“I don’t know about this, Kaylie. It doesn’t feel right that you’re taking care of this for me. I should just take him.”

I hugged her to me. ‘First of all, you’re my best friend. Of course I’m going to help you whenever I can. Secondly, he’s Aubrey’s brother, so I wouldn’t feel right leaving him like this even if this had happened somewhere else where we were just drinking and not serving. More importantly, it’s not like you can be the one to drive him back yourself. Shane would flip the fuck out if you told him you were alone in a car with a drunk hot guy even though it was perfectly innocent,” I reminded her.

“Why don’t we just text Aubrey now and ask her to come get him?” she asked.

“Because it’s already one o’clock in the morning. I’m not going to drag her out of bed when I’m already here. Relax. It’s not a big deal. Besides, you get to make it up to me by being on clean-up duty tonight,” I replied, tossing my towel at her before rounding the bar to walk over to Jackson.

“Hey, buddy, let’s get you home. You don’t look so good,” I said before I helped Jackson to his feet. He looked up at me with glazed eyes and I noticed his flushed cheeks. I reached out and rested my hand on his forehead, realizing that he wasn’t drunk. He was sick. “Damn, you picked a bad time to come out to the bar. Didn’t you realize that you were coming down with something?”

Jackson shook his head, but I wasn’t sure if it was in response to my question or to try to wake up a little. “No, I’m fine. I never get sick.”

“Sure you don’t. How about I shoot your sister a text and then help you get home safely?” I asked. I held my palm out to him as I continued. “Now where are your car keys?”

“I said I’m fine. There’s no way I’m going to let a little girl like you drive my truck,” he rasped back at me.

“Okie-dokie then. Wow, you sure do like to remind me that you’re bigger than me. How about I walk you out and make sure you make it to your big manly truck, okay?” I teased as I watched him stagger on his way to the door. He really was in no condition to drive. Hopefully he’d realize it before I had to fight him for his keys, because as much as it irritated me when he called me little, he was still much bigger than I was.

I shot Aubrey a quick text to let her know that her brother was sick while I trailed behind him. I figured she was probably asleep, but at least she’d know to check on him in the morning to make sure he was all right. We had just made it outside when I got a response back from her asking me if I’d be willing to take him to their parents’ house. Apparently he’s a big baby when he’s sick, so she thought it would be better for him if he wasn’t at the frat house while he wasn’t feeling well. She was going to let their mom know that we were on the way, and she was sure their dad would be able to drive me back to campus after.

By the time we made it to his truck, Jackson looked like he was about to pass out. I watched as he pulled his keys out of his front pocket, both glad and a little disappointed that I didn’t have to fish for them myself. He fumbled with them while trying to unlock his car and they fell from his hand to the ground.

“Fuck,” he mumbled under his breath.

“C’mon. I told your sister that I’d make sure you made it to your parents’ house safe and sound so your mom can nurse you back to health.” I reached down to snag his keys before he could grab them. “I promise to be extra careful with your precious truck if you’ll just cooperate and get in.”

He tried to level me with a glare, but it just didn’t have any heat to it. “Shit, I think you’re right. I feel like crap.”

I tugged on his arm, walking him around to the passenger side. “C’mon then. Get in. I’ll have you to your parent’s house in no time flat,” I said as I opened the door and half-pushed him inside. He didn’t even fight. He just climbed into the car and leaned back with his eyes closed.

When I got into the driver’s seat, I had to pull it all the way forward and up so I could see over the dash. I turned the key in the ignition and breathed a deep sigh of relief that it was an automatic and not manual. I glanced across at Jackson and realized that he’d fallen fast asleep sometime during the time it took me to get situated. I sent Charlotte a quick text to tell her about the change in plans, plugged the address into my phone’s GPS, and pulled out of the parking lot.

It was a quick drive to his parents’ and we were there before I knew it. Which was a good thing because my hormones were going crazy with his scent floating in the air. As much as I didn’t like the idea of wanting him, my body was making it clear that it disagreed with me. It didn’t help that I was seeing him at a vulnerable point right now either. I needed to get him out of the truck and into the house and then get myself out of here fast. As I climbed out, the porch lights turned on and his mom opened the front door. She came rushing out to help me get Jackson inside.