Page 51 of Pitcher

Standing, I try not to look uninterested at anything he has to say. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to check on Theo.”

Brody is quick to answer me, his eyes darting to the kitchen. “He’s fine. Just getting another drink. Sit. Let’s play.”

Uh, let’s not and track the sounds of laughter coming from the kitchen until we find the source.

It’s a girl I haven’t seen before.

“Vanessa is Seth’s sister,” Brody supplies.

I don’t care if she’s Mother Theresa’s sister. The way her hands are rubbing down his chest have me enraged.

Calm down, Anniston. Calm your crazy ass down.

You’re friends.

So what if he helped you come so hard you saw stars? So what if you love him?

So what if he’s leaving? He never made you any promises. You were the one reading too much into this.

This is what happens when you think you found your soul mate at fourteen.

Disappointment.

A warm hand lands on my arm as I watch Theo standing there, hands in his pockets, while Vanessa gets close enough she could slobber onmydamn dimple.

I hope her breath smells like butthole.

“Want to get out of here?”

I whip around and stare at the tan hand on my skin. I stare at that hand like it holds all the answers in the world.

Maybe it does.

Maybe it’s the shove I need.

Theo and I are friends.

Just. Fucking. Friends.

It was stupid to attempt to build anything with Theo when he’s about to leave.

Slowly, I raise my face and stare at Rhys’s green eyes. He’s cute. He’s chatty. At least I won’t spend my birthday alone.

“Yeah.” I sigh. “I want to get out of here.”

“Anniston—”Brody starts, attempting to calm the situation.

But I’m done. So freaking done.

“Thanks for having me over, Brody. I’ll see ya around.”

Ignoring his pleas to stay, I let Rhys pull me out the front door to his Jeep parked on the curb.

“Rhys! If you take one more goddamned step, I will break your fucking leg.”

My head falls forward at the sound of his voice. I feel like I have whiplash. This back and forth is exhausting.

“I’ll make sure she gets home, Von Bremen. Enjoy the party favors.”

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