The WRONG Brother (Love You Forever #1) - Alexis Winter Page 0,9
of it, he didn’t have a drink that whole time. And he didn’t share any of the pitchers Danny bought. No wonder I’m so drunk. Danny and I had at least three pitchers to ourselves.
“This is your fault.” I point at him.
He laughs. “What’s my fault?”
“Me being this drunk. I’m going to have a hangover tomorrow because of you.”
“How’s it my fault?” he asks, turning out of the parking lot.
“I thought you were drinking with me. Turns out, I drank twice as much as I thought because you weren’t drinking your share.”
He laughs harder. “You would still be this drunk, dumbass. We just would’ve spent more money.”
Oh. Yeah, I guess he’s right. When I start drinking, I don’t like to stop until something makes me stop: I get sick, I pass out, or the bar closes. I’m many things, but I’m not a quitter. Which is another reason I don’t drink very often anymore.
“My mom’s going to be sooo mad at me when I get home,” I laugh out.
“At least you didn’t get arrested,” he points out.
“Good point! I’ll make sure to bring that up if she starts yelling at me.”
“Any plans for tomorrow?” he asks, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.
I shrug. “Nothing on the books yet. Why, what’s up?”
“I was thinking we could have a good old-fashioned beach day—you know, like we used to? We could pack a cooler then spend the day working on our tans and getting drunk. Then we could grab some dinner off the hot dog cart. Sound good?”
I smile, thinking about all the good times we’ve had on our beach days. “Sounds good! Noon? You know I don’t like getting up early, and now that you’ve got me this drunk, it’ll probably be even harder to get out of bed.”
“Noon it is,” he agrees as he pulls into the drive at my parents’ house.
I unbuckle and climb out. Like the gentleman he doesn’t want anyone to know he is, he waits until I get inside the house before backing out of the drive. I bounce my way off the walls up to my room. The second I fall into bed, the only thing I can think about is my Uncle Peter and my Aunt Beth getting it on in my room, around my things . . . in front of my baby picture, for crying out loud! First thing tomorrow, I’ll be telling Mom to buy a new bed. This one’s tainted.
My phone rings and pulls me out of a deep sleep—so deep I didn’t have one nightmare about my tainted bed. I grab it off the bedside table and answer it without looking.
“Hello?”
“Rise and shine, sunshine,” Preston says, sounding way too cheerful for as bad as I feel.
I don’t respond. I can only groan.
“Oh, come on. We have a day full of festivities planned. Get your ass up and let’s hit the beach.”
“I thought we agreed to noon?”
“It’s 11:30. By the time you get ready, it’ll be past noon. Now get up. Don’t make me pick you up out of bed. You know I will.”
“Fine. I’m getting up.” I hang up the phone and go directly to the connected bathroom, hoping a shower will make me feel more human. A good 30 minutes later, I’m climbing out and pulling on my red bikini. I tie it extra tight with the memory of Preston running by me on the beach and snagging the string, causing the bottom half to untie on one side. I remember my face was just as red as this bathing suit.
I pull my honey-blonde hair into a messy bun, tug on my shorts, and slide on my flip-flops. For good measure, I grab my extra-dark sunglasses before exiting my room. I find him already in the living room, talking with my parents as they watch TV.
“There she is,” my dad says when he sees me walking down the stairs.
“Morning,” I mumble.
“Morning? Ha!” Dad scoffs. “You’re just as irresponsible as you were at 16.”
I wrinkle my nose at him. “Don’t judge me. I’m on vacation.”
That causes my parents to laugh.
“Ready to go?” Preston asks. “A warm muffin and some coffee await you in the car.”
“Mmm, I’m ready,” I agree, a little too eagerly.
Preston opens the door for me and the moment I step out, I’m blinded by bright sunlight. My head throbs as I shield my eyes, causing me to walk right into my mom’s ceramic planter. “Oweee!” I cry as I jump up and down on