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After Trey forces some coffee down my throat, he helps my still half-drunk ass to the shower and pushes me in with the cold water streaming down on me. I collapse on the stone bench and let the water beat down on me for a while before Trey comes back to check on me.

“You still breathing?”

“Yep.”

“Good. Making sure you didn’t drown while I was cleaning up the pigsty out there. Wash, or I’ll do it for you.”

“Fuck off,” I grumble with a half-smile even though he can’t see me through the frosted door. But I don’t dare test his patience more than I already have, so I stand and reach for my soap.

“Thatta boy. I’ll be back, and I expect you to smell more human and less wet dog.”

I flip him off, but I get to work on scrubbing the last three days off of me. Pretty sure the alcohol is leaching from mypores at this point, and I know he’s right, this isn’t a good look, nor is it me. This isn’t how I handle stress.

After I’ve finished up business in the shower, I’ve sobered up enough to walk on my own and think a little more clearly, but I’m exhausted. I dry off quickly, pulling on a pair of joggers and a T-shirt, and pad through the house to find Trey in my living room with my laptop open.

“Thanks.”

“Never have to thank me. You’d do the same for me, brother.”

In a heartbeat.

I sit down next to him and pull the fleece throw blanket over my lap.

“Aww, look at the little baby!” Trey coos, giving me shit for feeling like ass and being vulnerable.

“You can leave now.”

“Nope. You’re stuck with me until we figure this shit out.”

“What are you looking at?”

“The article you started on the distillery. It’s damn good.”

“I’ve been researching them for a few months, and from what little I managed to pull from Carter—they’re a damn good family. I don’t get my dad’s problem. Have you heard anything?”

“Well, I did a little digging because I thought this entire thing was fucked from the beginning. Turns out your dad and Carter’s parents went to college together at UDub.”

My eyes must bug out of my head because Trey laughs nervously. “Yeah, that was my reaction, too.”

“So we knew there was history, and it probably started there. Find anything else?”

“Not yet, but I’m still digging. Carter give you any details about his parents?”

“Not really, no. They seem like a fairytale couple, though, super in love and great parents.”

“Well, I’m not giving up.”

“I think I need to pay my dad another visit. Did he return to the underworld?”

“I wish. But he is back at the Seattle office. You gonna take a trip?”

“Yeah, maybe if I press again, he’ll give me a little more. I need to understand what the hell is going on here.”

“You ready to tell me what happened in Emberleigh?”

“I’m in love with him.”

“Well, no shit. But does he feel the same?”