My Sister Stole My Mate, And I Let Her

Chapter 547: Chapter 547 THE SQUARE AND THE MENACE (BONUS Chapter 6)

AVA’S POV

Holy hangover from hell.

I groaned, clutching my temples in an attempt to stop my skull from splitting into two.

When that accomplished absolutely nothing, I pulled the blanket over my head, hoping that if I stayed perfectly still, the hangover might think I was dead and disappear.

Unfortunately, the throbbing behind my eyes only grew worse, and every tiny sound in the room—the faint hum of the air conditioner, the birds outside my window, even the rustle of the sheets when I moved—felt like little nuclear bombs detonating in my skull.

As if my cranial explosions weren’t bad enough, fragments of last night began creeping back into my mind, accompanied by wave after wave of embarrassment.

The bar with the dumbass bouncer who couldn’t identify a fake ID, and the even dumber bartender who served shot after shot to a bunch of teenagers.

The first shot, just to loosen up.

The second, when Yvonne mentioned that Bryce had invited Cindy, but she didn’t come because she was too busy with her boyfriend.

The third and fourth and fifth to give me a buzz strong enough to drown out the endless loop of Daniel and Cindy in my brain for one night.

Only to come back and face the one person I simultaneously wanted and didn’t want to see.

After that, everything dissolved into a frustrating blur, leaving me clutching at scattered fragments and a gut-deep dread that I’d made a spectacular fool of myself in ways I couldn’t even recall.

At least Daniel had gotten me back to my room safely...and nothing else.

A flush of heat bloomed in my chest at the thought.

Nothing else? What else did you want, Ava?

“Get it together, hussy,” I muttered, running a hand down my face.

Coveting someone else’s boyfriend was bad enough with tequila in my veins. Doing it stone-cold sober was downright pathetic.

Daniel was the best person I knew, and I would never, ever want him to be the asshole who stepped out on his girlfriend—even for me.

No matter how much disappointment twisted in my gut.

I needed a shower—one cold enough to shock some sense back into me.

Maybe it would rinse away the hangover, the embarrassment, and every reckless thought I’d ever had about Daniel.

With another tortured groan, I flung the blanket off my head, rolled to the side—and screamed bloody murder.

“What the fuck?!”

I sat up in bed too suddenly and immediately regretted the action when the room spun like a top.

But that wasn’t what sent my heart into overdrive and my eyes popping out of my skull.

That honor belonged to the boy on the other side of the bed, sitting up and stretching leisurely.

Daniel turned to me and gave me a lazy smile. “Morning, Ava.”

All I could do was gawk, unable to comprehend what Daniel freakin’ Blackthorne was doing in my bed, shirtless, with his hair tousled from sleep and his eyes still heavy with drowsiness.

The morning light spilling through the windows caught along the sharp lines of his face and the bare skin of his shoulders, making the whole scene feel so surreal that my sleep/alcohol-fogged brain struggled to make sense of it.

He snapped his fingers in front of my face, and reality yanked me back like a slingshot.

“Earth to Ava.”

He looked so at ease, and his voice was maddeningly calm and smooth, as if this were a perfectly ordinary occurrence and not the reason my heart was currently doing eighty in a twenty-mile zone.

“Daniel, what the fuck are you doing in my room—in my bed?!”

He shrugged. “Well, I was sleeping, and now, I’m getting yelled at.”

I reached out and thunked the back of his head.

He yelped, his hand coming to caress the spot I hit.

“Yep,” he groaned, “that checks out.”

I dug my fingers into my temple again, massaging so fiercely I was in danger of drilling a hole straight through.

“Get out of my room, Blackthorne.”

Daniel did not, in fact, get out of my room. Instead, he leaned against the headboard and folded his arms across his bare chest.

“That’s ironic.”

I lowered my hands, my eyes narrowing. “What do you mean?”

He cocked his head, and his lips twitched. “You don’t remember much, do you?”

“I remember enough.”

He shook his head, his smile widening. “Not enough.”

A wave of nausea rolled through me, and I couldn’t tell if it was the aftereffects of tequila or the mischievous glint in Daniel’s eyes.

“What does that mean? What did I do?”

The smug bastard shrugged. “Nothing.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “That’s a lie. I know when you lie, Blackthorne.”

