Page 27

Xander

The pounding on my front door came a little after ten thirty, and I furrowed my brow as I glanced at my phone - at the text message that Tristan hadn't responded to, despite how fucking adorable I was being - and stood up.

I set aside Minion the Moose - I was eight when I got him and thought that being a supervillain was Life Goals, don't judge me - and slowly approached the front door, my phone in hand and 911 dialed on the lock screen just to be safe.

The person on the other side of the door knocked again, and then I heard a low giggle that sounded a little too unhinged to be someone trying to hurt me.

A murderer wouldn't have knocked on the front door anyway, though I stood by my caution as I approached it.

A glance through the peep hole made me roll my eyes and my heart flutter in tandem, and I pulled open the door to see Tristan standing on the other side with a wide, sloppy grin on his face.

"Tris, what are you doing here this late?" I furrowed my brow.

"Wait.

Hold on.

Three steps back. How did you know my address?"

"Babyyyyyyyy." He dragged out the slurred word, swaying forward towards me enough that I almost stepped back lest he bump into me, and then he brushed the tip of his nose against mine.

The scent of whiskey drifted across my face, making me wrinkle my nose, and I couldn't stop myself from laughing a little.

"Holy fuck, you're drunk."

Tristan nodded enthusiastically, his curls bouncing over his head as he did so.

"Was out w'Brandon.

Talked about feelings." He widened his eyes, as if to communicate exactly how awful that was, and then he nodded again.

"And you.

He knows 'bout us."

I laughed again, reaching out and stroking one of his curls off his forehead.

"I know he does, silly.

I told him, too.

Before the shoot the other day, he came and talked to me."

Tristan furrowed his brow, and then he nodded sagely, as if something made sense.

"Thas why he wasn't 'prised..." he mumbled.

Then he looked up at me, his smile wide and bright again.

"I got your address from Vincent.

Got it from texting Ethan. Because he has Ethan's phone number."

He wiggled his eyebrows at me, and that...that was information that I didn't have before.

I was going to have to go and talk to my brother about being a dick and keeping secrets.

Twins didn't do that.

"Ah.

Okay.

Please tell me that you didn't drive, though?" I looked behind him and sighed when I didn't see a car, and Tristan scoffed.

"Ubered, silly." Tristan shook his head, waving a hand around in a loose gesture that was almost too uncoordinated to achieve the nonchalance he was going for.

"I can't drive right now! I'm too drunk!"

I chuckled, and finally stepped back, taking his hand.

"I was going to say."

I led Tristan into the house, the happy sounds that he made even as he stumbled settling in my stomach and warming me from the inside out.

I made sure to close the door and lock the deadbolt once he was safely inside, and when I turned around to face him again warm hands captured my face and Tristan's clumsy lips landed on mine.

"Juss wan'ed to see you," he mumbled, licking at my lower lip with far less finesse than he usually did.

Even so, heat curled inside of me at his confession, and I allowed myself a moment of my boyfriend kissing me all clumsy and sloppy before I gently nudged him away.

"You're way too drunk to be trying any of that stuff, mister," I said, smiling when he pouted.

His lower lip jutted out and his eyes batted at me and everything.

It was fucking cute, and I couldn't stop myself from reaching up to thumb at his lower lip with a chuckle.

"Come on.

You need to sleep this off."

Tristan sighed dramatically, but followed me as I turned the TV off in the living room and gently guided him down the hallway to my bedroom.

My stomach squirmed a little at the realization that this was the first time that Tristan was going to be in my bedroom, and he was too drunk to appreciate the gravity of it.

It was funny, in a way, and definitely something that I was going to be giving him shit about later.

"Come on.

Sit down."

Tristan went when I nudged him to sit at the edge of my bed, looking up at me with a wide smile on his face as I knelt down and started undoing the laces of his sneakers.

"Love when you're on y'knees for me," he slurred, chuckling to himself.

I laughed too; it was just so ridiculous.

"Yes, well, nothing fun is going to be happening down here tonight," I teased, standing up.

"Arms up."

He let me strip him all the way down to the tight black boxer briefs that he wore under his jeans, and I steadfastly ignored his half-hard cock as I pulled the comforter of my bed down and gently clicked my tongue.

"Come on.

Under the covers, Tris."

He sat up so fast that it made my head spin, grabbing at my wrist and looking up at me with enormous puppy-dog eyes.

"Only if you're in bed with me," he insisted, the words the clearest that he'd spoken since he arrived at my front door.

He glared at me, as if that would make him look like he meant business, but knowing how drunk he was, it only made him look fucking adorable.

"Okay, okay, baby," I said gently, detaching his hand from my wrist.

I reached down to pull my shirt up and off, and arched an eyebrow at him.

"See? I'm coming.

Lay down."

He continued to glare at me as he lay back against the pillows and tucked his feet under the pulled-down covers, and he nodded when I was finally free of my jeans and I walked around to climb into bed on the other side.

Immediately, he curled up into my side, snuffling as he cuddled into my neck like a needy puppy.

I would have laughed, but the warmth that bloomed inside of me at the realization of how vulnerable he was being for me...it took my breath away.

So I just wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close, his skin warm where it pressed against mine, feeling so fucking right.

"I like when you call me that," he finally sighed, snuggling a little closer to me.

"Hmm?" I stroked my fingers through his hair, relishing the feeling of being the big spoon for once.

The cuddler, rather than the cuddled.

"Baby." He lifted his head and looked at me, his eyes all warm and fuzzy.

"'S what you called me."

My heart fluttered, and fuck, the way this man made me feel should be fucking illegal.

"Okay, baby," I said softly.

I leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, relishing the cute little hum that he let out.

"I'll remember that.

But let's get some sleep now, okay? You're going to be hungover as fuck in the morning."

"Nuh uh," he mumbled, his voice already sounding sleepy.

He cuddled back into me, and my eyelids grew heavy as his breathing evened out.

I hadn't realized that I was tired when Tristan had first showed up at my door, but now that he was here with me, my body relaxed, shut down, and I drifted off to sleep with my very drunk boyfriend in my arms.