I feel so groggy and my stomach feels unsettled, and as I turn away from the mirror a new thought occurs to me that doesn’t revolve around coffee. Right now, I realize I can’t see Tyler. He usually sleeps on the couch that Alex is sprawled across. My eyes immediately flicker over to his bedroom door. It’s closed and I can’t blame him for reclaiming his bed for the night, given that I’d passed out on the floor and definitely didn’t need it. I can’t help but wonder if he tried to help me up or if he decided to just leave me here. Maybe he fell asleep before I did. Maybe he didn’t even notice I was down here. Either way, my body now feels stiff after spending the night on the floor.
Tyler’s usually awake before me, but not today, so I decide to reverse the roles for once. Today I’ll wake him up. Today I’ll bring him coffee.
I weave my way back through the couches, past Snake and Alex, and I reach for the handle of Tyler’s door. There’s a soft clicking noise as I open it, and softly I swing the door open. The room is in complete darkness, with only the sunlight from the living room allowing me to actually see anything, and it’s extremely warm and stuffy.
“Tyler?” My voice is quiet, gentle. I squint down at the bed as my swollen eyes adjust to the lighting. I can make out his outline. He’s not moving. “Tyler,” I say again, a little louder. “Wake up.”
He shifts slightly, rolling gently onto his other side, now facing me. He buries his face into the pillows and murmurs, “What time is it?”
“I have no idea,” I say. I keep my voice quiet. “Coffee?” Without thinking, I flick on the lights, and it’s so bright that Tyler immediately groans and pulls the sheets over his head.
“Damn, Eden,” he mutters.
“Crap. Sorry.” I’m just about to switch the lights back off, but then I hear a faint, breathy “Mmm,” and I pause. I must have imagined it. It’s far too high for Tyler’s voice.
The sheets move. But Tyler’s not moving. My eyebrows shoot up, and as I’m gradually piecing together the obvious, my hungover mind processing at an extremely slow rate, Emily pushes herself up from beneath the sheets. Her eyes meet mine and suddenly she seems wide awake. We both freeze. I’m not sure why I’m so surprised at finding her here, next to Tyler, staring back at me wearing nothing but a black lace bra. She gasps and grabs the sheets, hugging them to her body and glancing sideways at Tyler. He’s shot upright too.
My entire body seems numb, and all I can do is shake my head as I take a step back to the door. I knew it.
“Eden,” Tyler says. He pushes the sheets away from him and gets to his feet. He’s still wearing his jeans, but they’re dropped low and several inches of his black boxers are on display, the elastic tight against his V-lines. If this were under any other circumstances, I’d be staring and my eyes would most probably be glazed over. But right now, I’m too hurt to care.
“Just don’t,” I whisper. I push him away from me as he approaches and I spin around quickly and storm out of the room. I sense him behind me, which does nothing but make me angry. Halting in the middle of the living room, I swivel back around and fire my eyes at him, furious. “Just friends?”
“You’re getting this all wrong,” he says. Placing his hands on my shoulders, he looks at me hard. His eyes are wide.
“No, Tyler.” I try to shrug off his grip, but he refuses to let go. “I knew it. I knew there was something more and now I feel stupid for believing you when you told me there wasn’t.” My voice cracks and I can’t figure out if I’m disappointed or if I’m mad or if I’m both. I think it’s both. I’m disappointed that there’s another girl and I’m mad that he lied about it. “What did you guys really do yesterday? Hook up in your car?”
“Eden,” he says, jaw tightening. He takes a deep breath and narrows his eyes down at me. “We. Are. Just. Friends.” He exhales while finally letting go of my shoulders. “We just fell asleep. It’s nothing.”
Part of me could laugh. Does he really think I’m that gullible? That stupid? I take another step away from him. “And she ended up half naked?” My tone is contemptuous and my voice is seething with venom, and if I wasn’t so livid then maybe I’d cry. “Real nice, Tyler.”
“It was hot as hell, alright?” he snaps, eyes fierce for the first time in forever. He’s been doing pretty good lately when it comes to keeping his temper in check. Until now.
“I don’t believe you,” I whisper.
Out of nowhere, I hear Snake groan, “What the hell, guys?” His voice is raspy, and both Tyler and I glance sideways at the exact same time. Snake glowers back at us from the couch, propped upright, his eyes heavy.
I look back to Tyler. He’s shaking his head, either at Snake or me or both of us, and with his expression still hard, he turns and makes for the door. He doesn’t even bother to go back and pull on a shirt.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” I yell, exasperated. How dare he walk away? If anything, it’s only making him look guilty. Nothing is resolved and I feel even more upset than I did a second ago.
“The roof!” Tyler snaps back, slamming the door behind him. I stare at it in disbelief.