Bet Me Something (Something Series Book 3) by Aubrey Bondurant

the guys had given him about taking me to Vegas for the weekend, I
knew his motivation in making this comment, but it still annoyed me given what
he’d admitted last night. I managed an eye roll and sipped the rest of my beer,
unprepared for Will to chime in.
    “You know Kenz,
I’m happy to see you to Josh’s building while the guys return to the hospital. In
fact, there’s this fantastic place which does doughnuts down the block if
you’re interested.”
    A slow smile
broke out on my face. The humor reflected in his eyes made me wonder about his
motivation, however at this point I couldn’t get up fast enough. “Sounds great.
See you big brothers later.”
    Mark and Brian
seemed mildly surprised while Colby looked straight up annoyed. “How are you
going to get into the apartment? You don’t have a key.”
    Oh, I hadn’t
thought about that. But evidently Will had, or else he happened to be great at
adlibbing. “That’s okay. Why don’t you text her when you’re on your way back,
and we’ll stay out in the meantime? We can grab some coldies if it’ll be
awhile.”
    “Good by me.” I
took his offered arm, giving a little wave towards the guys and trying not to
read anything into the fact that Colby appeared to be busy giving my brother
the third degree—as though Brian should prevent me from leaving with Will.
    Once we were out
on the sidewalk and walking down the block, I started giggling. “Thanks for the
rescue and the reminder I am, in fact, a grown-up. If I hear I’m like a little
sister one more time from anyone but Brian, I’m going banshee. What’s a coldie,
by the way?”
    Will chuckled,
tucking my hand into the crook of his arm. “Coldie is a beer. And I got the
big-brother vibe from Brian and Mark and even from Josh earlier, but not quite
the same from Colby. Matter of fact, I think he was ready to kill me when I
called you Kenz. I take it that’s his name for you.”
    “He’s the only
one who calls me that, so I guess so. And good to know I’m not the only one who
notices the mixed signals.”
    He laughed. “I’m
not overstepping by commenting, am I?”
    “No, but unless
you’re a mind reader, your guess is as good as mine when it comes to what
Colby’s thinking.”
    “Unfortunately,
I’m not, but I do think you leaving with me made him jealous.”
    Interesting.
Since I could use a male perspective, I decided to fill him in on the bet. “So
you see, regardless of having the opportunity for a kiss: nada, zilch, zippo.
It’s a great self-confidence booster, incidentally. In case you ever want to
feel truly pathetic with a crush, bet them to kiss you and have them refuse.
And because that’s not humiliating enough, puke your guts out in front of him
directly after. Then bring the bet up again and have him use the little sister
excuse—you guessed it—yet again. Good times. I can’t remember what number of
seduction fail that was.”
    He threw his
head back, laughing at my self-deprecation, and then took me into a shop which
smelled like doughnut heaven. “He hasn’t brought it up since then?”
    “Nope, and I’m
never doing so again.”
    “Given that
everyone else seems to have you little-sister-zoned, and considering Brian’s
death glare at the restaurant when he found about Vegas, I’m guessing Colby
feels as though he needs to keep you there, too?”
    I thought back
to his comment at the hot tub. “He’s certainly trying.”
    After Will
ordered a dozen freshly-made doughnut holes and two milks, he led me over to an
empty spot.
    We took seats at
high-top table for two, and I dug in. “Oh, my God, these are amazing,” I said,
popping a second one into my mouth. I’d never had a problem about being
completely myself when out with a guy.
    “I love that you
appreciate dessert. Hanging out in the model world is pretty boring when most
of the girls wouldn’t dream of eating anything with this many calories.”
    “That bad, huh?”
I adored food. If given the choice