Page 99 of Pick Me

I was going to hell. I’d already established that.

Shaking my head, I pinched the bridge of my nose, forcing the thought out of my brain. “Wait. You were going to propose to Aster?”

“Isn’t that what he just said, or has your baseball cap cut off circulation to your head one too many times?”

Rude.

I gave herthreeorgasms today, and this was how she thanked me?

Then it hit me—she wanted me to play along. That was something she would’ve said before. She was keeping up the act.

“Baseball…” Tanner’s eyes narrowed, locking onto my hairline. “Where’s your baseball hat?”

Fucking Thea.

Cutting off her nose to spite her face and drawing her brother’s attention right to the hair she’d ruffled while she was riding my face.

I jerked my thumb over my shoulder, nodding toward the door. “Just got back from the gym. About to take a shower.”

“Explains why the place stinks.” Thea wrinkled her nose, giving me a once-over. “Next time, maybe consider showering at the gym so we don’t have to suffer through your body odor for the next two weeks. Seriously, if your body is supposed to be a temple, yours reeks of trash.”

Geez, Thea. Chill the hell out.

“Thea,” Tanner muttered, his voice low, his head dropping in warning.

She just shook her head and turned back to him.

“How did she even find the ring if you didn’t propose?” I asked.

“It was in my bag, and she went through it to help me find my watch. That’s when she found it.” He exhaled, rubbing a hand over his face. “It’s so stupid. She thought it was part of the proposal.” His chuckle was bitter. “Pathetic, huh? She really thoughtthatwas how I’d propose to her.”

Tanner was one of the best under pressure. It didn’t matter how good the other team was—he kept his cool and usually won. But now?

He just looked defeated.

“Okay,” Thea said carefully. “So she freaked out, but she didn’t kick you out after.”

“No, she didn’t.”

“And you told me you were going to talk to her.”

“I was, but I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

His jaw flexed. “Because I could see it in her eyes. She was embarrassed, and I didn’t want to stay there and have her pity me.”

Thea frowned. “She doesn’t pity you.”

“Oh, she pitied me,” Tanner muttered, his tone sharp. “I could see it in her eyes the entire time we were talking to the Crossbills’ owner. She couldn’t even smile.”

Thea hesitated. “Has she called you since you left?”

“I haven’t turned my phone on.”

“What?!”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want her breaking up with me over the phone, and to start crying in the airport.”

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