Page 36 of Pick Me

Jackson:*Pointing up finger emoji* There you go. Now text her.

Britt:No.

Jackson:Really?

Britt:Really.

Jackson:I’m beginning to see why it took so long for you and Matty to get together.

Matty:Watch it.

Britt:I’m not doing it because if she did go on a date and hasn’t told you, then she doesn’t want you to know. Besides, she deserves some privacy. Living with you and her brother has got to be suffocating.

Jackson:So, that’s how this is going to go? You’re going to cast a spell on me so I can’t get Thea off my mind, and then you’re just going to leave me hanging like this? Desperately trying to figure out who she wants to date?

Britt:When did you tell us you couldn’t get Thea off your mind?

Jackson:Right now. I also mentioned it when I called you a witch, but you didn’t respond to that, so I’m going to pretend you didn’t see it.

Matty:You called my wife a witch?

Jackson:It was a term of endearment. Frankly, if I had a woman with such cosmic powers, I wouldn’t get her to use them to curse my half-wit teammate into crushing on his roommate.

Britt:You’re not a half-wit.

Matty:Hold on a minute. Was Britt right? Do you have a crush on Thea?

Jackson:I didn’t until Britt planted that little seed in my head! When I got home from dinner with you both, Thea was snuggled on the couch, and well, I think I literally caught feelings in that very moment. Feelings that are getting really hard to shake off. Even imagining a threesome between us did nothing. Suddenly, Thea came front and center… Literally.

Matty:A threesome between who?

Britt:Those feelings were there long before our dinner FYI.

Matty:Come to think of it, I was pretty sure you had a crush on her when she rolled her pink dinosaur luggage into the foyer of Aiden’s house. Then you just started yelling at each other.

He had a point. I remembered thinking she was a hot piece, not realizing she was Tanner’s sister at first. We were having a good time and joking around when she first got here. It was only after a month that things started to go sour.

Britt:Did Thea meet anyone new recently? Maybe that’s who she went on a date with.

Anyone new?

Mmm. Not that I know of… Wait a minute. The baseball and hockey guys. What were their names again? Henry and Bra-Brandon. Fuck. She met them two days ago. What if she was going out with one of them? What if she was going out withbothof them? How the hell was I supposed to compete with two dicks? Both of whom were used to playing with their sticks.

I snarled and this animalistic urge to claim her took me over. Fucking hell, this needed to stop. This wasn’t right. She was my roommate and my best friend’s sister.

Matty:I think you should record yourself telling her. I want to see how that goes down.

I bit my bottom lip, thinking about it. I already told her, and she silently rejected me. It was no use. Thea didn’t want me even if my dick only wanted her.

What the hell was I supposed to do?

After sitting for a few minutes, an idea came to my mind. I needed to break the curse, and the only way to do that was todosomeone else.

Yes. That was the only way forward. Screwing someone else would get her off my mind, but who could I call on such short notice? One girl came to mind, and I figured I’d at least try. Even if I didn’t sleep with her, at least going out with someone who didn’t live in this apartment might help get my mind off Thea.

Swiping out of the chat with Britt and Matty, I searched through my contacts, coming to one I hadn’t texted in over a year.

Jackson:Are you around tomorrow night?

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