“Yo! Took you long enough, captain. I’m starving!” Tank Man shouted, not averting his eyes from the big screen.
I smacked him on the head and snagged his beer. As he was distracted, Callum dunked on him.
“Goddammit, you fucker!”
I popped the top and took a long swig.
“Thanks for this. I like it cold,” I snickered, ignoring his further curses.
Dylan and two freshmen helped me put the groceries away before we started on the barbecue. I remained on the terrace chatting with a couple of friends and terminating three burgers.
Just then, Killian stumbled into the kitchen from the hallway. His hair was a mess and his lips were curled into a lazy smirk, green lipstick all over them.
“Later, princess.” He winked at Olivia, a wereball player.
She grabbed the collar of his shirt, kissed him hard once, then shoved him against the wall. A frame featuring Ayers Rock dropped to the floor. “Bye, idiot.Iwill call whenIneed you. And don’t be late again.”
Then she left.
His gaze swept the room, landing on me. He flashed a grin, prowled over to me, and slapped me on the shoulder with the hand that missed some fingertips. “All good with your errands, T? Missed you!”
“I could see that.” I pulled him into a hug anyway.
“Need cuddles, big boy?”
“Not from you.” I laughed, releasing him.
He made himself a hot dog, stealing an undercooked sausage from the grill and squeezing half a bottle of mayonnaise on the bread, his hand, and the floor.
“Oh, Kill! Almost forgot—this lady needs a friend.” I passed him the paper with Paula’s number. He gazed at it, then at me, his brows knitting. It was probably the tenth time I’d done it lately—dodging girls and shoving numbers at my friends.
“Why not? Not that I’m against your sloppy seconds. Or thirds. Fourths, however? Nope.”
Regardless, a second later, the piece of paper, smeared with mayonnaise, disappeared into his front pants pocket.
I fingered the label of my beer bottle. “This isn’t seconds or thirds.”
“Why don’t you use it? Is shethugly?” His eyes narrowed, and I shrugged, taking a bite from my burger. Killian didn’t like thin girls, so he’d coined a new term:thugly—thin and ugly.
I raised a brow. “Were any of those I passed youthugly?”
“No, they were as hot as Greg’s mom.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Greg growled, punching him in the shoulder. The hot dog was sent airborne, flying out the window and landing on the main street downstairs. Killian’s shit-eating grin vanished, and Greg cracked his neck once before they collided like the animals they were. A dozen beer bottles smashed to the ground, the fridge door bent in, and a pizza ended up on the ceiling.
Laughter rumbled as the lads hooted at them. I sank onto the couch, opposite Callum, spreading my arms over the back.
I felt it then. A punch in my chest, so fucking strong that I doubled over.What the fuck?
For a second, I blacked out.
It was like lightning. It came and went so fast I wasn’t even sure it had happened. Still, I felt the beast shifting, growling, begging to come out.
Only then did I notice the fat hand waving in front of me. “You there?”
“Hmm?”
Killian tossed a controller into my lap. “You get so many numbers you can’t use them all, Thor?”
