Free Every Which Way (Sloan Brothers) by Calia Read Page B

place to hang out. Ever.
    For him, it evidently was.
    Severine pulled the bottle away from her lips. Thayer followed the motion almost eagerly. This wasn’t good for the stress that Severine had just chased out of her body. “It’s my self-defense practice. You know, from all the douchebags out there.”
    Thayer grinned. It didn’t crook on one side. There was nothing half-hearted with him. When he smiled, it was all consuming. “Well, I’m a guy, and I’ll officially be standing two feet away from you.”
    Severine panted out a laugh, still trying to get the remainder of her breath back. With him here, it officially became ten times harder. He leaned against the wall, dressed in a cut off and basketball shorts. One thing could be checked off her giant list of never-ending questions. He looked just as she imagined after working out.
    Maybe she was wrong about the whole sports being the devil’s playground theory. If everyone looked this good after a workout, she’d buy front row tickets to their male basketball team. Clearly, she was missing out.
    “If you stay two feet away at all times, then we might end up being B.F.F.”
    “How would I enjoy that?” Optimism glinted off of him. Severine had never seen him this way. She whacked her almost empty water bottle over and over against her thigh. Mischief danced in his eyes. It would cause catastrophic damage for anyone.
    “Two feet away? I think that’s two feet too fucking far.”
    “God, are you kidding me? You just wasted a really good line on me.”
    He stepped away from the wall. “Severine, I have no ‘good lines,’” he said with air quotes. “That would mean I was using someone else’s words. Whatever I say is all mine.”
    Her hand stilled, and the bottle paused in mid-swing. If he was kidding, he had the world’s best poker face. She hated not knowing what he was really thinking. It made it impossible to keep up with him.
    “So, are you coming over tonight?”
    Severine quirked an eyebrow, “Uh. No. If I haven’t gone to your apartment before, why would I be coming over tonight?”
    “Macsen was talking about having you over.” He lifted his gym bag over his shoulder and motioned for Severine to follow. She was too curious to tell him that the girl’s locker room was the other way, opposite of where he was walking.
    “Well, obviously not tonight,” Severine repeatedly calmly. But internally, her blood rushed from the intense workout. She should feel sated and calm, but she didn’t. She only felt worse—like a Red Bull mixed with sleeping pills. Her body wanted rest, but her mind was too amped up to follow orders.
    “Macsen will be crushed,” Thayer said conversationally.
    “You sound way too happy about me not coming over. Do I bother you?”
    “Do you get under my skin?” They walked down the tight hallway. Thayer scooted closer, to let people walk past them, and his arm pressed firmly against hers. Her heart plunged ahead, and without her consent, she was on the rollercoaster she never wanted to ride. “Yeah, you definitely get under me.”
    Strength was embedded in her blood, but Severine was beginning to think that she had little to no self-control around him. Right now, she knew how it felt to be the girls she hated.
    It was routine for her to rent sappy movies with Lily, bust out the popcorn and watch the corny plot play out in front of them. “ That would never happen ,” Severine would always say.
    Real life just didn’t play out like that. Her heart thundered loudly, and tingles pricked her skin like sharp needles. All it proved to her was that those feelings could be true.
    “What are you really trying to say to me?” Severine finally asked.
    “Why does what I think bother you?” Thayer shot back.
    “It doesn’t,” Severine said unhurriedly.
    “Good,” Thayer repeated back, just as slowly.
    “Well, if we’re done, I’m gonna go.” Severine stepped around him and clenched her iPod tightly in her