Every Which Way (Sloan Brothers)

  “I did that for you. So you wouldn’t blame me for anything.”

  Severine’s voice broke. “I never blamed you.”

  “Not now, but maybe you would later.”

  “You gave me time, and I’m here. I still want something for us.”

  Thayer scratched the back of his head and looked away. “Even with knowing my family’s story?”

  “Even with that,” Severine conceded.

  “And Macsen?” Thayer asked.

  “It won’t ever be comfortable between us,” Severine admitted. “I think the two of us know that, but the discomfort is worth it if I can be with you.”

  “Why do you want to be with me, Severine?”

  Her hand skated up his shirt and rested above his heart. “I like what beats within you. You give a good show, Thayer Sloan. But remember, I saw you first.” Severine used his words. The same words he had tortured her with months before.

  Thayer’s arm looped around her and grasped her back firmly. “You give a good show yourself.” His hands curved against her cheeks and between them the ball dropped. Severine smirked. “But now that you’re here, there’s no other way for you to go.”

  Epilogue

  AUGUST

  “These need to be soaked in bleach and lit on fire,” Severine commented.

  She gathered Thayer’s sheets and threw them in the corner, far from where she stood. “When’s the last time you washed those suckers?”

  Thayer shrugged a large shoulder and rifled through his boxes. “I don’t know...a few weeks ago?”

  Severine made a face and looked around Thayer’s room. “You know what’s scary? You had to guess at how long they’d been on your bed. I’m not staying over here if those sheets stay on.”

  Impatiently, Thayer searched through a box. At Severine’s threat, he turned around quickly. “Severine! That’s the only pair I have.”

  Severine smiled cheekily and grabbed the Target bag next to her leg. “I noticed. That’s why Lily and I got you a new pair.” She glanced down at the new brown sheets and tossed them at Thayer.

  He caught them with one hand and looked at the package. “At least they’re brown.”

  “That’s it? That’s all you have to say? Those are seven hundred thread count, Thayer! Those things will rock your world.”

  Thayer moved his eyebrows up and down and wrapped an arm around Severine. His hand immediately went under her tank top and gripped her hip. He pressed her closer against him, and through his shorts she could feel he was already getting hard. “That’s why I have you.”

  Severine turned away quickly and went to the opposite side of the bed. She tried to appear unfazed by Thayer’s words, but true to form, she was failing.

  After a summer together, Severine was still trying to wrap her head around the two of them. She thought she had everything figured out about relationships. Before Thayer, she could’ve told you what she needed out of life, and what was best for her. Being around him showed her that he was just what she needed. She was discovering that it was okay to be wrong. Because when you’re wrong, you discover all the things you should’ve done.

  Things with them would undoubtedly be bumpy. But those times would be rare, and when they didhappen, Severine would be ready, alongside Thayer. They were both too stubborn to back away from anything.

  She unzipped the plastic bag and dumped the new sheets on the mattress. “Nuh-uh. Lily and Ben are in the other room. That’s weird.”

  “They live here, too,” Thayer said with frustration. “I can’t kick them out every time I wanna have sex with you.”

  “It’s just...weird.”

  “I’m willing to move past the awkwardness,” Thayer said playfully. His smile was wide and one hundred percent mischievous.

  Severine straightened out the bottom sheet. Thayer grabbed the opposite side and started to help her make the bed. His arms flexed as he tucked in his side of the sheet. A man helping out with making a bed had never been so sexy. “I’m sure I’ll get used to it. But it wasn’t like Lily and I had guys in our dorms every weekend.”

  “Do you need to get back soon?”

  Severine nodded her head and grabbed a fresh pillowcase. “Yeah. I have a few more boxes to unpack.”

  Thayer smacked his hands together and Severine tossed the pillow in his direction. He caught it and quickly threw it on the bed. He jumped on the bed, stretched out and his body like a contented cat after a long day of doing nothing. “Are you gonna come over here?”

  Severine crossed her arms and smiled, “No.”

  Thayer moved across the bed. With his feet planted on the floor, he opened his legs and crooked a finger at Severine. She stepped forward and his arms instantly encircled her waist. His fingers hooked through the belt loops on her shorts and when her knees were pressed up against the bed, he slowly lifted up her tank top. He stopped at her bra line, and leaned his head close to kiss her stomach. His mouth moved lower, toward the curve of her hip. She felt him nip her skin lightly and jumped at the contact. Thayer soothed the bite with a quick lick but that only made Severine want more.

  He looked up at her with his stoic gray eyes. There was so much more to him than anyone would ever realize. Thayer smiled and his hands moved from her waist and down to the back of her thighs. His journey was slow, as his hands drifted past the material of her jeans and underwear and toward her butt. He was inches away from making her lose it when they heard noises coming from the other room. Severine made a face at the obvious groaning and slowly pulled away. Thayer glared at the wall behind her head.

  “Yeah,” Thayer drew out slowly, “this is going to be weird.”

