Every Which Way (Sloan Brothers) (10 page)

Severine breathed out deeply, “Ehh, pretty good. I’m walking home from the gym.”

“What? Are you nuts? Tell me you have your pepper spray with you.”

Not only was her mom a top-notch phone tease, she always believed everyone in the world was being stalked by a predator. Clacy had watched way too many
Lifetime
movies.

“Yes, Mom,” Severine responded patiently. “I also have my brass knucks on. And if that doesn’t work, then I braided my hair and shoved knives in between each braid. I’ll swing my hair around like a plane blade. While I’m defending myself, I’ll make sure that the song, “Whip My Hair” is playing. Trust me. I’m safe.”

“Severine,” Clacy warned, “you’re too much of a smart ass. You need to be prepared for all the creep rotters in the world.”

“Stop watching reruns of
Oprah
. I’m good, okay?”

“Moving on,” her mom grumbled. “How are your classes going?”

“Dragging along at a snail’s pace.”

“Sounds promising.”

“Oh I know, right?” Severine laughed.

“So, how’s Lily doing?”

The subject of Lily immediately opened Severine up. “Right now she’s floating on clouds, because of a guy.”

“Well, she’s happy, good for her.”

“His name is Ben, and he’s a great guy.”

“Good, good,” her mom said distractedly. “She needs a good guy. And how have
you
been?”

“Okay I guess...” Severine’s words trailed off. The point of calling her mom was to open up to someone about what was really bothering her. She cut to the chase. “I met two brothers.”

“Brothers, Severine?”

Severine groaned, “I’m not dating them together, at the same time.”

Over the phone, a crinkly noise was heard. Her mom was moving around. “Clearly, you like one of them.”

“Yeah...”

“So tell me about these boys.”

Severine sighed and took a big breath of air. “They couldn’t be more opposite of each other. Macsen, he’s really funny, talkative and even a little nerdy.”

“Interesting.”

“I have a few classes with him, and I swear he reads a different book each time.”

“The other brother?” Clacy asked.

Here it was, the part Severine wanted to avoid, but couldn’t wait to talk about. “The other one is sarcastic, a little quiet. I guess Lily said he’s here on a basketball scholarship.”

“And the quiet brother?”

“Thayer,” Severine provided.

“Yes, this Thayer guy. Is he bad news?”

Yes, he’s bad for me and terrible for my heart
. “No, not really.”

“And you like which one?”

“I have no idea,” Severine answered quickly.

“Good luck. Honestly, they both sound intriguing. I think it would be interesting to see you with the ‘nerdy’ brother,” her mom paused, “although, the other brother is a lot like you. It’d be funny to see you get a taste of your own medicine.”

“Thanks a lot.”

Clacy laughed over Severine’s irritated voice. “I’m sorry, sweetie. But it’s just a known fact that every girl, no matter what she says, is drawn by the idea of transforming the unattainable guy. It’s addicting.”

“Yesss,” Severine drew out. “But we both know how that works out.”

Clacy scoffed, “Nonsense. I have you, don’t I?”

Severine’s dad had been in her life shorter than a carton of milk sitting in a fridge. There wasn’t a reason to be bitter about it. She couldn’t miss something she’d never had. “Touching, Madre, you should put that in a Hallmark card.”

“I’m serious, Severine! But it’ll be fine. You’re a smart girl.”

“How’s Grandma doing?” Severine finally asked. Not that she wanted to. Every week it seemed her strong, efficient grandma, who had always been a constant in her life, was fading away. Grandma was more forgetful, would lose sight of what was going on around her and even dressing “down.” For someone who was always so put together, it was shocking to see.

Clacy took a deep breath. When was that ever a good thing? “She’s Grandma, honey. I’ll talk to her on the phone and sometimes she’s her normal self, but the next minute she forgets your cousin’s newest baby.”

“You mean Kadyn...who is now two?”

“That’s the very one.”

“And...has she gone to the doctor?”

“Of course she goes!” Her mom’s voice rose. Severine held the phone away from her ear. “But it’s never for the reasons she really needs to go.”

They all knew it was Alzheimer's. Maybe her grandma knew it too, but she refused to acknowledge it. Instead, she focused on the pains in her feet, or how her tomatoes were growing. It was frustrating. How could you help someone who refused any help?

“I’m meeting her tomorrow to go shopping with her.”

“One of her favorite pastimes—she’ll enjoy that,” Severine joked lightly.

“Alrighty, honey, I need to get off here. I have to pick her up early.”

“Lemme guess, Hardee’s for breakfast?”

“That’s the first thing she wanted to do, like always.”

“Love ya, Mom.”

“Love you, too.”

Instead of feeling at peace, Severine felt even more stressed. She should probably call her grandma, but she didn’t want to. You couldn’t deal with something if it didn’t exist, right?

She needed that mantra for everything happening in her life right now.

Chapter Seven

“We need to do something this weekend.” Severine said as she leaned her elbows against the step behind her.

“Whatcha have in mind, chickadee?” Lily moved toward Severine. This was one of the rare times Lily wasn’t with Ben. Over the course of the last few weeks, they’d been together constantly. Lily walked around with a perma-grin. Severine watched Ben with a stealth that would make any ninja jealous. The smile on Lily’s face needed to remain a fixture. Severine wanted to be sure that Ben wanted the same thing.

If only Severine could have the same solid grin on her face. She was tired of being moody and desperately needed to get away from her thoughts.

“I don’t know, a leisurely trip to Target? Road trip to
Cali
?”

“There's a new bar down by The Ville. Everyone’s going.”

