Page 64 of Pick Me

My breath hitched and I shuffled back, slinking out from under him. Jackson hadn’t registered my freak out, his face still with a drunk, delirious smile on it. He leaned forward, ready to pull me back in for more, but I couldn’t do this.

It was too much.

“I’ve got to go,” I said before jumping off the couch and running to my room like a scared little mouse. Kind of what I was. A scared mouse looking for somewhere to hide because I didn’t want to face the consequences of my own actions.

When I got to my room, I shut the door—and locked it for good measure. Taking a deep breath, I tried to center myself and pretend I couldn’t feel Jackson’s presence on the other side. It didn’t matter I was in my room, it felt like he was everywhere.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The vibrations of his punches against the door reverberated through my bones, and I shivered in worry.

“You can’t hide from me, T.” His words sounded almost sinister and kind of sexy all at once.

Dread filled my stomach, weighing me down like a heavy stone as I thought about what happened between Jackson and me. I kissed him, and I was almost ready for him to taste me.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

What the fuck have I done?!

“I’ll be right here waiting for you when you wake up and realize you want more of that.”

I tried to hold back the little yelp, but it escaped my throat. He was right. He lived with me, and there was no way I could avoid him.

Frozen on the spot, I waited another ten minutes before having the courage to move from the door and over to my phone. The same one I’d left sitting there when I went outside to get a bottle of water.

When there was another knock on my door, I squealed, not knowing what to do. Had I locked it? Would Jackson come in here any second? I had no time to think, I grabbed my phone from my dresser and ran to my closet and slammed it shut. For some reason, the darkness felt like another barrier to facing reality.

I kissed Jackson. I kissed Jackson. I kissed Jackson, and Ilikedkissing Jackson.

My phone lit up the darkened room as I prepared to google the shit out ofYou kissed your enemy and liked it, now what?But as my thumbs touched the screen, my brother’s name popped up.

Was the world taunting me? He couldn’t seriously be calling me right now, could he?

His face and long blond hair filled the screen, answering my question. Yes. Yes, he could be calling me right now.

Did he know what we’d done?

Had Jackson somehow told him about his intentions before this happened?

My eyes widened because I really thought about it. What if he had a video camera around here? Did heseeit?

Oh, I would die of embarrassment.

Cringing, I accepted the call, knowing I would have to face the consequences sooner or later, and there was no time like the present.

“Hello?” My voice cracked, and I kept my eyes shut because I was waiting for Tanner to blow a gasket.

“Thea, hey.” Well, that was different than I was expecting. Tanner sounded happy. Relaxed, even, and for him to be so calm when he’s supposed to be on vacation with his girlfriend’s family was saying something. “You going to accept the FaceTime invite?”

I wanted to laugh. How the heck could I accept the FaceTime invite without giving away my location. Plus, it was dark in here, so I doubt he’d see me anyway.

“No. I’m just about to get into the shower,” I said, knowing that was enough of an answer to stop him from pressing too many other questions my way.

“Okay. I’ve been trying to call you for the last hour. Where have you been?”

“Uh…” I searched the closet, hoping it would offer me a cover sincekissing your teammatewouldn’t be a brilliant answer. “I was out with some friends.”

“Really?” he said, surprised, and could I blame him? The guy had known me all his life, and here I was lying through my teeth because he knew very well I had no friends.

---