His smile dimmed. “Funny you still know anything about me, considering you’ve made a sport out of dodging me since you got here.”

I blinked, taken aback by the sudden hardness in his voice.

“Anyways.” He shrugged, and his voice was light again. “You mostly just argued with me, but that’s nothing new.”

I held my breath. “So...what was new?”

His amusement deepened. “You wouldn’t let me leave.”

I blinked. “Huh?”

“Last night. After I carried you to your room, I tried to leave.”

My face grew warm. “And?”

“You clung to me.”

My jaw unhinged. “I did not.”

“You did.”

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. “I would never.”

Daniel’s eyebrows lifted. “You really don’t remember?”

I shook my head so hard something might have snapped. “No, I don’t. Because it didn’t happen.”

“Then what am I doing in your bed?”

“I...” I couldn’t find the words. My tongue was heavy, and my eyes were darting around like a trapped chipmunk, and ugh, my head hurt.

He scoffed, inching closer, and suddenly the universe narrowed to the tiny stretch of mattress between us.

He was close enough now that I could see the tiny smattering of freckles across the nose from days spent out in the sun.

I balled my hands into fists in my lap so I didn’t do something stupid like tangle my fingers in his messy dark curls.

“You wrapped your arms around me like this.” I trapped a yelp in my throat as he guided my arms around his waist.

“You clung to my shirt, but...” He glanced down at his bare chest and shrugged. “Anyway, you passed out on me and wouldn’t let go. I had no idea how strong your grip had gotten. I had to take off said shirt just to remove myself.”

I didn’t need a mirror to know my cheeks were probably as red as my hair.

“I...I didn’t—I couldn’t have...I wouldn’t—”

Daniel leaned in until our noses nearly brushed, and I almost swallowed my tongue.

“Ava, speechless.” He hummed. “Now, that’s something you don’t see every day.”

He tilted his head, studying me with that irritatingly clairvoyant expression that always made me feel transparent.

“I didn’t do any of that,” I whispered, my voice shaky. “I would never.”

He scoffed. “You also don’t remember saying how much you missed me?”

“I never—”

‘I really did miss you, Daniel. So, so much.’

Alcohol really was the devil’s nectar.

I had nothing. No comeback, no defense. Ava, speechless.

Daniel’s eyes softened, and suddenly the teasing quality was gone.

My breath hitched when he reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. His finger lingered, and I fought a shiver.

“I missed you too, Ava,” he whispered, his breath warm against my lips. “All I did over the last nine months was miss you.”

I hiccupped.

Not exactly my finest moment, but my heart was pounding as wildly as my head, and my brain was pure static.

“I’d like you to say it back,” Daniel continued, “when you’re not drunk.”

I opened my mouth.

Maybe I would have managed words—I had no idea what—but it didn’t matter, because a gentle knock on the door cut through the moment.

“Ava?”

I jolted back so hard I whacked my hip on the bedside table.

I swallowed a groan, my hand flying to massage the already sore spot.

“S-sera?”

Her voice carried through the door. “Hi, honey. I’m so sorry we haven’t seen since you returned. I’ve been so busy. Can I come in?”

“No!” I yelled louder than I needed to.

There was a pause, and I held my breath.

Sera didn’t only have lightning-quick maternal instincts, but she was also honest to gods psychic. For all I knew, she could see her son and me in bed right now.

“Everything okay, hon?”

“I’m fine. Just...changing. I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Okay,” Sera said. “I’ll be in the kitchen of the Alpha wing. Pancakes sound good?”

"Perfect! Thank you!"

Her footsteps faded down the hall, and I didn’t turn back to Daniel until I was sure she was gone.

He was still smiling. "Looks like we’ll be having breakfast together."

Oh Gods. If she hadn’t already, Sera would be going to Daniel’s room next.

I sighed. “Get out of my room, Blackthorne.”

This time, thankfully, he moved. I kept my gaze firmly planted on a random stain on the baseboard as he grabbed his shirt that was indeed discarded between us and threw it on.

At the doorway, however, he paused.

“Next time, don’t go out partying alone.”

Finally, I turned toward him. “I wasn’t alone.”

The teasing in his expression had faded again. His grip was tight on the door handle.

“I meant without me.”

He turned the handle and disappeared, leaving me with flaming cheeks, a heart pounding out of sync, and a whole lot more than a hangover to recover from.