Page 51 of Weak Side

“Brother,” Emory patted my chest and I instantly wanted to fling his palm off my body because I was suddenly extremely irritated. “You don’t look at friends the way you’re lookin’ at her.”

If she’s just my roommate, then why do I want to walk over there just to be beside her?

“Knock it off,” I snapped, “or I’ll call your mom and tell her you fucked her best friend last season after the championship game before they took you to dinner. Or maybe I’ll tell Taytum, and she can tell your mom.” He knew I’d never stoop so low, but I was starting to grow angrier the more he fucked with me.

“You punched her boyfriend.” The cup in my hand began to crumple when Aasher started in too.

“Ex,” I corrected. “He’s now her ex.”

“You gonna punch him again?”

Maybe.I snapped my neck to Emory. “Why would I punch him again?”

The humor that was there moments ago when he was fucking with me was gone. “Because the way she’s looking at him while he sweet-talks another girl across the room makesmewant to punch him.”

Someone had gripped me by the throat and cut off all breathing as I whipped my head over to the left and searched for him.This piece of shit.The way my blood ran cold was an obvious clue that I was about to lose my mind if I didn’t remove myself from the party. My ears grew warm, and my eyes narrowed in his direction, locking onto the way a girl was somehow being swooned right out of her pants from whatever it was he was whispering to her.

“The fucking nerve,” I gritted. I handed my cup to Emory, pushing it into his chest, and kept my attention on Chad and his little toy as I strode through the party like I was on a goddamn mission.

And I was.

At the very last second, Chad caught my eye, and the way my lip curled should have clued him in that I was about to fuck with him like he was fucking with her.

I forced Claire’s eyes to meet mine as I blocked her view from him. The way her pink lips were tugged into a frown told me that she saw exactly what Chad was doing across the party. Her little nostrils flared with irritation, and her cheeks were painted pink.

“There you are,” I said, taking another step toward her. My foot went in between hers, and I tipped her head back with a finger under her chin, letting those brown locks fall down her back again.

“What?” she whispered, voice shaky and not sounding at all like the tone she used with me, which was usually full of irritation, skimming right on top of subtle humor.

“I said…” My hands went to her hips, and she sucked in a breath, straightening her spine and pushing her chest into mine.Damn.“There you are.” I gave her that same look I’d given her just a couple hours prior when I desperately needed her to rescue me from the girls waiting outside the locker room who wouldn't leave me alone.Play along, Bryant.

There was a tiny dip in between her brows, and although everything had basically disappeared for me except her, I still heard Taytum say, “Better do it right. He’s looking over here.”

The smallest amount of panic flickered across Claire’s face, but then her hands landed on my wrists, and my fingers twitched to pull her in even closer. I dipped my gaze to her mouth, and for the second time since meeting her, I had the inclination to kiss her and make her forget his name.

“Hey,” she whispered. Her sweet breath flew to my lips, and I gritted my teeth to keep myself from completely obliterating the plan and slamming my mouth on hers right then and there.Slow it down.

I dropped my voice low enough so only she would hear me. “I’m gonna spin you around, and you need to lean back on my chest, yeah?”

Claire nodded, and the panic disappeared as she put her game face on. I couldn’t have stopped my smirk even if I tried. Claire’s ass was pressed to my front a moment later, and my hands rested with ease over her hips. Taytum and Ford played their parts well, keeping the rest of the group around us entertained with a conversation so it looked as if this was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was. We garnered looks from all across the party, and the satisfaction it gave me, knowing that some of my fan girls were pouting and realizing they weren’t going to end up in my bed tonight, was enough to make this worth it, even if Chad didn’t notice us.

Oh, but he did.

I looked in his direction and pulled Claire even tighter against my front. Her breathing had stopped when Chad paused his sloppy kisses, and my mouth dipped down, my lips a breath away from her ear. “Breathe, Bryant.” A little gasp flew from her lungs, and I smiled against her neck. “I’ll lead. You follow.”

She turned her attention to me, and I knew I was going to kiss her. I hardly doubted she noticed, but my entire body seized for a split second because I’d lost all control, and that didn’t happen often. “This is going to make him irate.”

I pulled my gaze from the shape of her kissable lips and stared right into her worried blue eyes. “He gets to fuck around on you and expect you to wait around for him as he ‘experiences’college?” The shock of realization only lasted a moment.Oh yes, I know more than you think, Claire.“Absolutely not. No roommate of mine is gonna be played like that. I won’t have it.”

Her warm hand covered mine on her hip as my other one snaked up her neck. I cupped her face, splaying my palm out against her cheek, my fingers disappearing in her hair. “I’m gonna kiss the hell out of you, Bryant, and don’t you dare pull away.”

For the second time, our mouths sealed, but this time, the kiss was undeniably soul-wrecking, and that was when I knew that Claire Bryant was about to become my weak side.

24

Claire

The factthat I was kissing Theo Brooks—again—just to prove a point to my ex was a long-forgotten thought. I felt the kiss in my bones. My core burned as bright as a flame when Theo’s teeth tugged on my bottom lip, pulling my mouth open a little farther so his tongue could sweep inside and quite literally sweep me off my feet. I couldn’t breathe in the air of the party. Instead, I could only breathe in Theo. I was no longer at a party with watchful eyes and an ex who had provoked me into this position. I was lost, and I didn’t want to find my way back again.

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