Page 130 of Pick Me

As my eyes closed, he said, “This will all be okay. I love you, Pyro.”

It was the last thing I heard before I fell into one of the best sleeps of my life.

I love you too, Baseball Cap.

Chapter Thirty

Jackson

I stared at my phone, my thumb hovering over the screen as Thea’s face stared back at me. To call or don’t call—that was the question.

“You know, if you stare at that screen any longer, your phone might file a retraining order,” Matty said from his recliner, watching me with a smug satisfaction that only a man who’d wifed up his dream girl could.

“Don’t be mean.” Britt swatted Matty on his shoulder before sitting on his lap and snuggling in. My lip curled at their happiness. Couldn’t they keep their hands off each other for just one night?

I suppose the same question could’ve been asked about Thea and me. No. The answer was no. I couldn’t keep my hands off her. Even now, my fingers were itching to touch her, and she wasn’t even in the room.

I threw my phone onto the couch cushion beside me and flopped my head back, letting out a frustrated sigh. A Catfish game was on, and if that wasn’t enough of a distraction, the big glass doors were wide open, giving me the perfect view of the ocean.

“You’re right. He’s better lying on the couch staring at his phone than pacing the room. I was concerned I’d have to replace the floorboards.” Matty tossed a chip in his mouth, keeping his eyes on the game.

“Easy for you to say.” I threw my hand up, gesturing at my floppy-haired friend wildly. “You’re all set up. You’re married with a huge, unbelievable house and are graduating this year. I’m only just learning what it’s like to have a girlfriend and am starting on the back foot because her brother hates me.”

“That’s not true.” Britt’s voice did little to console me. She didn’t see the way Tanner glared at me this morning when he walked out of his room. Granted, I was trying to force feed his sister a banana—no that was not a euphemism—and she was pushing me away, but I thought that would make him see the soft, caring side of me.

It didn’t. Aster was gripping his hand, keeping him from lashing out. For a guy who said he was unbothered by us dating, he was acting pretty bothered.

Matty stuffed another chip into his mouth and shrugged. “Tanner will come around eventually. You did decide to secretly date sister during one of the most stressful moments of his life. That’s, like, rule number one of bro code violations.”

My jaw dropped, and I glared at the happy couple. “You can’t be serious now? Throwing this all on me like I acted alone. Britt was the one that put the spell on me in the first place.”

Britt looked up from the game, her expression caught between sympathy and amusement. “Hey, don’t drag me into this.”

“Oh, babe, I didn’t need to drag you anywhere. You came into this willingly. Much like I’d like you and Matty to come with me and Thea will—”

“You’re lucky Tanner isn’t the fighting type.” Britt interrupted my flow while Matty was glaring at me the way Tanner had earlier. “He’ll come around. He’s just… processing.”

“Processing?” I scoffed. “I think ‘fuming’ is the word you’re looking for.”

Matty tossed a chip at me. “That’s why you’re here, Mr. Self-Imposed Exile. Safe and sound until the smoke clears. Speaking of which, could you at least pretend to enjoy the game with the beachfront view instead of sighing every few minutes? It’s distracting, and Britt hates being distracted when her brother’s playing.”

I drew my attention to the screen. “How’s he doing, anyway?” They returned to the game, and Britt’s brother Max walked onto the mound with purpose. His face was stone cold as he threw a sinker, registering ninety-four mph at his opponent. I whistled. “Now, that’s a guy I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of. Tanner’s a kitten in comparison.”

“Good thing I’m his favorite sibling, and he likes Matty,” Britt said, her eyes glued to the TV.

“Lucky you,” I gritted out. “I hope I can get back to that with Tanner one day.”

“Have Thea and Tanner talked yet?” Britt asked, her voice soft as she finally drew her attention to me.

I shrugged before grabbing my phone and checking it again. No messages. “I don’t know. Thea hasn’t texted me since I left. She needs to talk to her parents and brother before I get involved any more, even if that’s all I want to do. Who’s going to be there for her if I’m not?”

“And what does she need you for?” Matty asked, curiosity laced in his voice.

“I don’t know. She needs someone to make sure she’s eating or resting or…”

“Breathing?” Matty added dryly.

I shot him a look. “Not helping.”

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