  She didn’t want to pull away. Especially when they were just getting started. The longer she heard Lily and Ben in the other room, the chances of her cutting her ears off and throwing them at the wall became higher. “Take me to my dorm,” Severine sighed. She pulled down her shirt and redid her ponytail. “They’re not gonna end any time too soon.”

  “We’re gonna figure something out,” Thayer said as they hurried down the wooden stairs and out the front door.

  Severine laughed as they walked into the humid air. Her shirt instantly stuck to her back. She was already counting the days until the first leaf changed colors, declaring summer was over. “What do you suggest? Maybe we should all make a schedule?”

  Thayer grabbed his keys and threw them repeatedly in the air. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

  “Maybe we should become celibate?” Severine offered as she hopped into the truck.

  Thayer slammed his door louder than usual and glared at Severine. “That’s funny—for a minute I thought you were trying to say we should refrain from sex.”

  “We could try.”

  “And I’d fail after a day. I’d be like a person left in the desert without water.”

  Severine snorted at Thayer’s example. “I think not having sex for a day compared to no food and water in the desert is a little bit of a reach.”

  “For me, it’s the perfect example because it’s exactly how I’d feel.”

  They passed by a few fast food restaurants. Once the air conditioning kicked in, Severine leaned back in her seat and took a deep sigh. “How did your dad take you moving out of the apartment?”

  Thayer shook his head and kept his eyes focused on the road. “He didn’t seemed surprised. I think he was more shocked that we put up with each other for as long as we did.”

  Now that Severine knew the full story, she wasn’t surprised either. It would’ve happened sooner than later, regardless of Severine being in the picture. She was just the catalyst. “So if you’re gone, is your dad gonna pay for the rent?”

  “Hell no.”

  “Are Macsen and Chris going to get a new roommate then?”

  They slowed down to a stop and waited at a red light. Thayer toyed with the buttons on the vents, and she knew he was slowly starting to become tense. “Probably. Macsen will still have to find a job...fast
.”

  Severine glanced out the window and nodded as they started moving again. “Does he really have to get a job? Can’t he just get money from...” Severine stopped speaking. Not sure if she should say Mom or Laurena.

  Thayer smiled at her and shook his head. “What? From Laurena?”

  Severine nodded.

  “That would mean that they’d have to be on good terms. Who knows where they stand.”

  “Could he even stick it out?”

  “With a job?” Thayer laughed at her question. “Who knows? I don’t really care what he does.”

  “Such a close-knit family you have,” Severine said sarcastically.

  “It’s not something you can magically snap your fingers and make better, Severine.” He removed a hand from the steering wheel and snatched her hand up. He squeezed once and kept speaking, “And even if there was a chance for things to be better, it’d have to come from Macsen. I don’t want to close out my brother. I know he’s my blood. I know we’ll always share our last name. But that’s all we have right now.”

  Slowly, her emotions gripped her heart. They all deserved a happily ever after. When she picked up a book to read, she read through all the trials and heartache to get to the good part—the part where everything became resolved. None of the endings got old. A small part of her childhood dreams was still with her and would probably always be. The world was filled with disappointments. Why would she want to read about the harsh reality when she wanted to escape from everything? The Sloan family deserved something good to happen. Darkness seemed to follow them everywhere.

  “I hope something changes.”

  Thayer turned into a parking space near her dorm and stared at the window. When he looked at Severine, he had a weak smile on his face. “I do, too.”

  They both understood that the chances of it happening were extremely low.

  “Do you need to unpack anything else?” Thayer finally asked.

  Severine unbuckled herself and nodded quickly. She was happy for the change of subject. “Not really. I just need to organize some stuff and then I’m good.”

  The small reprieve from the heat vanished as Severine opened her door and walked toward her new home.

  A few girls were scattered around the front of the building, while many sat in groups of three talking and laughing. Severine didn’t know how they were surviving the boiling sun. She let out the deep breath she was holding and glanced up at the tall brick building that would be their home for the next year.

  Inside the dorms wasn’t much better than outside. If anything, the stairwell was even stuffier. Thayer stayed next to her as they walked up the two flights of stairs and slung his arm over her shoulder. Being next to him still felt right; it still made her heart feel full.

  “You ready to live here for another year?”

  Severine shuddered and shook her head. “Tiny room and a bathroom not connected my room? Yeah, I haven’t been counting down for this moment.”

  Thayer pushed aside the escaped strands from her ponytail and kissed her neck. Severine wanted to lean against him. “Stay with me for a little bit.”

  It was a tempting offer. One more second in the hallway with him, and she’d grab him by the collar and make him take her with him. “We left to get away from Lily and Ben’s startlingly loud sex-capade. We’d end up here more than anything.”

  “Good point.”

  Severine opened her door and made a beeline for her bed.

  That is, until the boxes on the floor stopped her from moving any further.

  She looked down and teetered back and forth like a Weeble Wobble. Thayer snatched her arm and righted her. Severine’s eyes were still on the boxes scattered across the room. “Shit. What is all this crap?” Severine muttered.

  Thayer leaned against the wall and took in the clutter. “Looks like you have a new roommate, Blake.”

