Chapter 2
OWEN
I groaned and immediately regretted the movement as my stomach churned. I forced one eye open and winced at the sunlight stabbing through the gaps in the curtains.
I was in my bedroom, lying face down on my bed with one arm hanging off the side. Somehow, I’d made it home last night, which was surprising considering I couldn’t remember anything.
Last night came back in flashes as I rolled to my back.
The bar.
Jax’s bachelor party.
Lots of tequila.
Harlow showing up.
More tequila.
And then… Nothing.
I sat up slowly, pressing my palms against my temples. My head was pounding like it had been used as a drum in a death metal concert.
The bathroom door opened, and steam rolled out, carrying the scent of my body wash. A tightness spread through my chest, and it was suddenly hard to breathe with the realization that I’d brought someone home with me.
A figure emerged wrapped in a white towel, blonde hair dripping down her bare shoulders.
And I froze.
“Morning,” she smiled way too casually for someone who just destroyed my entire life.
My brain flatlined.
Harlow?
Harlow.
Jax’s sister, Harlow.
“Wha…” I cleared my throat and tried again. “What are you doing here?”
She tilted her head, eyebrows raised. “You don’t remember?”
“Remember what?” My voice cracked like a fourteen-year-old boy. I yanked the sheet up to my chest, suddenly very aware I was naked. “Harlow, why are you…” My gaze dropped to the towel she was still wearing. “Where are your…” The panic set in. “Oh fuck, did we…”
I couldn’t finish that sentence. Jax was going to fucking kill me. My best friend since we were eight was going to bury me in the woods and tell everyone I moved to Canada.
“We came back here and kept drinking…” She paused, biting her bottom lip. “I was kind of hoping you’d remember because I got nothing.”
“Okay.” I stumbled to my feet, tugging the sheet with me and wrapping it around my waist. “So maybe nothing…” The words died in my throat as my gaze froze on a small red stain on my bed.
All the air left my lungs in a rush. My gaze lifted to Harlow, who was staring at the same spot, her face pale.
“Were you... Are you a virgin?” My eyes went wide. “Were you a virgin?”
Her face answered before her mouth could.
“Oh, fuck.” I spun away, running both hands through my hair hard enough to hurt. “Fuck. This is… This is so many levels of fucked up I can’t even…”
“We don’t actually know anything happened…”
“Seriously?” I whirled back, pointing at the bed. “That’s a pretty compelling piece of evidence. That’s like CSI-level shit right there.”
“Okay, but…”
“What am I going to tell Cam?”
“You said you two were over.”
“We are over, we’re...” I dragged a hand down my face. “Neither of us has actually pulled the plug yet. It’s complicated.”
“Sounds simple to me. You tell her it’s done. Don’t mention this.” She gestured vaguely between us.
“Right.” I grabbed boxer briefs from my dresser and turned my back to put them on. “Right now you need to get dressed, and we need to get you out of here before Jax shows up and realizes you spent the night and decides to kill me with his bare hands…”
Her towel hitting the floor echoed through the silence.
My eyes betrayed me, glancing over my shoulder. Her bare back. Soft curves. A small heart tattoo on her lower back that I’d definitely never noticed before, because I’d never looked before.
“You have a…” I spun back around so fast I almost fell over. “Jesus. Harlow.”
“It’s a tattoo. I got it when I turned eighteen.”
“I’m not… I wasn’t…” I stared at the wall like it held the secrets of the universe. “Just... clothes. Put on clothes.”
“I’m trying to,” she said, and I could hear the eye roll. “You’re the one making it weird.”
“I’m making it weird? I’m making it weird?”
“Yeah, you are.”
I waited, counting to thirty, then risked a glance over my shoulder. Fully dressed.
“Look,” I said, turning around. “Give me time to sort things out with Cam, and then you and I can figure out what…”
“Don’t worry about it,” she snapped, rolling her eyes.
“Harlow…”
The door slammed.
“Fuck.”
I stood there, staring at where she’d been, feeling like the world’s biggest asshole. Which, to be fair, I absolutely was. Not only was I about to hurt Cam, but I also hurt Harlow.
My phone rang.
Jax’s name lit up the screen.
My stomach dropped into my feet, and guilt twisted in my chest. Jax was more than a friend, more than a best friend.
He was family, my brother. He was the only family I had left because I lost my parents and sister two days before my twentieth birthday in a car crash.
Jax was there. They were all there: Jax, Kaia, Syn, Harlow, and Cam.
Losing him and his family would be like losing my family all over again, and I couldn’t let that happen.
I grabbed the phone, forcing something resembling normal human speech. “Hey. Bro. What’s up?”
Too enthusiastic. Way too enthusiastic. I sounded like a game show host on cocaine.
“You sound weirdly chipper for someone who could barely stand last night,” Jax laughed. “I’m honestly shocked you’re alive.”
“Yeah, no hangover.” I dropped onto the edge of my bed, then immediately stood back up because of the blood-stained sheets.”Weird, right? So what’s going on?”
“I needed to cancel plans this morning.”
Oh, thank God. I dropped my head. I needed a minute to process everything that happened and come up with a game plan.
“Kaia isn’t feeling well…”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, morning sickness,” he said. “This pregnancy’s been rough on her, and I don’t want to leave her.”
The word pregnancy echoed in my head.
Pregnancy.
Fuck.
My eyes flashed around the room. “Okay, man.” My words came out more panicked and rushed than I’d intended. “Let me know if you need anything.” I didn’t wait for his response before I disconnected, tossed my phone on the bed, and frantically scrambled around the bedroom looking for a used condom.
“No.” I looked around the room wildly. “No, no, no, no, no.”
I always used condoms. Always. There was no way I’d been drunk enough to…
I ripped the sheets off the bed. Nothing.
Under the bed. Nothing.
Bathroom trash. Nothing.
Bedroom trash. Nothing.
Kitchen trash. Nothing.
I tore through my apartment.
Still nothing.
I froze in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at my own reflection. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
My reflection, wisely, said nothing.
“You’re never drinking again.” I pointed at myself. “You hear me? Never. Again.”
That was a lie, and we both knew it.
I blew out a heavy sigh. I needed to end things with Cam, and then I needed to track down Harlow and tell her we might have a condom situation. That could lead to a baby situation.
I dropped my head against the mirror.
Fuck my life…