Throwing parties—like massive, messy, hardcore raging parties—came with the territory. The OSU football team's captain territory.

I liked it at first. Fucking loved it, actually. But as I scanned my living room, taking in the aftermath of tonight's free-for-all, I decided I was more than ready to move to another territory. The countdown to graduation never tasted so goddamn sweet. I doubted I'd be passing out tequila shots every weekend in law school, and honestly, I was just fine with that.

Because then I probably wouldn't end up with a hole in my wall.

There was a hole in my wall—a goddamn hole. Did they think I wouldn't notice that they'd moved my favorite leather recliner over two feet? Of course I fucking noticed. I noticed, and then I found the fist-sized hole and smattering of drywall on the ground beneath it.

Luckily, I knew a thing or two about home repairs. Didn't mean I liked to spend my Sundays doing them, though.

But at least it would give me something to do with my hands so I wouldn't be tempted to wring Juniper's antagonizing little neck in the morning. The alcohol seemed to enhance her snark tonight, and I couldn't wait until she and Gemma were on their way home tomorrow. A one weekend visit was enough. They belonged on the other side of the country in our tiny hometown, where I knew enough not to worry.

Where the hell was Juni? She'd spent half the night hanging on every word that came out of Noah's bragging mouth, but now my sister was the only one next to my roommate. Gemma didn't look nearly as smitten as her best friend had, which didn't surprise me. Gemma was always the sensible one. 

With a frown, I ducked around the corner and peeked in the kitchen. When I didn't see that pretty brown hair, I did an about-face and checked the guest bedroom. Nope, not there. Down the hallway, though, the bathroom door was ajar. A light was on, too, so I nudged the door open with my foot, slowly enough for anyone to protest.

And of course there was a protest.

"What's a girl have to do to puke in peace around here?"

Juniper St. James was slouched across the toilet. And when I stepped into the bathroom, her eyes narrowed. And then my eyes narrowed. She was pretty damn far from the toilet, considering her declaration of being mid-vom.

"Just checkin' on you. Got good aim there, Daisy? I already have a hole in a wall to patch up out there." I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. "Don't need to clean up your leftovers on top of it."

She scoffed, lifting the lid and wrinkling her nose before letting it drop with a loud clang. "I've never known a guy who has good aim when using a toilet, so I'm pretty sure this porcelain could use a good cleaning anyway."

"Sounds like the only guys you know are the ones who don't know how to use their equipment properly," I drawled, leaning against the sink. "Couldn't be me."

Juni's eyes rolled up. But it was so quick that it seemed like an automated response. Because then I watched as her gaze flicked back down. Down to my...equipment.

A smirk tugged on the corner of my mouth. "If you wanna see it, all you have to do is ask."

She squinted, narrowing her concentration on my dick. Thankfully I wore a pair of jeans tonight and not sweatpants because Julian Jr. was starting to feel a little excited down there with all the attention. Her fucking gaze burned through my pants, and I cleared my throat.

"I'm just wondering if the curtains match the drapes," she said.

"Real mature, Lily." I snorted, crossing my arms over my chest. "I can assure you that in my twenty-two years of being a ginger, I've definitely never heard that one before."

She glanced up, which was good for my sanity. "Really?"

"No. God, don't be so gullible," I said dryly. "It's not a good look for a future lawyer."

"Wow. You have no idea how glad I am that we're going to law school on different sides of the country." She rolled her eyes, but this time it seemed intentional. "And I'm sensing evasion. A bit of dodging."

"Dodging?"

"The question, yeah."

"I already told you that I'd show you if you asked," I pointed out, my lips twitching again. "But you gotta ask."

Juni cocked her head to the side like she was considering it, and I stared at her, struggling to figure out how drunk she really was. Her eyes weren't that glassy. In fact, her gaze was very...direct. Clear.

"You'd expose yourself to a drunk girl?" she said finally, her own smug smirk appearing. "Not a good look. Even for you, Julian."

"You're not drunk."

She gestured to the floor around her. "I'm in here sitting by the toilet, aren't I?"

"And you haven't once looked like you're about to hurl."

She made a face, and I imagined her ten years younger, sticking her tongue out at me in middle school. This time she kept her tongue in her mouth, though. "Maybe something about your charming personality even scares the puke away."

A chalked laugh couldn't help but escape my lips. "You're welcome, then."

There was a slight pause before Juniper nodded toward the living room. "Shouldn't you be out there?"

"Why?"

"To watch Gemma," she said, sassy tone not going unnoticed. "I half expected laser beams to shoot from your eyes with how hard you were staring the whole night."

My lips settled back into a hard line. "My sister is a full-grown adult, Juniper. I don't need to babysit her."

Gemma could take care of herself. Though she was sociable, she'd always had pretty firm boundaries. Noah, meanwhile, was a flirt. Mostly a harmless one, but a flirt nonetheless. He wasn't above turning down an interested party, maybe one without boundaries. And so, the equation that I was mostly concerned about in the mix tonight didn't include Gemma at all.

"Oh, I know that." Juni put a hand to her chest, drawing my attention to her low-cut floral top. Jesus. Had those always been there? "But I figured you didn't, considering the whole overprotective-brother-glare."

I jerked my gaze back to her face. "I have five sisters. It comes naturally."

"Does the whole being-an-ass thing come naturally, too?" she snarked, reminding me that I actually had been a bit of an ass to her earlier when she'd asked a simple question about where the bathroom was. Had she been in here ever since? No, she definitely came back out for a while. I'd made sure she'd come back out again for a while.

"If people think I'm an ass, fine. I don't care."

I didn't care. I cared about order and respect. I cared that my people were taken care of. And I cared about having a good time every now and again. No one had to like me. That wasn't a necessary.

"Clearly."

Silence dragged between us as Juni looked anywhere other than at me. Then, finally, she'd had enough.

"Why are you still here?"

I didn't really know the answer to that question.

A shrug. "Just making sure you don't make a mess out of my bathroom."

Juniper sighed. "I'm not going to make a mess. My stomach feels fine."

Annoyingly, that relieved me a bit. But that feeling likely came down to the fact that there would be one less room to clean tomorrow.

"Then why are you still here?" I asked, throwing that question back at her.

"Sometimes it's easier just to hide," she muttered, looking away.

I wasn't sure what to say to that. Vulnerability shone from Juniper's eyes, even as she lowered her gaze. Juni was bright. Impulsive. A heart-on-your-sleeves kind of girl. The rashness had landed her and my sister in a hell of a lot of trouble throughout the years, and never once, in any of those situations, had Juniper shown me even an ounce of the regret shining in her eyes right now.

I didn't know what to do with her words. I shifted on my feet.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Peace and quiet would be nice," she murmured. Her eyes returned, this time like daggers. I lifted my hands in a sign of defeat, of surrender.

"As you wish, Violet."

As I retreated and closed the door behind me, I heard her annoyed groan.

"A tree, Julian. Juniper is a kind of tree."

I couldn't help but poke my head back into the bathroom with a smile. "Next time I'll call you Ash, then."

Ripping the towel down from the bar above her head, she threw it at me. I jerked the door closed just in time to hear the soft thud as it fell to the floor.

I thought about popping inside again to let her know that I used that towel to dry my balls off this morning, but then I heard Gemma's laughter and drifted back into the living room instead. She immediately caught my eye, and I knew it was the signal to give the night a rest.

"Let's wrap it up, London! I know you gotta get your beauty sleep."

Noah shot me a glare, but he didn't say anything.

Good to know I still maintained some order around this place. Actually, everywhere. And with everyone.

Everyone except Juniper St. James.

✨

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