Page 10 of Pick Me

I rolled my eyes, but he had a point. Besides my excellent gaming skills, Liam was a pretty motherfucker, and we regularly had girls joining the lives solely because they’d seen his face all over social media and wanted to get his attention.

When the microwave dinged, I took the popcorn out and poured it into a large bowl before stuffing a handful in my mouth. Then I snatched the controller from the kitchen island and made my way to the couch with an extra skip in my step.

Nope. There was nothing better in life than this.

Just as I walked past, Thea’s door opened and all my hope of a solo evening died.

“It stinks out here.” Her hand wafted across her face, and she pinched her nose, cringing. “What did you cook? A dead rat?”

I bit my tongue, doing my best not to go against Tanner’s wishes the first night he was gone, but, as usual, Thea was making it somewhat difficult.

“Why are you still here?”

Thea’s dark eyes followed the popcorn spilling out of my mouth and into the bowl I was holding. Her lip curled, which surprised me. I thought she’d be happy I wasn’t dropping it on the floor.

“You know, I didn’t think it would be possible to be less attracted to you, but congratulations, you’ve somehow managed to do it.”

“Really?” I looked her up and down. “You’re going to judgemyattractiveness”—I gestured my chin in her direction—“when you’re dressed likethat.”

Her gaze dropped to the furry purple onesie with Covey’s logo printed across her stomach. That wasn’t even the most offensive part of her outfit. No, that accolade was saved for the sheer pink robe with fluffy cuffs she was wearing over it.

Seriously, she looked like she was trying to date the hockey team’s mascot. Although, I’m guessing Crushie had better taste.

She didn’t flinch at my insult to her outfit. Instead, she patted down the purple fluff and pushed her shoulders back with pride. “What’s wrong with this? Tanner bought it for me.”

It all made sense at the mention of her overprotective brother. The same one who gave me a little lecture the second week his sister joined Covey U.

“Everything. Absolutely everything is wrong with that.”

She pouted, and a thought came to my mind. Was she going out in that? If so, I needed to say something to save all the guys in college with a cat allergy.

“Look, I don’t like to dole out advice often.”

She tipped her nose up in typical defiant-Thea fashion. Always judging. Always right, even when she was completely wrong. “That’s because you’d actually need some wisdom for that.”

I stepped closer to her, and my nose twitched from the fluffy collar of her robe. “Don’t worry, I don’t need much wisdom to know your brother only bought this for you to turn off every single one of his friends.”

Her lips curved into a smile. “Is it working?”

“On me? Don’t worry, Pyro. I was turned off a long time ago.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Come to think of it, let’s hope you don’t burn the place down again. That outfit looks flammable.”

That smile on her face quickly turned to a sneer. “I hate you.”

“The feeling’s mutual, but for the sake of wanting the apartment to myself, I would suggest you don’t go out in that. It won’t help your lack-of-friends situation.”

“That’s fine because I’m not going out.”

“Yet,” I said.

“At all,” she replied, halting me. I looked at her, but she just continued to casually pluck the fluff off her onesie.

She wasn’t going out?

Had I missed something?

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