Page 16 of Pick Me

My eyes were closed, my back ached, and all I could think about was how much I missed my bed. I shouldn’t have left it. I should have just let Jackson get on with his night and tolerated his insufferable grunts.

As I took in a deep breath, I smelled something new. Not the stench of that bologna Jackson had earlier. No, this was delicious. This was hot, melted cheese waiting to deliver itself into my mouth.

I popped my head up, looking around the hallway. No one was coming out of their room, so I flicked my gaze to the stairwell.

I heard their feet and muffled voices before I could see them. “Why didn’t you ask her out?” a guy with a deep voice asked.

My heart rate spiked… Could these guys help me?

“What’s the point?” another voice replied. The smell grew stronger, and I was salivating like a starving dog. What I wouldn’t give for something to eat or drink right now. “She’ll reject me like everyone else in this college.”

I sat up, combed through my hair in an attempt to look approachable, and plastered a smile across my face as the voices drew closer.

“It’s because you’ve got a bad reputation after—”

Both guys stopped and stared at me like I was an alien, and wanting to break the tension, I raised my hand, wiggling my fingers—an attempt at a cute wave—and smiled.

Damn, why couldn’t I be wearing one of my cute crop tops or something.

Each was cute in their own way, but the guy with the baseball jersey and holding the pizza narrowed his eyes as he took me in. I wanted to say he was checking me out, but I feared Jackson might’ve had a point about the onesie. It was giving off the wrong impression here. I sat up a little straighter, hoping the fluff wasn’t hindering seeing me as a normal girl.

“You have pizza?” I asked, ignoring the questionable glares and the fact that my stomach was roiling from hunger. The pizza was from Covey Crusts, the best thing about this college.

“Looks like the football team has another fangirl stalker,” the one in a baseball jersey said. No emotion. No interest. Just monotonous.

My mouth dropped. “Excuse me?” I said, my voice flaring with anger as I clutched my chest. “I am not a fangirl.”

“Then why are you wearing that?” The baseball jersey guy tipped his chin and raised his thick eyebrow at me.

My fingers curled against the fluff.He had a point.

“Are you looking for Jackson James?” the other one asked, with a soothing smile making his dimples pop.

The mention of his name sent anger through my veins. He’d left me stuck out here with no food, no drink, no entertainment, ruining a perfectly good night for me.

“No, I’m not looking for that neanderthal.”

I glared up at the guy giving me a goofy smile. Wait a minute. Did they think I was here tosleepwith Jackson?

A shiver ran up my spine, and I felt compelled to clear up the misconception. “I live here.” I used my thumb to point against the wood. “I’m locked out, and my roommate isn’t back until ten thirty.”

“Youlivethere?” Baseball Jersey asked.

I nodded.

“I’ve never seen you, and we live a floor up.” He elbowed his goofy-smiling friend. “Henry, have you?”

Henry shook his head. “No, I think I’d remember an outfit like that.”

Wow. Were all men at Covey U destined to make me feel like shit?

“I’m Tanner’s sister.” I didn’t even have to say his last name. Everyone knew him around here.

“You are?” Henry asked as he looked at his friend. “Brandon, did you know he had a sister?”

Ah, Baseball Jersey had a name. Brandon and Henry. I’d never heard of either of these two, but that was because I didn’t care about any sport except for football. How could I? I was trained to love it.

“I don’t know. She doesn’t look like Tanner, though,” Brandon said. I curled into myself, feeling more self-conscious than I’d like to admit, then I turned on the sass, my usual way of getting over my feelings of inadequacy.

---