much better today. The bullet wound’s nearly healed completely.”
“Sweet, bro!” Skin slapped against skin; I was pretty sure they’d high-fived. Thankfully, the sound of their obnoxiously loud, manly voices soon moved off down the hall. But the assholes had left the curtains open, and a dull thudding was coming from another part of the house. I couldn’t be entirely sure if the thudding was hammers and ongoing construction in the west wing or if it was just my head.
Alec hadn’t touched alcohol the night before, so it was no surprise he was up, bright eyed and bushy tailed, but I was about 87 percent sure Ethan had downed at least two six-packs of beer. He’d been giggling like a schoolgirl at one point . . . I just couldn’t remember what the joke was.
He’d definitely drunk more than me, and yet he was up and ready to do a workout. Jerk. Far more annoying, though, was the bright light still stabbing me in the fucking eyes.
I groaned and cracked one eye open. Josh was in the bed with me, his forehead against mine and his mouth slightly open. I nudged him. His eyes flew open, but then he cringed and tried to roll over.
With a grunt of protest, I halted his movements and gestured vaguely in the direction of the windows. Thankfully, his hangover didn’t hinder his ability to know exactly what I was thinking. With a lazy flick of his wrist, the curtains drew closed, casting the room into blissful darkness once more. Then, without me even having to grunt at him again, he did the same to the door.
He rolled over, and I snuggled into his back, playing the big spoon.
I’d spent enough time in Alec’s and Tyler’s rooms to know the afternoon sun streamed in through the windows on this side of the house. It was early afternoon, but I’d still slept half the day away. And I was in the bed alone. Why did they all recover faster than me? Didn’t we all have Variant DNA? Why did I still have to suffer the dull headache at the back of my head, the sick, empty feeling in my stomach?
I sighed and crawled out of bed, then used Alec’s bathroom to shower and brush my teeth. I really needed to buy another four toothbrushes. Because I stayed with them—one or more of them—several times per week, I ended up using their toothbrushes way more than was hygienic. According to the World Health Organization, the mouth is home to more than seven hundred species of bacteria, and each person has their own unique mix of bacteria that don’t take kindly to other bacteria being introduced.
I put thoughts of gum disease out of my mind. The shower and tooth brushing had me feeling almost normal, but there was one more need to attend to. My stomach grumbled as if to punctuate my thoughts.
On the ground floor, I had to step around sheets of drywall and several wheelbarrows full of debris. I frowned, cursing myself for not stealing a pair of Alec’s socks. What the hell were they doing up there? This renovation was taking forever.
As I walked into the kitchen, the smell of coffee drove all thoughts of swinging hammers and messy demolition from my mind. I inhaled deeply and followed my nose, walking around the corner with my eyes half-closed.
Like a vision of hotness, all my desires incarnate, Tyler stood at the island holding a fresh latte out to me. I took it with both hands, hugging it to my chest and then taking a sip. I moaned and nearly closed my eyes, but I couldn’t