EMERGING FROM MY ROOM THE NEXT MORNING, Jane and Sam were chatting in the kitchen. Something gnawed in the pit of my stomach but was dismissed as last night's liquor. The aroma of crisp bacon met me halfway on the stairs. I was famished. Observing this little piece of our domestic bliss, it further reinforced my standpoint in the lecture hall.

"We're out of eggs," Sam said. This was his not-so-subtle way of saying someone else needed to go grocery shopping.

I took a seat opposite Jane. Sam retrieved ice-cold orange juice from the fridge and poured three glasses. Scattered magazines littered the tabletop as Jane sifted through them. She was from Tennessee and destined for the high-end fashion houses of Paris after college.

"You slept like the dead, but I heard all about your eventful evening..." Her eyebrow arched knowingly.

A lazy grin spread across my face, flashbacks of firm hands on my hips as they swayed to the thumping beat of the music, seductive breath fanning my neck and uncontrollable laughing. All night, Jayson and I had taken turns initiating subtle touches—his hand on my knee, my fingers grazing his arm. Each contact had sent little thrills through me.

To think I had broken down the wall that separated Jayson and I caused butterflies to swell in my belly, despite an epic brain-fog that periodically swept over me. Sam would save the day; he was a culinary mastermind of hangover breakfasts.

My mind wondered again, Jayson and I taking turns initiating subtle touches - his hand on my knee, my fingers grazing his arm. Each contact had sent little thrills through me. Sam would save the day; he was a culinary mastermind of hangover breakfasts.

A fork thudded onto a plate and snapped me from my daydream.

"And what do you remember, Millie?" The smirk on Jane's face should have served as a warning.

"Jayson," I said, with a breathless whisper his name deserved.

"Jayson?" she said. "True, he was there last night."

"We danced; I don't think we kissed?" My fingers grazed over my lips.

"No, you didn't kiss, but Sam says you told him and My-Little-Pony to take a hike back to her stable."

Sam snickered over the spits of fat from the pan.

Funny, I didn't recall that. Perhaps if Sam forgot it too, it would be a tree falling in the woods scenario I could just ignore. "Whatever I said, or whatever Holden told me to do, did the trick. I wonder if Jayson will ask me out now?"

Just as I was deciding on the exact shade of blue for our family picket fence for four, Sam said, " That wasn't Jayson, Mills..."

I glanced between Jane and Sam, who both shook their head.

I'm sorry? "Who was it then?" I retraced the fragments of memory as if I could solve the puzzle myself. Holden's words echoed in my head; top three guys in a bar... Hands down, Jayson would claim the top title, which begged the question, who could have jumped into pole position if that were not him?

"Fill in the mental blanks for her, Sam." When he stayed silent, Jane added, "Millie, that was Holden."

My jaw slackened. The hands on my hips were now Holden's, the secret whispers into the nape of my neck directly from his mouth. I stilled. The butterflies that had existed in my belly moments before were now all dead, swimming face down.

Oh. God. No.

"Be weary, Mills," Sam said, "I didn't have to hear about it, I got to see it. You guys looked pretty cozy from where I stood. And if I saw it, so did most of campus."

"Are you going to tell me my virtue is at stake?"

"It's no secret that blog is his life, the same as it is for you. Word was, you'll fail your assignment quicker than he will."

I groaned. "What am I supposed to do? A paid internship is invaluable."

Sam put the spatula down. "Think about it, how is he going to prove his case?"

I'd considered this already. "Flip it the other way with your head out of the gutter. All I need to do is to be his friend-and keep it that way. Do my research, write my paper."

Sam fell silent. Not the prudish type, Sam had three sisters and his perspective tested risks from an older brother's viewpoint and that of a single guy.

As I watched him seer the fat off the bacon, I went over and wrapped my arms around him. "Thanks for getting me home yesterday." With a quick move, I stole a piece of bacon resting on a paper towel and plopped it in my mouth. "It's strange, I don't even remember walking home with you." I licked the grease from my fingers one at a time.

Sam's hand clasped over mine, breathing a familiar warmth into it. "That's because I didn't. Holden got you a cab home."

The bacon lodged in my throat and it took all my effort to chew and swallow. "You let Holden take me home and abandon me on the doorstep?"

Sam traded glances with Jane. "I worked the late shift, you left before I did. Holden deserted no one. Go check the couch."

His words stopped the world from moving momentarily. Not willing to believe it until my eyes confirmed it themselves, I bolted to the living room. Jane trailed a pace behind. The shot of pain that emanated between my eyes resembled a brain aneurysm and served as a reminder to take it much slower this morning.

Holden lay sprawled on the couch with wild bedroom hair, breathing steadily. The silent rise and fall of his chest suggested he was going to be out for hours. Who knew my attempt to make another guy jealous would lead me to this moment? Gazing at a sleeping Holden's sun kissed skin, tousled hair... a spark ignited into a flame somewhere deep inside.

Oh, hell no.

Jane inched closer to my ear. "He actually sleeps; extracurricular pursuits earned those eye bags is my guess." She waggled her eyebrows. "You can't argue that he's hot."

Jane dragged her eyes down his body to a piece of exposed skin between the hem of his tee and the belt of his jeans. His build was a well-played balance between slender and muscular.

I blinked away, realizing how intently I'd been staring. My anger redirected at her. "You let him stay on the couch?"

"I'm not sure who was in a worse state when I opened the door. You were both adorable. And loud... And happy, Millie."

"The band doesn't play on a Monday. What was Jayson doing there?"

"We're back to obsessing over Jayson. Did you ever consider that he's here for the same thing; to write a phenomenal paper that people will be engaged in?"

"Dump the dream job I've slogged for to trade it in for a fling? Then what? A new career at the Burger Fry Barn while I convince my mom to live in my car with me?"

I sighed and collected my thoughts. "We're not real friends. I'm set on that, not to mention Jayson and that hot rocking bod of his." The mental picture of that smirk did things to me I did not want them doing to Nicole. I smiled to myself, I knew her name after all.

"You were pretty game-on when you thought that was Jayson last night."

Jane made an invalid point; I thought it had been Jayson. My slippers smacked against the stairs as I stormed up to the bathroom. In the shower, I scrubbed my skin until it pinked, not for the smell of stale beer but something else that kept sending unwanted memories my way—ones that would test my beliefs in my assignment. By the time I finished in the shower, re-organised my sock draw and watched three episodes of Love Island, Holden was gone.