  “No, I have a hoarder. Not a roommate.”

  “I’m sorry,” a voice called out behind Severine. “I’ll get the boxes unpacked as soon as I can.”

  Severine almost jumped in shock. But it was hard to move when you were frozen from weariness.

  Emilia held a laundry basket filled with small boxes and a laptop case. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, with every strand away from her face or perfectly tucked behind her ear. On a day where sweat would make everyone’s face look greasy, Emilia’s face looked smooth and sweat free. Her eyeliner was streak-less and her lipstick was fresh. Everything that involved Emilia was elegant: her makeup, her hairstyle. Even her brown ballet flats were scuff-free.

  She moved the purple laundry basket and her red, sleeveless blouse came into view, along with a pair of white, high-waisted shorts. She didn’t look like she was moving in. Honestly, she looked like she was getting ready to go to the country club and join the rest of the socialites for brunch.

  “Uh...am I missing something here?” Severine finally asked.

  Seeing her at the coffee shop with Macsen was weird enough. But here? In her room? Severine’s belly unfurled with a strange feeling.

  Emilia was quiet; she hid so much. That was precisely why Severine was nervous.

  She smiled at Severine and let out a deep sigh. To Severine, it sounded fake. “I thought you’d know by now. I’m your new roommate.”

  Severine gaped while Thayer leaned against the wall and stared between the two of them. He was unaware of the fear running through Severine’s mind—the fear of what this girl had planned.

  She stared at Severine and Thayer like she was out for vindication. The only problem was Severine had no idea why she was searching for it.

  Acknowledgements:

  It takes a small country to create a book from start to finish. I didn’t know how this journey would go. The people I’ve met along the making of Every Which Way are amazing talented people and I’m so grateful for their help.

  I knew betas would be important, but I really didn’t know how spectacular they’d be. They read Every Which Way from the beginning and they’ve seen it go through so many alterations. I have a rare group of girls that are gems! I love them.

  Erin,Janna, Lindsay, Amy- You ladies are NOT afraid to say what you think and I'm so grateful for that. I couldn't ask for a greater group of girls!!!

  Chrystle-I knew this girl on goodreads. We shared a love for books and soon she invited me to a book club that she had formed. From there I discovered a group of amazing ladies that were equally as passionate for reading as I was. She was my book soulmate and when I told her I wanted to share my book she was supportive in an instant.

  I think my books would still be on my hard drive, for my eyes only, if I didn’t have your awesome friendship. Thank you.

  Tosha and Stephenie -You two have this passion for Severine’s book that completely stuns me. Both you of ‘got’ Severine and that was the greatest feeling. The support you two have given is just downright amazing. The both of you were my first cheerleaders outside of my family. I can mark a goal off my list because of you two.

  Jessica- How long have I talked to you about my stories? Hours and hours you've had to listen to my ideas. I love that you believe in this story and you're not afraid to tell me what you think. I love our bond over reading and writing!

  Sheena- I love that we share a mutual passion for reading and I love your challenge to me when I was a kid: “Read this book and I want you to tell me all about it.” It was short and simple, and I don’t remember anything about it but I remember the feeling of finishing and the joy I got from reading it. You’ve been a cheerleader in my corner–always telling me to send more, and more chapters your way. You’ve known about my dreams for years and you didn’t roll your eyes.

  Taryn-My amazing Frank. Thanks so much for taking a chance on Every Which Way and for creating an amazing blog tour banner.

  Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations. You know I love you. I’m one message away from getting a google alert that you’ve put a restraining order against me. You have an a
mazing talent and when you showed me your idea for the cover of Every Which Way I think my heart dropped. My character—a character that had been in my head for so long—was brought to life. It was the greatest feeling. And that’s why I adore you and your talent.

  Lori Sabin- Thank you so much for editing Severine’s story. You’re an amazing, talented editor. If I think too long about your help and how generous you’ve been, I’m liable to start crying. Your way with words is simply amazing. Danke, danke, danke.

  My CP, Melissa Brown. I had—and still—don't have an idea what I'm doing. You've held my hand through all of this and I am so grateful for you!! Our friendship completely warms my heart. I love our daily conversations, your encouragement, your advice! All of it. Every author needs a critique partner like you.

  My mom and dad for encouraging my love for reading.

  Lastly, to Joshua for always putting up with my book talk, for watching the kiddos on your days off and letting me hole myself away to write. Last year, you surprised me with a little writing corner and said it’d be my place to get away and breathe. You’ve constantly given me support and told me I could do this without hesitation.

  I write what I know, and I know everything from us.

  About the Author

  College seemed like too much stress for me. Traveling across the world, getting married, and having three kids seemed much more relaxing.

  Yeah, I’m still waiting for the relaxing part to kick in...

  I change addresses every other year. It’s not by choice but it is my reality.

  While the crazies of life kept me busy, the stories in my head decided to bubble to the surface. They were dying to be told and and I was dying to tell them.

  I hope you’ll enjoy escaping to the crazy world of these characters with me!