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Looks down his nose at hter; it wasn’t my intention to offend or piss anyone off All I want to do is have a good ti--is that a cri at me like it is

"You knohat you could do, Stacey?" Derek intentionally butchersto belittle et yourself another beer" He’s on his tiptoes, pretending to stare down into my red cup "Looks like yours is half euests to be thirsty, especially the ones who need booze the et rid of es to look affronted "No, babe, I live here It’s ood tiood ti

"I’ood, but thank you for the offer" I swirl the contents ofinto it with one eye closed "Besides, this isn’t beer It’s water with a little lemon and it’s still pretty cold"

"Water?"

I scrunch up my nose "Yeah, I’m not really much of a drinker, and I’ve been sick, so is it really a soes up a notch "I don’t think so"

Derek’s face contorts "Where’d you find water around here?"

"Uh, the kitchen?"

"Where in the kitchen?"

Is this a trick question? "Uh…the fridge?"

His eyes narrow "We keep the fridge locked during parties"

My brows rise into my hairline "You do?"

"Yeah So no one takes shit" Like you just did "Did you n that says OFF LIMITS?"

My cheeks are on fire No way is he accusingfroe that was open Sure, it had a lock on it, and sure, there e was open nonetheless

Crap

"I’m sorry," I say sincerely "I didn’t realize it was supposed to be locked It opened right up" All I had to do was fiddle with the handle a few seconds, and presto--all the drinks for ht, silently judgingdown that stolen water, you should have a beer--or five, since--"

"You seeood," I insist, pulling atroo hotter by the second--or it it just uys like this wouldn’t bother me--I can handle a little unease like a chauys are throwing off…

I’ll ad more than a little uncomfortable, and not just froher hand on his meaty bicep, displayed beneath a black, short sleeve shirt Changes the topic "Before when you were getting water, Derek was telling us before how the baseball teae World Series last year That’s the World Series of Baseball, but for college"

My brows go up, holding back a look of disbelief "Yes, I knohat the CWS is, Cahs "Derek threw the winning pitch--he’s seriously a Scarlett, you should hear the story" She has her entire ar squeeze "Tell her the story Derek"

I look at Ben Glance at Derek Back at these two na&iuirls, and shake er handle their a you, right?" The red cup hitsthe jacket and scarf I’ve been holding in e World Series last year--they win it almost every year" The water tastes warm now, tepid at best, as it flon my throat