Page 50 of Pick Me

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. Just seems to be something you do when you have nothing else going on.”

“I do it to relax. Football. School. This apartment. Everything about this place stresses me out. Gaming helps reduce that for a bit.”

“What’s so stressful out the apartment?” She tilted her head, taking me in.

“You being in it.”

She flashed a sly, mischievous smile before patting the top of my baseball cap. “Well, don’t worry your pretty little head about that tonight. I’m not hanging around.”

“Aw, you think I’m pretty?” I framed my cheeks with the palm of my hands in that cupcake pose girls do as I fluttered my eyelashes. As I did it, I felt my towel falling, so I abruptly stopped and held onto it. Thea seeing my boner wouldn’t help matters.

“Who doesn’t?” That little admission alone was enough to make me think maybe I did have a chance to change her mind. “That doesn’t stop you from being an asshole, though. See you later, Baseball Cap.”

With that, she walked out of the apartment, and I had no choice but to let her. I watched every move she made, though, committing it to memory. When the door shut, I fumbled with the clothes in my hand and fished out the phone from my jeans.

Jackson:Please tell me Thea is going to your house tonight.

Matty:Do you know how annoying you are? Constantly messaging my wife with useless questions.

Britt:You’re an idiot.

Jackson:You’re talking about Matty, right?

Britt:No. I’m talking about you. Why the hell did you bring Grace over last night? Honestly, even when I try to give you the benefit of the doubt, you can’t help but be an asshole.

Well, shit. How did she know about that? Unless Britt and Grace suddenly became besties, then it had to have been Thea. Interesting.

Jackson:Did you see Thea today? Is that who told you?

Matty:Here’s a novel idea, why don’t you speak to Thea about this and leave us out of it. We aren’t interested.

Britt:Well, that’s not entirely true.I was interested until I realized what an idiot you are.

Jackson:Can we please stop calling me an idiot? It’s hurting my feelings.

Britt:Good. I hope you feel ten times the pain Thea felt.

That confirmed it. My jaw clenched, and I looked at the door, contemplating whether I could catch up with Thea. Upsetting her wasn’t my intention, and that combined with knowing she hadn’t heard my doorstop confessional on either night made me want to fix this.

Jackson:I wasn’t trying to hurt her. I just couldn’t stop thinking about her, and I thought sleeping with Grace would change that.

Matty:You really are an idiot.

Jackson:You can shut up now. I’m only talking to you on here because you blocked my one-on-one chat with Britt.

Matty:I didn’tdo anything.

Britt:That was me. I did it after Thea told me what an asshole you are.

Matty:I’m glad you’ve seen the light.

Jackson:Wow. I thought we were all friends here. Look, I realize I was an ass last night. I tried to apologize, but she didn’t hear me. All I need to know is if she’s going to your house right now.

Britt:She’s got a date, so you can suck it.

I growled. There it was, confirmed in writing. Shewason a date, and it wasn’t with me.

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