Page 12 of Choke Up

I'm not sure which one he's talking about, but I roll my eyes. "He's so annoying," I reply. Antoni laughs. Gabe frowns.

"Little E! Ferris wheel!" Gabe barks.

"No. Fuck you."

"Aww, come on," he says, throwing a strong arm around my shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not. You like manhandling me." And I find it embarrassingly arousing, and I'm not in the mood to hide my half chub from the public.

"True. But I shouldn't have done it in front of your new friends."

"Or in front of yours. Or at all."

"What would be the fun in that?"

His breath skims my cheek as he leans over my shoulder to hand two tickets to an attendant, and it's only just now that I realize I've been herded to the Ferris Wheel. I turn my head and scowl at him, but he just grins widely and winks.

My brother, for all his brawn and perfection, is terrified of heights. Whenever there was a fair in town, Gabe made me go on all the rides with him. He also made me go zip lining with him last year. I can roll my eyes all I want, but it's just for show, because I love every moment of having something that only I can give him. For however long the ride lasts, I get him all to myself. Predictably, he's so large that he takes up most of the seat. But either it's been a lot longer than I remembered since we've gone on one of these rides, or this is a particularly small car, because the only way I can fit is if Gabe widens his legs so I can sit between them.

"This isn't going to work. You’re too big," I say, beginning to stand, but Gabe pulls my arm just as the ride lurches.

His lips quirk, like I’ve said something funny. "It's too late now. We'll be fine. Settle down."

"Don't tell me to settle down, Gabe," I snap, afraid of my reaction to his proximity.

"What's been with you lately?"

"I don't know what you mean," I say with an exasperated sigh.

I try to tuck my knees up on the seat with me so I’m not touching him, and focus on the slow rise of the ride as the last passengers are loaded. Some twenty feet below, my brother and Ivy look up at us. He can probably see my pissed off expression from where he is, because he's watching us with an amused expression.

"I dunno. You've been off. Pissier than usual." He holds his hands up in front of him like he might have to fend me off. If every move of this little bucket wasn't likely to end up with me in his lap, I'd probably at least kick him.

If anything, this is just more proof that Gabe isn’t as dense as he seems. Otherwise, he’d have accepted my apology for my outburst the other day and moved on. I suppose I still haven’t exactly been friendly to him. But it's not like I can tell him I've been trying to avoid him because I'm working on purging myself of my hopeless crush.

"I'm sorry," I sigh. "I'm having a hard time getting used to the dorms. I've been… uncomfortable, I guess."

He nudges me to encourage me to keep talking.

I shake my head to tell him it’s not important. "There's no privacy. The showers are a health hazard. And my roommate is an asshole."

Gabe stiffens. "What do you mean? What is he doing? I can?—"

"No, you can't. You won’t," I say pointedly when I can see he's about to open his mouth. "I can take care of myself."

"Tiptoeing around the jerk and avoiding the place that's supposed to be your home isn't taking care of yourself." My brow furrows at the level of his perceptiveness. "Dude, I know you. We're practically brothers."

Ouch. Every time he says that, I swear it takes several years off my life.

"You can always come stay with us if you need a break for a few days. The couch is pretty comfortable, and Jimmy won't mind." Jimmy is their other roommate. He's another freshman baseball player. Elliot told me he's pretty sure he’s using steroids because his face is puffy and he gets irritable.

"Yeah, I'm not sure I want to deal with your roided-out roommate or listening to whatever jocks get up to at night. That couch is right next to your room, and I can't imagine those walls are all that thick. I don’t want to be subjected to listening to your conquests."

"Are you slut shaming me?" Gabe gasps.

"I absolutely am, yes."

He chuckles, and we look out over the landscape below us. From up here, it's mostly rolling green hills and the occasional mansion estate. The sprawling campus of Huntston University looks stunning with the sun beginning to set behind it. I can even see the baseball field from up here, cast in streaks of pink light.

---