“Hey Chlo.” He smiles at her and without even looking at her, I know her resolve is weakening.

“Your brother is so cheap for this; you know that right?” I scowl at him and he turns his gaze from Chloe and gives me a sad nod.

“Yeah, but… I did want to see you,” he says, turning his eyes back to my cousin. “I was hoping we could talk?”

“Talk about what?” I shriek. “No.” I look at Chloe who’s engaging in some pretty intense eye contact with the man she absolutely shouldn’t be. “No!”

“Whitney, I’m fine.” She turns to me and implores me with her eyes.

“You’re about three shots of tequila past fine,” I argue. “We were just leaving,” I tell Trey.

“We’re going to her house and then we’re going downtown,” Chloe offers.

I snap my neck toward her. “Oh, you’re just a lost cause. I give up.” I look at Trey. “Aside from this.” I point my finger back and forth between them. “It’s good to see you.” I give him a hug before moving between them back down the hall. What I did know is that when Chloe makes up her mind about something, she’s going to do it. And drunk Chloe was even more stubborn. I guess she can deal with the fallout of it tomorrow.

I move into my old bedroom to call an Uber, knowing this is probably one of the few places I’m safe. I can just go straight from here to the car. My parents are probably too drunk to care at this point and I’ll just text them from the car. Great plan. I’m opening up my Uber app when the sound of my door opening breaks my concentration. I dart my eyes toward the door praying that it’s just my mom or Mason when Jacob walks through the door and closes it quietly behind him. I cannot be alone in here with him.

Fuck.

My eyes rove over him like I’m not engaged to another man. He’s so Goddamn fine.

My brain, which seems to be operating a few moments behind everything else finally catches up. No. No. No!

I shake my head and point toward the door, indicating he needs to exit the same way he entered. “You have got to be fucking kidding me. Get out, Jacob.”

“Whitney.”

“No.” I stand my ground, not moving even as he gets closer. “You cannot be in here with me. I don’t want to see you or talk to you. So, you wasted all of your efforts distracting Chloe which was a dick move by the way. She’s not some fucking collateral damage in your pursuit for me or whatever your intentions are. Dangling Trey in front of her for the night is fucked up.” I was already mad that he was here but dragging Chloe into this mess was bullshit.

His gaze darkens as he crosses his arms in front of his chest. “First of all, watch your tone.”