Page 29 of Weak Side

She huffed as I turned my ear toward my door, hearing some type of commotion inside. I glanced down to the doorknob, but there weren’t any scrunchies on it.

“What else would I do with it, Claire? I can’t be homeless. I told Ralph I’d have it for him in the morning. Look, I gotta go. Mr. Ortiz is coming home any minute, and he likes me to be done with the cleaning by the time he gets home.”

“Alright, I’ll send a text when I send the mon—”

The line went dead, and I scoffed, pushing my phone in my pocket while mumbling under my breath, “You’re welcome, Mom—again.”

A sigh began to crawl up my throat just as I began to reach for my key, but I jumped when my door flung open. I was met with a growly Theo, seeming more intense than usual. He towered over me like a dangerous omen, stealing my ability to function as his temples flickered back and forth.

“Go.”

What?Theo looked directly over my head, so I looked behind me, but no one was there.

“But I have no pants on—”Who the hell is that?I tried to peek inside my room, but Theo, being larger than most, took up the entire doorway.

“There are consequences to your behavior, sweetheart.” I watched as he rolled his eyes and nearly shut the door in my face as I stood back in confusion. His large hand stopped it at the last second, and he pulled it open again.

My jaw dropped as a girl came scrambling toward me in nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of underwear. It was like a bull coming straight for a red flag. I quickly moved out of the way and watched her run down the hall, half-naked. A few guys had popped out of their rooms from the rumpus and applauded her as she disappeared down the stairs.

I pushed past Theo and his unusual bout of broodiness before walking toward my desk to drop my books on top. Before the door even shut, I glanced at the room and did a double-take at a pile of girl’s clothes thrown all over the floor.

“Really?” I said, rolling my eyes. “What happened to the nonverbal warning?” I kicked the girl’s jeans off my side of the room, beginning to feel the pent-up irritation that had been brewing since the moment he used my purple scrunchie on the door. Because Theo didn’t warn me of its meaning, I had no idea the scrunchie on my door was his comical “nonverbal warning”. So, imagine my surprise when I walked in on his head between a girl’s legs. “You’ve been doingjustfine with using my scrunchies on the door every single day this week.” I picked up the scrunchie from yesterday and held it up in between us.

“I didn’t invite this one.” The anger Theo had possessed a moment ago lessened as he stared down at the bra that I’d kicked over to his bed. He slowly picked it up by the strap and acted as if it were going to catch on fire at any second. I stared at him as he threw it across the room and smiled as I watched a chill race down his body.

A laugh bubbled in my chest and erupted from my mouth a moment later. Theo whipped his attention over to me. A lock of his dark hair had fallen onto his forehead as he gaped at me, completely taken aback at my reaction. The more he stared at me with confusion, the more I laughed. My hand flew to my mouth as tears began to gather in my eyes.

“Wh–what?” I asked in between laughs. A few more had escaped me before I was able to regain my composure.

Theo shook his head as he shrugged off his shirt, showing off his bare chest. My laugh had long disappeared, and I tore my gaze from his side of the room and put it on my floor.He did that on purpose.

“I’ve just never heard you laugh that hard.”

I shrugged, looking over at my bed. “I just think it’s funny that—” I stopped mid-sentence and snapped my neck to look at him. He had on a new shirt, and I was pretty sure he was getting ready for practice. “Theo. Is…is that her underwear on my bed?!” By the time I had finished my sentence, my voice was more of a shriek than anything. Theo’s green eyes lit up with somethingverysimilar to amusement.

“But how—” My gaze shifted to my dresser, and I wanted to throw the entire piece of furniture at him. “Did you…just give your puck bunny my fucking underwear?!”

My hands clamped onto my waist, and I spun around with anger, ready to attack him. Theo threw his hands up with mock innocence, but his chest was tight with laughter. The smirk on his face made me want to punch him. “Theo! You are not supposed to go through my underwear drawer! Iknewthat rule would come in handy!” My words were rushed, and with every single syllable, I grew more heated. “I am going to kill you!” I shouted.

I ran the two feet it took to get over to my bed and grabbed my pencil from my desk on the way. Theusedthong on my bed flew across the room, along with the pencil I had used to pick it up with. They both landed right below Theo’s smiling face. “You wonder why all these girls keep showing up to your room! You bring them almost every single day! Our room might as well be a brothel!”

Theo threw his head back, and the room filled with his rowdy laughter. It was annoying because he had a good laugh. It was throaty and masculine but still light. “Correction. I did not go through your underwear drawer.” His gaze slowly slid down to my clean basket full of folded clothes that were now rumpled.

“Oh my God! You are unbelievable!” Before I knew what was happening, my feet were taking me over to him, and I tried to hit him on the chest with my fist before he grabbed it at the last second with an even deeper grin on his face.

“Calm down, Bryant! I’ll get your panties back for you.”

“Ew!” I snatched my hand away from him, irritated that his large hand fully encased my wrist. “I don’t want used panties. If she’s showing up in our room unannounced, it’s hard to tell where her pussy has been!”

Both Theo and I made eye contact with the word that had just come from my mouth.Did I really–

“Did you really just say the word pussy?”

An exasperated laugh escaped me, and Theo bent over at the waist, gasping for breath between his laughter. He was laughing so hard that I hardly heard the knock on the door. I forced a sigh from my mouth and stomped across the room, still half-angry. “It’s probably her, wanting her thong back!”

Theo quickly began gathering his stuff. “Well, she’s not getting them. Do stupid things, get stupid rewards. She can’t just show up naked, refuse to leave, and then want her clothes back.”

“She has my panties. Which ones did you give her? I bet they were my favorite ones.”

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