I unlocked the door and we quietly made our way upstairs. I couldn't help but feel like I was sneaking him in, but I quickly brushed that thought away. It was not like I was doing something wrong, we were sleeping in two separate rooms. And I was pretty sure mom would understand. At least I hoped she would.

I set him up at our guest room and gave him some fresh blankets before leaving to give him some privacy.

I didn't bother changing out of his t-shirt because it was comfortable enough to go to sleep in, but mostly because I really liked wearing it. It made me feel connected to him in some weird way.

God, I hated how mushy I just sounded.

I quickly brushed my teeth and got ready to hit the bed, when I remembered that there was no toothpaste in the small bathroom, attached to the guest room. I quickly walked over to his room which was right across mine and knocked on the door.

He opened the door after a few seconds and I froze when I realized he was standing at the doorway shirtless, only wearing his black track pants, that fit him like a glove, and were hanging dangerously low on his hips.

I gulped and trained my eyes back on his face, trying to remember why I was here in the first place. Oh right!Toothpaste.

I awkwardly thrust my hand forward to give it to him, "Um...so...I thought you might need some toothpaste. You know, to brush your teeth."

What the hell is wrong with me? I mentally facepalm myself.

He took the toothpaste from my hand with an amused expression on his face, which told me he was well aware of the effect he had on me. Jerk.

I couldn't decide if I wanted to punch him in his perfect face or grab him and kiss him.

"Yes. Thank you."

"There is a spare toothbrush in the bathroom, in case you didn't pack it in that bag of yours."

"Okay. Got it." He smiled.

"Alright. Good night, Tyler."

He took a small step closer to me and gently grabbed me by my waist, before placing a soft kiss on my forehead. "Good night. "

And there you go, the stupid butterflies in my stomach had come alive again.

He was making me feel things, I had never felt before. Hell, I didn't even want to be feeling like this in the first place. But I just couldn't seem to help it.

When I looked up at him, the tender affection in his eyes almost made me want to cry.

God, I am so fucked.

I needed to get a grip on myself before it was too late. So I gently pulled away from him, gave him a small smile, and walked back to my room.

Once inside the safety of my room, I sprawled out on my bed like a starfish, exhausted by the eventful night I had had.

I checked my phone hoping to find any text or call from dad, but there was nothing. Frustrated by it all, I switched off my phone and placed it on my bedside table. No point in waiting for a call or a text that was never going to come.

I closed my eyes, snuggling into my pillow and it didn't take me long to fall asleep.

★★★

I woke up to someone insistently knocking on my door.

"Go away." I groaned and buried my face deeper into the pillow.

Few minutes down, and when the steady knocks on my door still didn't stop, I sandwiched my face between two pillows and yelled, "Oh my God, stop knocking, IT'S OPEN!"

"Do you know what time it is?" Tyler said as soon as he walked in.

What the hell is he doing here? I squinted at him.

After a long moment, all the memories from last night flooded in. The beer, rain, swim, and the...kiss.

The memory of our kiss, and the fact that he was standing here in my room when I was still wearing his t-shirt, branded me in a body-wide blush.

"Too early. That's what fucking time it is, " I mumbled pulling my blanket up, to cover my face, and he chuckled.

"It's 9 am. We missed our morning class, and we will probably miss our first period too."

Now that woke me up quickly. I never missed my classes. Ever. Shit! Why hadn't Ash or anyone called me yet? Why hadn't mom tried to wake me up?

I scrambled up and picked up my phone from the nightstand. And then I remembered I had switched it off last night.

"Give me a few minutes, to get showered and changed, " I turned to look at Tyler who was studying the books on the huge bookshelf, placed on the other side of my room.

"Sure thing. Nice room by the way." He smiled.

"Oh! Thanks." I shrugged looking around my room as if I were seeing it for the first time.

It had a huge window, with my bed right next to it. A dresser and a study table tucked away in two corners of the room. And a big ass bookshelf covering an entire wall.

"Oh and I already spoke to your mom early in the morning, " he said.

"You what!?" I turned to look at him wide-eyed.

