With a pounding ringing in my head, I wake up with a wince, screwing my eyes shut at the throbbing sensation.

"Fuck," I groan, turning over in bed to get my phone.

My body stills, along with my heart, when I realize that I'm not waking up alone.

"What the fuck are you doing in here?!"

Grayson stretches on the small sofa, his legs dangling off the end of it, and when his eyes flicker open, I hastily lift the sheet up to cover my chest, which for some reason is bare.

"Oh, so, you're alive," Grayson notes, sitting up.

"Why am I not wearing clothes?" I fire him my most important question as of right now.

"You weren't wearing much last night to begin with, if I remember correctly," he fires back with a roll of his eyes.

"And that's relevant how?" I deadpan, not liking what he's insinuating.

He sighs, "You stripped off as soon as we got in here, you did keep your underwear on, but I made you put on a robe anyway. You must have taken it off during the night."

"Fuck's sake, of course," I shake my head, lying back against the headboard, "What happened last night exactly?"

"What do you remember?"

My mind is hazy, but I try my best to recollect my memories of last night, "Well, I unfortunately remember stumbling into you as soon as we got there."

He scoffs, "Don't act like it wouldn't have happened at some point in the night; it was my party."

"Which you invited me to," I spin it back on him.

"Nick did actually," he tells me, "That's beside the point anyway, what happened after you left us?"

"I had a drink at the bar with Rhi and Alex, but they both wanted to dance, so I told them to do so while I finished my second. This guy began speaking to me; he introduced himself as Tony and offered to buy me a drink. I accepted it because it was free, and I wanted to have fun. I know what you must think when you look at me; that because I'm a girl, I can't handle my drink, but I can, I'm rarely ever a mess."

"I don't think that," he seems genuine.

"Well, I'll be honest, it's a first. I grew up having to deal with men who thought they could out drink me."

It's always the men with toxic masculinity that make a competition out of everything. It's humorous, really, and I love it when I, a petite woman, proves them wrong.

"You've gone off-topic again," he brings me back to reality, "Jesus, have you ever been tested for ADHD?"

My jaw drops at the gall of him, "Not that it's any of your business, but yes, I do have ADHD, you dickhead."

With a hum, he nods, "Onto the jerk at the bar."

"He was flirting with me, I guess, but I made it clear I wasn't interested; accepting the drink properly didn't help the fact, but I was somewhat tipsy already because..." I stop myself before I go rambling again, "Doesn't matter. He started to get touchy even after I made it clear I wasn't interested, so I excused myself and joined the group. I can't remember much from then onwards, so it's all confusing."

"For fuck's sake," he shakes his head with an irritable sigh, "He must have slipped something into your drink."

My heart crumbles at his words, "No, he-"

"You said he was touching you?" he asks, and I nod hesitantly, "He unmistakably did then. You need to be more careful, Lia, you were a total mess last night."

With a scoff, I get defensive, "How about, in future, I'll stay with the dude and get assaulted, so you don't have to witness me being a mess, would that be better for you?"

He shakes his head, "That's not what I meant; of course, it's not fucking better. I'm not a monster."

"You fooled me," I mumble, picking at my nails in order to avoid his gaze.

"You are insufferable."

"No, I'm perfectly sufferable to the people I like," I look at him now, "I just don't like you."

"At least we're on the same page about something."

"Why exactly are you here again?" I wonder, trying to piece together why it's Grayson who slept on my couch and not one of my friends.

He scoffs, "Did you not hear what I just told you?"

"Yeah, I was spiked, so we came back here because I was a mess, but I'm confused as to why you came back with me? What about my friends? It wasn't your place to come to my rescue, Grayson, you didn't have to do that."

"Oh, but I did. You weren't just a mess, Lia, you'd passed the fuck out on me," he reveals a piece of information that deteriorates my ego, "And your friends did come with us, but no way could they handle you alone, so I had to help."

"But then you stayed?" I frown, baffled by this ordeal.

"Oh, don't flatter yourself, I didn't really have a choice in the matter," he clears up, "Nick has my room key, so I couldn't go to my room, and you offered me the couch."

"I offered?!" I must have been out of my mind.

He laughs, "Yeah, who knew you could be nice."

"I'm a lovely person actually," I really am, unless you do something to make me not like you.

"Oh, really?" he raises his brows, "Will I ever get to meet that version of you?"

"Probably not," I don't think he will; I'll be civil, like this, but I don't see us becoming friends, "I guess I ought to thank you for last night, and apologise for ruining it."

"That must pain you," he chuckles, standing from the sofa, "And honestly, it's fine, it's not like it was your fault."

"Still," I shrug, watching him move around my hotel room with a frown, "Are you looking for something?"

"Yeah, I want to order breakfast," he looks at me.

"Both the menu and phone are here," I point to the table next to my bed.

"Move over," he shoos me out of the way.

I scoff at his lack of manners, bringing the sheets with me, "I'm naked under here, you know?"

"Nothing I didn't see last night," he sprawls out on the bed beside me, grabbing the menu, "And you were right."

"What about now?" I look over at him, intrigued.

He smirks, "Your tits do always look great."

With an annoyed groan, I snatch the menu off him to look at. After a second, I pass him it back with a sigh, "I want scrambled eggs on toast."

"Did you need the menu to come to that conclusion?"

"Nope, you just piss me off, and it's better than hitting you with it," I'm not going to lie to him.

"Insufferable," he mutters, looking over the menu.

After a second, he picks up the phone and orders room service for us, getting himself pancakes and syrup.

