Page 18 of Pick Me

“Anyway, it was nice talking to you guys, maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”

I strolled past Jackson, brushing him on the way.

“It was nice meeting you—” Henry said before the door slammed.

“What were you doing out there?” Jackson asked, stalking behind me.

I flittered my hand in his direction. “Oh, out there? Well, you told me to make some friends, so that’s exactly what I did. Made friends.”

“You can’t be serious?” He laughed bitterly. “With Brandon and Henry?”

Ah, so he knew them. “Yes, what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing if you’re fine with getting disrespected.”

My lip curled, and the false bravado took over. “Maybe I like a little degradation.”

He answered with a scowl, giving me time to subtly admire his bare chest. When did he do that? “Did you take your shirt off so your fangirls could drool over you?”

He glanced down at his chest as though he hadn’t realized he was striding around the apartment with his six-pack out. How could he not? His nipples were sharp little points from the cold.

His hands rested on his pecs before moving down his chest slowly. I couldn’t help it, I followed their movement. He might be an asshole, but he sure was a nicely packaged one.

“Nah, my camera’s only set up in my room. All of this is for your eyes only.”

And there was that devilish smirk of his. Mocking.Again.It wasn’t enough to lock me out of the apartment for the evening, he had to show me what I was missing.

“You’re a pig,” I snarled before turning on my heel and stomping to my bedroom.

“Leaving me already? You were the one desperate to stay in with me.”

I didn’t even bother responding to him. He was an ass, and my reaction would give him too much power.

I hated him.

After slamming the door to my room, I strutted over to my bed, snatched my phone, and texted my brother.

Thea:That idiot that you call a best friend is the biggest idiot to have ever idioted on the face of this planet.

Then I tossed my phone back onto the bed before falling onto it and stewing in my anger, thinking about all the ways I’d get him back.

Chapter Five

Jackson

Walking out of my room the next evening, I couldn’t help but laugh.Thiswas what she had planned, yet she was mocking me for playing video games with my friends last night?

Thea was sitting in the exact same spot as me on the couch with only her dark, messy bun on show. She was watching a guy on TV whose jaw line looked like it had been sculpted with a chisel, and wearing a suit which made him look smarmy as hell. Typical Thea. Always going for the conventionally handsome guys.

“You can’t be serious?” I said, shaking my head as the guy on the screen declared his love for a beautiful woman on the screen. It would have been believable if there weren’t another ten girls standing behind her, eagerly awaiting the same speech. If I had blue eyes that could pierce a soul, I’d be drowning in pussy like this guy.

Thea’s head popped up from over the couch, giving me the luxury of seeing her narrowed, catlike eyes. “What do you want, Baseball Cap?”

“Nothing,” I said, jutting my chin toward the TV. Then I glanced at the pile of snacks placed on her lap. With grapes, peanut butter banana bites, and kiwi, her snack pile was a lot healthier than mine. “This looks like an awfully familiar setup to mine last night.”

Her brows creased, and she pushed up so I could see her entire face was contorted in disgust. The crinkle in her nose only emphasized the freckles speckled across it, making her seem marginally less threatening.

“Difference is, I’m not playing mindless video games. I’m watchingThe Baseball Bachelor.”

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