“Hi, I’m Megan, Jackson’s mom. Thanks so much for bringing him home to me,” she said as she reached us. “Aubrey said you’re Kaylie, right?”

“Yup, that’s me.”

“It was awfully sweet of you to do this for him. We’re so lucky you were there and realized he was in trouble. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to my baby boy,” she continued as she led him into the house with me following behind, giggling a little. “I know. He hates when I call him that, but I just can’t help myself since he’s my youngest boy. Especially when he’s sick and I get to mother him.”

“I’ll have to keep that in mind the next time I see him on campus. I’m sure he’ll like it even less if I call him that since he likes to call me little girl.”

“Yes! Definitely tease him about it if he calls you that. I didn’t realize you knew each other. I thought you were a friend of Aubrey’s?” she asked.

I closed the door behind us before answering. “I don’t really know Jackson that much. We’ve just seen each other around a few times.”

“Well, thank you so much for stepping in and helping him out after he’s irritated you those few times. I really appreciate it.” She waved me towards the living room couch. “Why don’t you wait down here while I get him settled upstairs? His dad is running late from a business dinner a few towns over, but he should be back soon to give you a lift back to campus.”

I sat down and waited, glancing around the room and looking at all the family photos displayed on the walls. Ones of Jackson and Aubrey and their two older brothers at all stages of life, from baby to their high school graduations. Jackson was an adorable baby, but he looked a little awkward in his early teens. There were several of him looking sexy in some sort of martial arts gear closer to his age now. It was weird getting a peek into his life like this. Everything seemed so different than what I would have imagined from how he was on campus.

I tapped a text out to Char so that she knew I had made it here safely and to let her know that I was waiting for Jackson’s dad to give me a ride home. Soon, my eyes started drifting shut since I was tired from a long day. Friday nights at the bar always wore me out since they capped off a full day of classes and kicked off the weekend for everyone else.

I felt someone nudge my shoulder, and I blearily opened my eyes. “Hey, sweetie. Why don’t you just crash in Aubrey’s room for the night? She won’t mind, and I changed the sheets in there this week,” Jackson’s mom said.

I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open. It was probably a good idea, so I simply nodded and followed her upstairs. I pulled my clothes off and threw on the oversized shirt she’d brought for me to sleep in. Crawling under the sheets, I pretty much passed out right away.

When I woke up the next morning, I found a ton of messages from Char, who was pissed because I hadn’t made it back last night and had slept through her checking up on me. Her last one said that I’d better be okay or she was going to kick Jackson’s ass. I sent her a quick text letting her know I had just slept over instead of waiting up for Jackson’s dad and that I’d be back soon.

I stumbled out of Aubrey’s room to look for a bathroom, feeling icky because I hadn’t washed up or brushed my teeth before I fell asleep. I barely made it five steps into the hallway before a door was flung open and Jackson stepped out wearing nothing but his underwear. His hair was all mussed from sleep and his eyes had a tired sleepy look to them right before they opened wide upon seeing me.

“Fuck!” he swore before grabbing my arm and pulling me into his room. “I cannot believe that I brought a chick home to my parents’ house last night. What the hell was I thinking? Shit. My dad is going to fucking kill me.”

I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped when I realized he had the totally wrong idea. “Jackson,” I started, attempting to interrupt him to let him know what had happened.

“Sorry, babe, but I need to get you out of here before anyone knows you were here. I’m sure last night was fun, but I never bring girls back here. Ever. I don’t know what the hell happened last night or how much we had to drink. I had to have been out of my mind to do this though,” he continued as he searched the room for my clothes. “Look, I know this sounds harsh, but I can’t even remember your name.”

“Jackson, stop. You’ve got it all wrong—” I tried again, but he ignored me a second time as he ran his hands through his hair and rubbed his eyes.