It wasn’t exactly what Severine had in mind. She stared down at her shoes and tried to figure out why she felt so restless. She wanted to do something, but then she changed her mind seconds later. Nothing seemed good enough lately. That was what she deserved for talking to Macsen and Thayer. Severine sat up and dramatically sighed. “Why are we still outside?”

“I’m waiting for Ben to get here.”

“Okay.” Severine stood and brushed the dirt off her jeans. “No guy is worth me freezing my ass off.”

“Oh! There he is!” Lily jumped away from the concrete stairs and into Ben’s arms. Right on the sidewalk, she practically humped him. Behind the humping couple stood Thayer.

He was a nightmare that never seemed to go away. She couldn’t escape him. Over the last few weeks, she had seen him around campus. After their talk at the gym, they’d barely said two words to each other. A glance from him was enough. He expected answers from her, when she had no idea what the question was to begin with.

One thing would probably always stay the same: when he looked at her, he had the ability to demoralize her.

“Ben says there’s a frat party this weekend.” Lily walked back up the sidewalk with Ben by her side. “We should go.”

“No frat party. I went with you last time, and we both saw me the next morning. Lesson learned.”

“Uh. And going to The Ville will be different from a frat party, how?” Ben asked.

“Less beer pong. More dancing. I like parties, but they get old if it’s every weekend.”

The longer Thayer stayed silent behind Ben and Lily, the antsier Severine became. She was still waiting on him to chime in and say something sarcastic. Severine moved her head to the side and looked directly at him. “What about you? Are you going?”

Thayer walked forward and approached slowly. His hands were tucked into his gray
Columbia
, and his jeans fit his tall frame perfectly. “If I say yes, you won’t go. I say no, you will.”

Severine asked because she wanted him to go. Her mind was lured at the prospect of seeing him again at a party. Severine shrugged and pretended he didn’t affect her. “I didn’t say that.”

“You were thinking it.” He came closer, and Severine smiled. She liked that he drifted closer without even realizing it. When he saw her smile, he froze in place and narrowed his eyes.

“I wasn’t. Besides, I just told them I didn’t want to go.”

He leaned a hip against the chipped railing next to the sidewalk. “You haven’t been at the gym lately.”

“That’s because it was a one time thing. It’ll never happen again.”

“I was just under the impression you were trying to avoid me.”

Severine tsked lightly. “Wrong impression, Thayer. It’s a known fact that if given the choice of going to work out or eating a bowl of hair...well, I’d rather eat the hair.”

Lily pretended to dry heave in front her.

“God, Severine. Find a better example than that.”

“I don’t want to hear another one of her examples,” Ben said behind Lily.

“But everyone gets the picture—I don’t want to party this weekend.”

“You’re the one who wanted to get out and do something!” Lily pointed a finger in Severine’s direction and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to lay in a pool of my own vomit.”

“You have a way with words, Blake.” Thayer’s voice was deadpan.

When Severine opened her mouth to say something snarky back, she finally noticed the smirk on his face...always another joke to him.

Chapter Eight

Strong hands gripped Severine’s shoulders and a voice spoke into her ear. “Are you going to the Ville this weekend?”

Her body was manually turned. Severine smiled up at Macsen. “Probably not.”

His eyes bulged. “Seriously?’

“Yeah...” Severine paused and glanced at him as they walked across campus. “Why?”

“For once, I’m going out, and you’re not. Something is wrong with that picture.”

“I stay at home sometimes,” Severine protested lightly.

“Yes,” Macsen agreed. His arm went across her shoulders and hugged her tightly to his body. She savored the way her heart kicked up in its rhythm and smelled his cologne. Severine wanted to lick him. “But I want to see you.”

Everything with Macsen seemed natural. Spending time with him was something she looked forward to. He brought a smile to her face. “You could always stay back with me. Hey! I know, we can rent some sappy movie and make fun of how everyone cries!”

Macsen peered down at her and his mouth kicked up in a grin. “Your enjoyment over people’s tears sometimes scares me, Sev.”

Her eyes turned round as she replayed his words. No one called her Sev. She wasn’t a nickname type of person, and up until now, she never thought she’d want one. If it was anyone else, she’d be correcting them, but when Sev came out Macsen’s mouth she liked the sound of it. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I want to. But I told Chris and Thayer I’d go out with them.”

Her back went up a notch. Macsen seemed oblivious. “You’re actually doing something with your brother?” Severine kept her voice light and played with the zipper of her jacket.

“I know. Hell has officially frozen over,” Macsen joked. Severine didn’t smile. “He asked me last night. Said there was some new bar in The Ville he wanted to try out.”

“Yeah?” Blood was pounding in her ears loudly.

“Someplace called Monty’s.”

“Sounds good.” Keep your voice neutral. He won’t notice anything is wrong.

Thayer was doing this to keep Macsen away. He knew she didn’t want to go. Everything to him was a game.

“I don’t plan on being out long.” He glanced down at her once and smiled. “Come with me.”

Her laugh came out choked. “Nah. I’ll let you go with your brother. You guys need some brotherly bonding time.”

“Yeah, that will never happen. Ever.”

*    *    *    *    *

Come over
.

Severine picked up her phone and smirked at the screen.
It’s too freakin’ late.

A reply came back instantly.
Just come over. I wanna see you. I miss you
.

It wasn’t a love sonnet. But it made Severine feel good. It made her feel wanted. She tapped on her screen to write back, but Macsen texted her again.

The guys are driving me nuts. U’d like to see me. Admit it.

I would. That’s why you should’ve hung out with me tonight.

Wasn’t thinkin clearly. Come over.