"Yeah, your mom was awake when I came back from my morning run. She was surprised to see me here, but then I explained everything that happened last night..." he paused when he noticed me cringe, and then quickly amended, "Well almost everything that happened last night, leaving out the part where you got drunk and then later jumped into a lake, in the middle of the night."

God, it sounded worse when he said that out loud, like that.

"Hey! You said you had the time of your life, and I wasn't drunk, I was just a little TIPSY!" I scowled and the sound of his deep laughter filled the room.

He closed the distance between us in a single stride and tweaked my nose, "You're cute when you get pissed."

I slapped his hand away and scowled some more. He smiled and turned around to leave, "I'll let you get ready now."

When he was near the door, he turned around with a mischievous gleam in his eyes and said. "Just for the record, I did have the time of my life last night. Every moment spent with you was perfect, but it mostly had to do with what we did after we got into the lake that made my night."

And just like that, he winked at me and left the room, closing the door behind him. Leaving me speechless. And I was never speechless. That jerk.

I quickly showered and threw on a denim jumpsuit, pairing it up with my white sneakers, and pulled up my hair in a bun. I stuffed my books into my backpack and dashed down the stairs.

I was shocked to find Tyler and mom laughing at something while making pancakes, in the kitchen. So what, they are best friends now?

I quickly took a seat on one of the kitchen stools and cleared my throat to announce my presence.

"Hey, honey. Good morning." Mom smiled, plating some bacon and eggs. I was relieved to see her doing a lot better than yesterday.

"Good morning, why didn't you wake me up today?"

"Well, Tyler told me you had a rough night, and it was quite late when you guys hit the bed last night. So I thought I'll let you sleep in."

"What time did you wake up anyway?" I asked Tyler.

"Six-thirty, " he said as he took a seat next to me.

"What? How? You were also up late last night!"

"I know. It's like I have a built-in, internal alarm clock that goes off at 6 am. No matter how late I'm up the night before, my body just wakes up at that time," He shrugged.

Maybe that was why he was never late for any of his football practices. Neil said he sometimes came earlier than the coach, to have some alone time on the field and train by himself.

"That's a really good habit Tyler, " my mother said setting our plates in front of us. "A habit, Veronica can learn."

I rolled my eyes and dug into my food. "No thank you, I'm good."

"This is delicious, Mrs. D'costa. Thank you so much for all of this." Tyler smiled after a few seconds and my mother beamed at him. 

Kiss-ass.

"Oh it's nothing and you can call me Jen." Mom ruffled his hair fondly.

What the hell did I miss here? God, this is so weird.

"You better finish up early, or we will be late for our second class too, " I told Tyler and we wolfed down our food in a few minutes.

"I'll get my bag from upstairs and we can get going, " he said before he left the kitchen.

As soon as he was out of earshot, my mom turned her focus on me, "So? Tell me everything."

"There is nothing to say." I shrugged. "And I am sorry I let him stay without your permission."

"Oh, that's okay. He was there for you last night, and I really appreciate it. I knew that you were really upset, even though you tried to hide it," she said softly, while I tried to avoid her eyes. But she could always see right through me.

"He is a nice boy, " she said and I nodded. "And he is really handsome too, " she added and I groaned.

"I think he likes you, " she said in an excited tone, completely oblivious to my irritation.

"Mom, please. He doesn't."

"Are you blind? The guy spent the whole night with you and made sure you were okay. I can tell by the way he looks at you, call it a mother's instinct. "

"You are wrong, " I mumbled trying to block out the images of us kissing last night. "Besides, I'm not looking for a relationship. "

"Sometimes I don't know what I did wrong with your parenting, " she mumbled while clearing our plates. "Guess I can forget about having any grandchildren. "

"MOM!" I yelled. "Okay, I'm out."

She started laughing and caught my hand before I leave, "I was just pulling your leg. You do whatever you think is right for you. I just want you to be happy." She kissed my forehead and I smiled.

"But that being said, I still think he is a catch." She grinned.

"Alright. Bye-bye now, " I called out to her as I walked out of the kitchen.

"Sorry, I'm late. You ready to go?" Tyler said as he came down the stairs, a few seconds later.

"Yep, let's go."

Tyler went inside the kitchen to say goodbye to my mom and a few minutes later we got into his jeep and headed towards our school.