Page 33 of Weak Side

I opened my mouth, but Ford quickly stepped beside me and threw up a closed fist in her direction. “Knucks, Bryant. That was amazing.”

Claire’s lip twitched, and she gave him a tiny smile before pounding her small knuckles against his. “Thank you…”

“I’m Ford, and this is Aasher.” His gaze switched over to Claire’s friend immediately. “Hey, T. Haven’t seen you for a while.”

Claire’s friend, who was also sporting full dance gear, stared at him in disbelief. He turned to Aasher, grinning. “This is Emory’s little sister, Taytum.”

I huffed before putting my hands in the pockets of my joggers. “Ah, so you’re the one who helped Claire come up with the completely one-sided roommate rules?”

Taytum’s hip popped out, and her hands flew to them. Ford snickered under his breath and took a step toward her. “Watch how you talk to her, or her big bro will come out of the shadows somewhere.”

Ford began to tease Taytum about Emory, and before I knew it, they were in the midst of a full-blown argument where Ford came out on top, smirking wildly. I shifted my eyes back to Claire and dug my hand in my pocket for the panties.

“What are you doing here?” Her brows swooped down with confusion before she scanned the rest of the stage and eyed the few dancers that were waiting around, pretending not to look in our direction.

The quiet conversation between Aasher, Taytum, and Ford stopped abruptly when I pulled out the black panties from my pocket and handed them to Claire. “I told you I’d buy you new ones so…here.”

Claire’s pink lips opened immediately, and she formed a little circle with her mouth. Her cheeks matched the color of blood, and I swore I saw some steam come from her tiny, flared nostrils. She pounced toward me and stuffed my hand, still gripping the soft silky fabric, back into my pocket. There was a buzz present in my body with the way her nails dug into my skin, whichdisappeared the second she pulled her hand out of my pants. The soft blue in her eyes as she thanked Ford a few seconds ago was now replaced with a deep navy and burned like ice on hot skin. “What the hell, Theo!”

“What?” I asked innocently. “I told you I’d get you a new pair.”

She glanced around nervously and skimmed over my friends, who were smirking so hard I thought their faces might permanently get stuck like that. One of Taytum’s brows was cocked as she watched Claire and me, and then there was a faint slap on my chest, hitting me right where my heart was beating wildly.

“People are gonna get the wrong idea! They’re gonna think you have my underwear for a completely different reason! I swear, you love to mess with me, don’t you?”

I couldn’t help it. I smiled, and Claire stomped her foot like a brat. I loved every single second of our interactions. “A little, but come on. I do feel bad for giving your panties away.” I dug into my pocket again, and Claire lifted her leg to stomp again, but this time, her ballet slipper landed on my foot instead of the stage, as if it was actually going to hurt.

“Whoa, whoa!” Ford stepped in between us. “That’s our star player. We have a game tomorrow against Crown! Go easy on him, Bryant.”

The crease between her eyebrows smoothed out as she took him seriously, and I chuckled, bringing her attention back to me. “Relax. We all know you have a boyfriend and that there isn’t anything going on between us.”

Taytum exhaled as she grew closer to us. “Oh yes, we wouldn’t want yourboyfriendto get jealous of your roomie, now would we?”

I kept my face even, but I made eye contact with Taytum for a split second, and it was obvious that we both shared a distaste for Chad.Brownie points for Taytum.

“Stop,” Claire said quietly. Then, she glanced back up at me and rolled her eyes. “Just put them in my drawer when you get back to the room.”

I nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

She averted her attention quickly. Did she think a bomb was going to explode if she looked at me for longer than three seconds? I kept my chuckle to myself and ushered Aasher and Ford to the stairs to leave, but as if on cue, Ford had other ideas.

“You girls comin’ to the game? Or maybe the after-party?” His eyebrows moved up and down a few times before he looked at Taytum with a sly grin on his face. “Or will big bro Emory throw a fit if you show up?”

Taytum huffed with annoyance and sent Ford a look. She glanced over at Claire, and she shook her head so quickly it was hard to catch the panic lingering.

“Nah,” I answered for Claire, just to irritate her again because I simply could not fucking help myself. “Claire has a deep hatred for jocks, and she’d never be caught dead at a party at Chi Alpha Sigma.”

Blood rushed to her cheeks, and there was a miniscule pause in her breathing that I caught right away. Her tight shoulders dropped for a second before she smoothed her expression.

“What? A deep hatred for jocks?! Even us hockey players? Have you ever been to a hockey game?”

“No, she hasn’t.” Taytum bumped her hip into Claire’s and bounced right off because Claire was as stiff as a board.

The voice inside my head was telling me to retreat, but there was a game waiting to be played as I stared at my roommate. I prodded herjusta little bit more because I couldn’t back down from a challenge as enticing as her. “And she definitely doesn’t party, right? She’d rather sit in her room on a Friday night and wait for her boyfriend to step out of his science lab to call her.”Science lab or out from between other girls’ legs. I swear it was him at the party last weekend.

Her eyes drove into mine, and if they were knives, I’d be bleeding. I grinned coyly, waiting to see what she’d say. She couldn’t argue with me. She knew it was true, and her best friend knew it too.

“That is not true,” she forced out, crossing her arms over her gray sweater. A peek of her black strap from her leotard laid still over her shoulder, and I zoomed in on it, waiting for her to back up her statement.

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