(Markus)

Thirty minutes into the party and my flat was already a mess. There were plastic cups and empty beer bottle bottles on every surface, my kitchen counters were wet with God knows what, and there were bags everywhere. What was inside the bags remained a mystery, but the guys had arrived with fifty of the fucking things hanging off their arms. They couldn't all contain alcohol. Knowing Andres and Lynch at least three would be full of trashy snacks.

The only thing keeping me from a meltdown was that fact that my puppy was going to town on one of Lynch's boots - well done Bisto - and the idiot was already too drunk to notice. That, and the fact that Daisy was currently sat across the room with Alec and Roman giggling in a way that told me she was already tipsy and enjoying herself.

If anyone told me at the beginning of the month that I'd been spending my twenty-fifth birthday with her, I would have called them a fucking liar. The fact that I ever got to see her again after that first night together, was unbelievable.

Every time I saw her interacting with my friends, it had something stupid happening to me. My chest got tight and uncomfortable, not unlike when I was feeling anxious about something, and my stomach tied up in knots. It was weird to see her fitting in so well.

I didn't have much experience dating, I'd only dated one girl during college. She was nice, we had got on well, but she hadn't wanted to hang out with my friends, and I knew her friends hadn't been a fan of me. They'd always give me odd looks, as if they were judging me for something I had no fucking clue about. Maybe it was my tattoos, maybe it was because of how much I worked. It was true that I hadn't always made much time for her, but my Dad had been sick and I hadn't had much choice but to help him out - not when he and Dev had worked so hard to set up the gym. It wasn't a surprise when the relationship had just kind of... ended. By the end of it, I had been relieved that she broke up with me.

Since her, there hadn't been anyone else. I hadn't had the time, nor the interest in anyone else. Not until Daisy.

"You're all a bunch of dicks," I grumbled around the rim of my beer glass to Lynch and Andres, my attention locked on Alec and Daisy laughing together. What were they talking about so intensely? There was a coy smile curled at the corner of Alec's mouth, and he seemed amused by whatever Daisy was saying.

"Dude, we did you a favour," Andre's scoffed. He was hunched over my kitchen counter, pouring tequila into six shot glasses laid out in a line. He'd already rummaged around in my cupboards to find my chopping board, a couple of limes, my salt shaker, and a knife too sharp for his current state of inebriation. "Alec said you kicked him out cause you were having Daisy over this morning, but that you were too chicken shit to invite her to the party. We thought if we came over now, we could trap her here and you'd get to spend more time together."

"Tell me more about your plans to trap a woman in my flat," I said in a deadpan tone, shooting my friends an unimpressed look. They were all fucking idiots. But I was the biggest fucking idiot because I couldn't deny that I was pleased their stupid plan had worked.

"You should be thanking us," Lynch chimed in, jamming his elbow into my ribs. The back of my hand found it's way against his stomach. Andre's snickered at the sound of Lynch's groans and the tequila he was pouring ended up all over the counter.

"For fucks sake." Shoving him out of the way, I snatched the bottle from his hands. "Fucking useless."

Did I have to do everything myself?

"Alec also said you made him show you how his coffee machine works," Andres snickered. "You trying to seduce her with caffeine? You dog."

Lynch scoffed. "Didn't seem to be working. You weren't even doing anything when we walked it. We expected to at least see some cuddling or shit." He was still rubbing at his stomach where I had hit him when I shot him a withering glare.

"Both of you two are bloody wusses," Lynch continued to taunt. "Why can't you just make a move on the people you like? You wanna date 'em? Date 'em. What are you so scared of?"

"That's rich, coming from you," I grumbled under my breath without thinking. Yes, technically Lynch had made a move and had been dating Roman for a while now. But, while the others knew he was gay, he'd yet to tell Andres that he was fucking his little brother. Lynch kicked the back of my knee and tequila once again splashed all over the place.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Andres asked. No one spoke. His eyes narrowed, and he looked between us both with heavy suspicion. "Seriously, I know you two have some little secret you won't share. What the fuck is up with that?"

Lynch grabbed one of the shot glasses and downed it. He winced afterwards and turned towards the others, completely ignoring Andres as he shouted, "Shots!"

Understanding that Lynch would offer no answers, Andres turned his scrutiny towards me.

Fuck it.

The tequila burned the back of my throat, and my voice was a little hoarse as I mirrored Lynch's enthusiastic shout.