Chapter 1

HUDSON

"Bancroft!"

I sat up in the jail cell and rubbed my tired eyes. My fellow inmates grumbled and complained about the interruption to their beauty sleep. They certainly needed it. If being ugly was a crime, these gentlemen would never be free.

I got to my feet and stretched, feeling the kinks in my neck and back from the crooked way I slept on the hard bench. Not the best accommodations. There was no room service and the maid didn't leave a chocolate on your pillow because there was no pillow, no bed, and no one cleaning this shit hole.

The bored-looking cop slid open the cell door. I stepped out and my head pounded in protest. The glaring morning light wasn't helping. I followed him out to the lobby area.

He quickly gave me an envelope with my wallet and phone. "Stay out of trouble, Bancroft."

I grinned and used my finger to trace a cross over my heart. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"See you next week," he muttered.

"Keep my bench warm."

He shook his head, muttering something about me being an idiot. Then he turned away, probably already counting down the minutes until our next encounter.

I pushed open the door to freedom. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the sunlight. I squinted my eyes and scanned the parking lot. Jessica leaned against a car, wearing a mischievous smirk and a skirt that barely covered her lady bits.

"How was your stay, baby?" she asked, her eyes dancing with amusement.

I ran a hand through my disheveled hair, trying to piece together the events of last night, but I came up blank. "No one tried to cuddle with me or stab me," I said, shrugging. "I don't even remember how I ended up here."

"Get in and I'll tell you."

I slapped her ass. "What are you doing coming to a jail dressed like that? You're gonna start a riot."

She giggled and got in the car.

I went around to the passenger side and got in. "So, what the hell? Since I was only in the drunk tank, I'm guessing I wasn't driving."

She started the car. "Well, one minute you were the life of the party, handing out shots to everyone, and the next, you were nowhere to be found."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "Sounds about right," I mused. The familiar scent of her perfume surrounded me. It was a little thick, but I didn't mind. It smelled better than the guy who'd been sleeping one bench over.

She revved the engine and pulled away from the curb. The wind whipped through the open windows. With Jessica by my side, anything seemed possible, even on the roughest of mornings.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked, turning to look at her with a grin.

She flashed me a smile, her eyes sparkling. "Well, first things first," she declared, reaching over to turn up the music until the bass thumped through the speakers.

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the seat, trying to remember the sequence of events that landed me in the drunk tank. I was drawing a blank but that didn't concern me too much. It wasn't the first time I landed in jail with no memory of actually getting there. Hell, it wasn't even the second or third time.

It probably wouldn't be the last, either.

Jessica pulled into the house I had rented when my brother kicked me out of his place. I was hit with a wave of dread as soon as we stepped through the door. The aftermath of last night's party stared back at me.

"Shit," I said with disgust as I looked around. "The jail was cleaner."

"It was quite the party." Jessica laughed. "Too bad you don't remember it."

The living room was trashed, with unconscious strangers sprawled out in various states of disarray. Liquor bottles littered the floor along with cigarette butts and fast-food wrappers. The air was pungent with the scent of weed, cigarettes, and stale beer. This wasn't just a mess. It was a disaster zone.

"What the fuck?" I muttered. "Do you know what this is going to cost to clean up?"

"Oh stop." She laughed. "You can afford it."

"That's not the point." I looked around, realizing this was becoming a habit. A bad habit.

My brother had kicked me out of his house because of a rowdy party, so I used my vast wealth to rent this place. There was no way in hell I was getting my security deposit back. It was fine.

I thought it was better to party at the rental than the penthouse I bought a couple of months ago. That had been a purchase when I was in one of my sober moods. I thought I was going to change my ways and settle down. One of these days, I would. Probably.

I rarely took anyone to the penthouse. I didn't want the people I partied with to know where I lived.

For a brief moment, I stopped and asked myself what I was doing with my life. I was wasted more than I was sober. I could honestly say I remembered less than half of the last year. My life was all about spending money and partying. One of these days, I was going to run out of money. Not anytime soon but eventually.

I stepped over a dude passed out on the floor. Jessica and I went to the kitchen. A woman wearing a bra and panties was sleeping on the breakfast bar.

"That doesn't look very sanitary," I muttered, walking to the refrigerator in search of something cold to drink.

The fridge was full of bottles of wine, beer, and White Claw. That was not what I wanted. I found a bottle of water shoved way in the back. I grabbed it and twisted the cap.

"Got some Advil?" I asked Jessica.

"I've got something better." She grinned.

She reached into her purse and pulled out a little amber vial. I watched as she used her forearm to rub a spot on the counter and dump out some white powder.

"Bump?" she offered, arching an eyebrow inquisitively. "It'll take care of your headache."

I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling a surge of unease.

"No thanks," I replied.

"Suit yourself." She shrugged, tucking it back into her pocket.

She pulled off her shirt and tossed it on the floor. I watched as she pushed off her skirt and stepped out of her panties.