With a giggle, I say, "I didn't take you for a man with childish taste buds."

He scoffs, "That's wise coming from the woman who ordered herself scrambled egg."

"Oh, shut up," I cross my arms.

"Defeated already?" he smirks over at me.

Before I can defend myself, my phone begins to ring and when I see Alex's name, I let out a gasp and answer.

"Please save me," are my first words.

"God, you'd think I was keeping you from leaving."

"It's my room," I direct my attention back to him, "Do you have a problem with determining what's mine or yours?"

"If we're going to talk technicalities, Lia, I paid for this room," he yet again, has me in a corner with no defense.

"Um, Lia?" Alex pulls me back.

"Hi, yes, sorry about that," I say, grateful for the save.

"It's ten am already, you do know we have to leave for the airport in about an hour, right?"

"We, what?!" I sit up in bed, quickly taking in my surroundings. My room is a mess, and I am not at all ready.

"Okay, me and Rhi will be down in twenty minutes to help you pack," they come to my rescue yet again.

"Thank you so much," I owe them both for this. Once I've ended the call, I turn to Grayson, "We need to leave for our flight in an hour, so you need to go, like now."

"Absolutely not, what about breakfast?" he points out.

"Well, can you at least close your eyes while I get out of bed?" I ask for a little compromise.

"It's a little late to ask for modesty, don't you think?"

"Grayson!" I whine, so I can get ready.

"Jesus, woman," he screws his eyes shut, "God help the person that ends up with you."

I slip out of the bed and grab my robe, quickly putting it on. When I turn back around, his usual smirk is plastered on his face, and he's looking right at me.

"You didn't keep your eyes closed, did you?" I don't know why I bother asking.

"Of course, I did," he lies through his teeth.

With a roll of my eyes, I walk into the bathroom and lock it behind me, putting a wall between us, quite literally. I need a minute to myself, so I can breathe. I'm glad we're not arguing, some would even say we're getting along, but I doubt it'll stay this way for long.

The truth is, I don't trust him, and he hasn't given me a reason to either; don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that he brought me back to the hotel, but he did what he felt he had to, not what he wanted to. I'm sure he'd much rather have woken up in a bed next to a woman, instead of on my couch.

After taking way too much time to think, I begin to take off last night's makeup, which is looking a little worse for wear. Once it's off, I cleanse my face and brush my teeth.

"Lia, open up!" Grayson bangs on the bathroom door.

"If it isn't about food, I don't want to hear it!"

It goes silent for a moment before he groans, "C'mon, Lia, I need to take a leak."

I quickly spit the toothpaste out to laugh, "You'll have to wait, Grayson, I'm almost done."

After brushing my teeth, I pack all the items I had in here into my wash bag, and step out of the bathroom holding the clothes I wore at last night's show.

"Finally," he practically jumps off the bed at the sight of the bathroom no longer occupied.

He walks right past me, leaving the door wide open, and within seconds I hear the repulsive sound of him peeing.

"Ew," I grimace, throwing my clothes on the floor.

With my wash bag still in hand, I open my suitcase that's lying on the ottoman, and pack it away before pulling out fresh underwear and a baby pink tracksuit for the airport. I leave my suitcase open for me to pack after breakfast, and get back on my bed, still wearing nothing but a robe.

The moment Grayson walks out of the bathroom, the door knocks, letting us know that food is finally here. With no protest, he answers it, and brings the tray in with our food.

"Scrambled eggs for you," he hands me my plate.

"Thank you," I then grab the utensils from the tray.

Before I dig into my food, I turn on the television to put on the episode of Friends I left off on yesterday, and I feel his eyes on me the entire time.

"You're judging me," I claim, pressing play on the show before sitting back against the headboard.

"I mean, yeah," he laughs, looking between me and the television, "Are you secretly like an iPad kid?"

"How about we eat in silence?" I propose a wonderful idea, picking up my knife and fork.

He doesn't reply after that, we eat our breakfast while we watch Friends, but as soon as the episode starts to get good, rapid knocks pound from the door.

"Jesus Christ," I climb out of the bed.

When I swing the door open, Rhiannon and Alex rush into the room without so much of a greeting. Only when they notice Grayson in my bed, does Rhiannon blurt out, "Why the fuck is he in your bed?"

"I'm her new lover," Grayson grins over, and I fight the nauseous feeling that those words make.

"He's leaving now, actually," I hold the door open.

"Wow, princess, I'm insulted," he clutches his hand to his chest.

"Leave, Grayson," I haven't got the patience, nor the time to be dealing with him when I have to pack.

With a sassy roll of his eyes, he climbs off my bed, grabs his shoes from near the sofa and makes his way over to me at the door. Getting ready to shut it behind him, he stops in the doorway, making me further frustrated.

"Yes?" I look up at him, noticing the drastic height difference between us for the first time. I'm five seven, so I'd have to guess he's above six four in how he towers over me.

"Thanks for the sleepover, princess," he makes a mess of my hair before walking off.

"God, I hate you so much," I growl, slamming the door behind him. When I turn around, my friends are staring at me, awaiting an explanation, and I sigh, "I'll fill you both in, but I need to get ready, so we'll have to talk and pack."

"As long as we get to find out what the fuck that was all about," Alex points to the door.

"We'll get to that, trust me," I assure them, grabbing my fresh clothes to change into.

~~~~~

A/N

On the one hand, I hope you hate Grayson, but at the same time I already love this man even though I know he's an absolute dick. 

I'm loving writing this so far, and if you're loving reading it, pls leave some comments and vote on the chapters, I'd appreicate it! xx