“I think you may have had a little too much to drink.” I smiled as I kissed her forehead.

“Not nearly enough, as far as I’m concerned. Come on; let’s go do some more shots!” she exclaimed.

We went back to the table. Aiden was talking to some chick. She was a redhead, which was totally not his type and she was hanging all over him.

“Bro and Amelia, I would like you to meet, Amberlyn. Amberlyn, this is my best bud, Collin and his girl, Amelia.”

We said hi and Amelia turned to Aiden. “More shots?” she asked.

“Hell, yeah, little lady!” he yelled as the two of them high-fived.

“You two go ahead. I’m not having any. I have to drive back to the beach house.”

“Collin, seriously? You never let that stop you before.”

I kicked Aiden under the table. “I said, not for me.”

Aiden held up his hand and signaled for the waitress to bring the shots over. I ordered a bottle of beer and sat and watched the three of them get wasted.

“Come on. Let’s get you into bed,” I said as I picked up Amelia from the passenger’s seat.

She wrapped her arms around me and looked at me with a smile. “You are so fucking hot. I can imagine how hot you are in bed.”

“Thank you. Let’s not talk about this now. You need to sleep this off.”

Her lips smashed into mine as I was carrying her up the stairs and she started laughing.

“Shh, everyone is sleeping.”

When I sat her on the bed, she grabbed hold of my shirt, fell back, and pulled me on top of her.

“I need you to fuck me right now,” she said as she kissed me.

“Amelia, stop.”

“No, I mean it. I want you. I need to feel you inside me.”

“You’re drunk and I won’t sleep with you while you’re drunk. Not our first time anyway.” I got up off of her and pulled back the sheets. As I took off her shoes, she told me that she was going to be sick. I helped her up and into the bathroom. She leaned over the toilet and started vomiting. I kneeled down next to her and softly rubbed her back. Once she was finished, she leaned up against the wall while I wet a wash cloth. I lifted her chin with my finger and wiped the mascara stains around her eyes and then wiped her mouth. I smiled as I kissed the tip of her nose before helping her up.

“Sorry,” she said as I laid her down in bed.

“You’re kind of cute when you’re drunk,” I said as I pulled the covers up and kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you in the morning, baby.”

She closed her eyes and, as I walked out of her room, I heard noises in the kitchen. I walked downstairs and saw my dad getting a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Hey, son. Did you just get in?”

“I’ve been home a while. I was upstairs with Amelia. She had way too much to drink and she got sick.”

He laughed. “Been there, done that. I’ll tell your mom to have the cocktail ready for her in the morning.”

“Better her than me.” I smiled. “Night, Dad.”

“Night, son.”

I climbed into bed and heard a light knock on the door. “Collin,” I heard Julia whisper. “Are you awake?”

“Yeah, come on in.”

“I was just on my way downstairs for something to eat and I thought I heard you. Did you just get in?”

“Doesn’t anyone in this house ever sleep?” I laughed.

She walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. “It’s so hard to sleep these days and so uncomfortable. I can’t help it if your nephew is hungry.”

“You mean, you’re hungry.” I winked at her.

“So, I’m curious. Have you and Amelia had—”

“No, Julia, we haven’t,” I interrupted.

She smiled and patted my arm. “I’m proud of you. You aren’t rushing into anything. Good boy.”

“You know it’s killing me, right?”

“I know, but you’ll be happy you waited,” she said as she got up from the bed.

“Yeah. I know I’ll be and so will she.”

“Night, little brother.”

“Night, big sister.”

The next morning, I got out of bed, checked on Amelia, and went downstairs for breakfast. The kitchen smelled of bacon and eggs, two of Jake’s favorite breakfast foods.

“Happy birthday, man.” I smiled as we fist pumped.

“Thanks, Collin. Where’s Amelia?”

“She’s still asleep,” I replied as I poured a glass of orange juice.

My mom said, “I’m making her cocktail right now. Your dad told me about last night.”

My dad walked in the kitchen with his arm around Amelia. “Ellery, someone needs that drink now,” he said.

“It’s coming right up, babe.”

I looked at Amelia and tried so hard not to laugh, but I couldn’t help it. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her.

“You look like a hot mess.”

She smacked me on the chest. “Thanks.”

“Here you go, sweetie. Drink up.”

I took the glass from my mom and handed it to Amelia. She sniffed it and then looked at me.

“What is this?”

“It’s my mom’s famous hangover cocktail. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you it tastes amazing because, truthfully, it sucks. But I promise you that you will feel better quickly.”

My dad took his coffee and sat down at the table. “I’m officially welcoming you to the family, Amelia. When you get to drink one of those, you’re in.” He winked.

“It’s okay, Amelia. It’s not that bad,” Julia said.

“Are you kidding me? That tastes like shit,” Jake said.

Amelia sat down at the table and started to sip it. I pursed my lips together and could feel her agony. “You have to chug it. Pretend it’s a shot or something. You can’t sip it. You have to chug it. Trust me.”

She looked at me with fear in her eyes and then threw back the drink. She drank it all and, as she set the glass on the table, she made the cutest face of disgust.

“I know, baby. I know it’s awful, but it really does work,” I said.

“Remember one thing, Amelia,” my dad said. “As long as you’re hung over in front of Ellery, you will always have to drink that.”

“Connor, that’s not true,” my mom said.

“Really, Elle?”

“Yeah, Mom, really?” Jake, Julia, and I said at the same time.