Page 60 of Pitcher

Okay, I don’t know that. I’m just assuming he feels the same as me right now—a whole lot of horny.

Patience, Anniston.

“Did you really think I would let Rhys fuck me?” I ask, hoping to change the subject and calm us down.

Really. Rhys has fucked everything with a heartbeat, and even that may be a stretch. Some of the girls tearing out of the frat house look like they might burst into flames under the sunlight.

Theo sighs, fidgeting with the woven bracelet on his wrist.

“I promised Hines I would always look out for you.”

Do not make a noise, even if you want to slap him and run to the car and leave his considerate ass.Is that really why he came after me? Because he promised my grandfather to always look out for me? He didn’t come because he hated to see me with another man?

Sighing, I plaster a fake smile on my face and tap his shoulder.

“He would be very proud of you.”

It’s true. Theo was the grandson Hines always wanted. It’s just…. It doesn’t matter. Theo will never admit he loves me, and maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I misread this whole situation. Maybe he really is a great friend, and in a couple of days, I’ll lose him either way.

So really, if I think about it, telling Theo how I really feel wouldn’t be so terrible, would it?

Of course it would. How many movies have we seen where best friends ruin their relationship by bumping uglies? Yet…

“Hines would have beaten your ass, and mine, if he knew what we’ve done these past four years of school,” he muses, a small chuckle rumbling in his chest.

I shrug. Technically, I haven’t done near the amount of sinning Theo has.

“I feel like he would beat your ass the most,” I say, smiling before adding, “I merely flirted with sin. You unzipped your pants, jerked off on it, and then flipped it off while you fingered its sister.”

His face scrunches up like he tasted something nasty. “That is the dumbest metaphor I have ever heard.”

“Don’t care. It’s the truth.”

One hundred percent the truth. Theo has always been the bad boy with the gooey center.

“Whatever,” he says unaffected. “I’m sorry anyway. I shouldn’t have said those things to you. I was an asshole. Forgive me?”

Of course I forgive him. It isn’t the first time he’s said something mean, but he’s holding back what he truly wants to say.

I think.

“Of course.” I extend my hand, and he swats it away with a glare.

“You’re lying,” he accuses flatly. An exasperated noise escapes me, but he cuts it off. “I know you, Anniston McCallister. Better than you know yourself.”

He’s really reaching now.

If he really knew me, then he would know I do forgive him. That’s not the issue here. The issue is, he’s a little liar. Theo Von Bremen did not yank me from Rhys for my grandfather.

He did it for selfish reasons.

Reasons, I plan on using to get what I want.

“I’m not lying. I said I forgive you, and to prove it, you can buy dinner tonight.”

He eyes me suspiciously but starts bagging up our gear.

I watch him watching me. He knows I’m up to something.

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