Page 5 of Pick Me

His shoulders slumped at my constant questioning. It was the only way I could win an argument, and proved to be an effective strategy. Although, I had to admit, sometimes when his bun was in just the right place, he looked like one of those overly groomed labradoodles, which made me feel bad. No one wanted to upset a dog.

“I just can’t with you sometimes,” he whispered.

I shuffled closer to him, tapping him on the chest.

“Come on, Tan Tan. I’ll be fine. Don’t you remember, I spent an entire year at college without you?”

He nodded. “I remember, but that was our local college, sis. I’d made sure everyone knew not to mess with you after…”

The worry line between his eyebrows thickened, which surprised me. Yes, that night was horrific, and I never wanted to repeat it, but sometimes, I wondered if it affected Tanner more than it had me. He blamed himself because it was a teammate, but the incident had nothing to do with my brother, and I told him as much. I could see it in his eyes, though. He’d been different with me ever since, and it didn’t matter how much I reminded him I was still his sarcastic sister who loved to have fun, he was always looking at me like I was about to break.

“Tan Tan,” I whispered before shaking his shoulders and forcing his attention to me. When he looked up, I gave him a small smile. “No one is going to hurt me here. They all know who you are, and if that wasn’t enough to stop them, they think I burned down a sorority house to avenge your girlfriend. Trust me, everyone thinks I’m a crazy bitch. I’ll be fine.”

My brother smiled—the biggest smile I’d seen in a long time—and his blue eyes softened.

“I know. I just worry sometimes.”

Sometimes? Pfft. Dude had enough worry to fuel the jets for Bailey Hill’s world tour.

I patted him on the back hard enough he stood up a little straighter. Okay, that might have been a little rougher than intended, but I wanted him to snap out of it.

“Aww, look at that, sibling love,” Jackson, our other roommate and my archnemesis, said.

My lip curled as I pulled out of my brother’s hold, and the bane of my existence sauntered into the room like he was God’s gift to women.

I snarled. The only reaction my body could give to the most obnoxious man who ever lived. No exaggeration. Jackson thought he was hot shit, and it didn’t matter how many times he failed out of class, nothing would change his mind on the matter.

It’s partly because he was pretty hot…Shit.Did I just admit that? Jackson was easy on the eyes, but that didn’t change the fact he had the manners of a puppy.

“I gotta be honest with you, T. I know Thea is your sister, but I have no idea how you can love her.”

Did I mention he hated me just as much? My spine tingled as his eyes raked my body. I knew what he was doing. Judging.

Every curve. Every inch. I wasn’t thin, and I knew everyone questioned how I could have such a Baywatch-worthy brother and look like… this.

My rolls, my pale skin. The feeling of being judged was only ever soothed by the sweet narcotic that was sugar, and I ate my fair share. I wasn’t ashamed of it. I liked who I was, but that didn’t mean I was okay with a meathead judging me for it.

“Jackson,” my brother griped in warning. Ah, sweet Tanner, always trying to defend my honor, or his right to be the one offending me. For all of Tanner’s saintly ways, he could still be an ass.

Jackson was unfazed by Tanner’s threat. Probably because his arms were the size of Tanner’s thighs. He, like my brother, was obsessed with the gym. Muscular and wide, he lifted an obscene amount of weights in his quest to become the best defensive lineman on the Covey U Wildcats.

Jackson pushed his lips out and scratched his chin. “But then again, I didn’t spend nine months in the womb with her. Are you sure you aren’t suffering from Stockholm Syndrome?”

My lip curled and a low growl emanated from my throat as I glared at Jackson. “Surprised you even know where Stockholm is, Baseball Cap.”

I didn’t even have to look in his direction to know he was wearing a blue Carolina Catfish baseball cap. The same cap he’d been wearing for the last two years. I didn’t want to imagine how much grease lined the brim.

“Go ahead, call me an idiot. I don’t care, because you get on my last nerve,” he said.

Tanner sighed and stepped forward, blocking my view of Jackson, but he was wider than Tanner, so I could still see his thick arms on either side of my brother.

“Can we not do this today? I’m going away, and I don’t want to be worried about what you’re going to do to each other while I’m gone.”

I shivered at the thought of being anywhere near Jackson alone. When I started here, I got a different kind of shivers when he was around, but like a bull in a china shop, he throttled those feelings right out the window after just one month.

Jackson chuckled and slapped Tanner on the shoulder, shaking him a little. “We’ll be fine, bro. Just focus on getting your girl off as much as possible.”

Was that vomit in my mouth? I pressed my lips together and clutched my stomach, feeling sick from the thought.

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