"Join me for a dip," she said and sauntered out of the kitchen and out to the backyard.

A splash told me she dove in. I was left in the kitchen with a half-naked woman on the counter. More empties cluttered the area with cigarette butts, trash, and just nastiness. How did things spiral out of control so quickly? And why did I always seem to be at the center of it all?

"Fuck, Hudson," I groaned.

Last night had been a mess. The truth was, I remembered nothing of the night before. In fact, large chunks of my memory seemed to be missing, lost in a haze of booze and reckless abandon. It wasn't just last night. It had been like this for most of the summer.

A nagging voice in the back of my mind reminded me of Kameron's warnings, his insistence that I needed to get my act together before I found myself irreversibly lost in the chaos. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was time to face the harsh reality of my situation and change things up.

I was making some bad decisions. I could see that.

Jessica's splashing in the pool drew my attention. I was at a crossroads. I could take the easy road, the road I often chose. I could strip naked and dive into that pool with her and have a little fun. We'd get the party started all over again. That was what I was inclined to do.

Or I could wake these strangers up, kick them out of the house, and start cleaning up. Like really cleaning up. My life was a hot mess. It needed a deep cleaning. But even as I recognized the need to get my shit together, my eyes went to the beer fridge under the counter. Only a handful of cans remained. What harm could some hair from the dog really do? I could quit drinking tomorrow. Shouldn't quitting something that has been a big part of your life get a proper goodbye?

"Fuck," I groaned again when I realized what I was doing.

I was talking myself right back down the easy road. Something inside me was pulling me toward the road full of struggle and sobriety. I wanted to try it. Just to see if it was all it was cracked up to be. Everyone, namely my brothers, were always telling me to get my shit together or I wasn't going to live to see another year. So far, I'd been proving them wrong with every birthday, but looking back, every one of my thirty years had been something of a miracle. I couldn't even begin to count the number of times I came close to cashing in and going toes up six feet under.

I took a deep breath, feeling the weight of my choices settling on my shoulders. With a newfound resolve, I walked out to the pool where Jessica was giggling and splashing around. She gave me a mischievous smile, clearly expecting me to join her in the water.

"You're wearing way too many clothes for what I have in mind," she said with a sultry smile. "Jump in and I'll get you out of them."

"No thanks," I said. "I'm tired. I need to get some sleep."

"Baby," she pouted. "Sleeping is for losers."

"Yeah, well I've been a loser for too long," I said firmly, surprising even myself with the strength in my voice. "I think it's time for a change."

Jessica's smile faltered for a moment before she tried to regain her composure. "Come on, don't be such a buzzkill. Just one more night of fun."

I shook my head, feeling a sense of determination I hadn't experienced in a long time. "No, Jessica. I'm done. I need to clean up this mess and start making things right."

She pouted, clearly disappointed by my sudden change in attitude. "You always say that, and two days later, you're calling me to hook you up."

"You're right." I nodded. "But let's just see how it goes. Help me get these people out of here. I'm done."

She rolled her eyes before swimming to the edge of the pool. I watched her climb out, water sliding down her naked body. She sauntered toward me, trying to seduce me. Yesterday, I would have jumped on her and gladly taken what she was offering. Today, not so much.

I turned around and walked back into the house. I heard her growl and knew she was pissed I turned her down. I found the box of trash bags and shook one out. While I picked up empties and trash, Jessica got dressed right there in the kitchen.

"Don't leave without your friends," I warned her, gesturing to the woman passed out on my bar.

"You can be such a dick, Hudson."

"I know."

"May." She shook the woman. "May, get up. We have to go. Hudson is on one of his kicks. Let's go."

May groaned and shifted on the bar, clearly disoriented. She blinked a few times before her eyes focused on Jessica and then on me. Confusion clouded her face. "Why is everyone in my apartment?"

"Time to go, May," Jessica insisted, pulling her unsteadily to her feet. "We're not at your place. We're at Hudson's."

May swayed a bit before nodding, still dazed. "Can we get waffles?"

"We'll get waffles," Jessica said. "Somewhere far away from this jerk."

May nodded and waved drunkenly at me. "Thanks, jerk. Great party."

As they stumbled out of the house, I kicked at the people lying on the floor and couch. It took some serious effort to get them up and out the door. Some complained about not having a ride. I didn't see that as my problem. They got there on their own. They could figure out how to get to the next party.

The last stragglers finally left after much prodding and coaxing, leaving me alone in the trashed house. I surveyed the aftermath of yet another reckless night. But this time, instead of reaching for another drink to drown my thoughts, I faced the mess head on.

With a newfound clarity, I started cleaning up the chaos around me. Each bottle I picked up felt like shedding a layer of my old self, leaving behind the person I no longer wanted to be. If I wasn't so embarrassed by the state of the house, I would have called a cleaning service. But I didn't want anyone to see this.

I wondered if it was too late. Was I too far gone? Like Jessica said, this wasn't the first time I had decided to follow the straight and narrow. Would I fall right back into my old ways?