That didn’t seem right. “You sure?”
“Nope. Not even when you puked on his car.”
“I didn’t.” Oh my god. Horrified.
“You did. All over the side.”
I started laughing because, blech, how gross. “Good thing he already hates me.”
“Babe, no one hates you. Not even Anderson. Actually, he felt pretty awful. He had no idea how sick you were.” He watched me carefully. “He told me about Spencer. In the hallway.”
The overall memory was pretty fuzzy but the fear I felt with Spencer and Anderson’s protective nature wasn’t something I’d forgotten. “He defended me. I was pretty surprised, considering how he feels about me.”
“That’s not all he did,” he muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing. You need to take it easy.”
“I got drunk, Oliver, I’m not sick.” I sat up and grabbed his hand, threading my fingers through his. “What did you mean?”
“Well,” he said, watching me carefully, “after cleaning off his shoes and dropping you off, Anderson went back to the party to pick up Hayden, who got left in the shuffle. Spencer was on the porch, bragging about kissing you outside the hallway.”
My hand moved to my mouth. “He didn’t.”
He shook his head. “He did, because he’s a grade-A douchebag, but don’t worry. He won’t bother you again.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling something was missing. “Why won’t he bother me again?”
Oliver’s blue eyes hold mine and his jaw tics. “Because Anderson and Hayden kicked his ass.”
“What? Are they okay?”
He snorted. “Of course they’re okay. Spencer is the one in pain this morning. Well, other than you, obviously.”
“Oliver! You guys can’t go around beating up guys who flirt with me.”
He stopped cold. “That wasn’t flirting, Heaven. He was harassing you. Don’t mix the two up.”
I knew he was right but I still felt weird about it. I was knowingly using my body to get attention but then got upset when someone I hated noticed? Wasn’t that hypocritical? My head was so confused, not to mention pounding from the hangover. I leaned into his shoulder and he wrapped his strong arms around me.
“Thanks for having my back all the time. I don’t mean to be so high maintenance.”
He lifted my chin and kissed me on the lips, soft and sweet. It made me think of the passionate kiss I shared with Jackson the night before. These boys are so close yet so different and I’m lucky they opened their circle for me to join.
“You feeling up to going out later?”
I groaned. “Will it require me doing much more than sitting around, eating French fries, and drinking a diet Coke?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Interestingly enough, those are the only three things it does require.”
“Good, then I’m free.” I smiled, wondering what he had in store.
*
Three hours later, I’m bundled in a warm winter coat, fur-lined boots, and sitting on the cold metal bleachers at the school soccer field. A red and black plaid blanket is spread over me, Jackson, and Oliver. My empty bag of fries and the remains of my large Coke sat a few feet away. I felt better. Well, enough not to barf all over the place anymore.
Hayden had a game and it was tradition for the guys to go support him. This was reciprocated across all their activities and now that they’d welcomed me into the group, I had to add cheerleader to my new life.