Page 153 of Breakaway Hearts

“I thought Alvarez had dibs on the drunk ones?”

I shudder at that and make a mental note to ask her what she means by it next time we’re alone.

“He had a family thing,” Colt shares. “Wanna join?”

“Ugh.” She visibly recoils. “Let me know if you need anything,” she tells me.

I follow the guys into Colt’s room, where they set the girls on the bed. Colt stays behind to take off their shoes while Owen goes to the kitchen and comes back with bottles of water and Gatorade that he sets on either side of the bed with some ibuprofen.

I should help, but I’m too busy watching. It might be because of that, but not a single one of Colt’s touches lingers as he places their legs on the bed with the covers over them.

“Will they catch a disease from your sheets?” I ask.

“They’re fresh,” he tells me with a sigh. “Just put them on this afternoon.”

“For Brittany?”

He nods. “But not like this. Although, I wouldn’t have said no to Sabrina joining in.”

Owen elbows him in the ribs with a, “Dude.”

“She brought up the sheets,” he defends himself.

“Basement sectional is longer,” Owen suggests, handing Colt a pile of sheets from the linen closet.

“I think it’s also best if I’m not right there when they wake up in the middle of the night.”

“I’ll get some stuff for them,” Owen says before going upstairs, leaving me alone with Colt.

“Not even tempted?” I ask him, fully expecting him to either be offended or do something gross like wink, which would make me stand guard outside their door.

“Hell yes or fuck no,” he repeats the mantra Owen got from him.

“She made it very clear she was a hell yes in those DMs, all night, the car ride home…”

Colt looks at me like he’s trying to figure out where I’m coming from, and I have to force myself not to take a step back, because it feels like those piercing blue eyes can see right through me.

“Consent isn’t a one-time free for all. You can change your mind. You can want something in theory then decide it isn’t for you after all. Someone who’s as drunk as they are can’t give consent. And I’m not talking from a legal standpoint, though some guys do study it to know exactly what line they can’t cross. Why the fuck would I want to have sex with someone who isn’t as into it as I am? Why would I ever want to be a part of something that someone regrets?”

He looks…passionate about his convictions. But then he looks at me like he knows. Not like Owen told him, but like he can see it in my eyes.

“And I’m sure Owen will tell you this, but Alvarez calls dibs on the drunk girls because he’d rather take care of someone than keep turning everyone down. He makes sure they get home safe before some asshole gets the idea to try something.”

I nod, which he acknowledges, before Owen comes back with two bags labelled ‘emergency toiletries.’

“Do I want to know?” I ask.

“My sisters moved me in and made an entire drawer of things they would want a guy to have.” I raise an eyebrow, mostly teasing, but he adds, “Savannah and Tabytha are the only ones I’ve given any of it to.”

I let him take me in his arms and kiss me while Colt goes downstairs to sleep. I think I actually believe everything he told me, that this is a house where those two girls are truly safe, but I don’t know if I have ever loved Owen more when, instead of taking me up to his bedroom for mutually assured orgasms, he suggests we watch an episode of The Suttons. We fall asleep on the couch, waking up when Donovan comes in with a lady friend, and again when Mike nearly trips over all the extra shoes. Not once does Owen suggest we go upstairs, until about four in the morning, when the girls creep out to meet their uber in the driveway.

“Bed?” he asks me once we’ve watched them drive off.

“Mhm,” I mumble, so he scoops me up in his arms and carries me to his bedroom without once making me feel bad for needing to make sure they were okay.

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Madison