Benji chuckled.“Confident words coming from a man who lost three rounds prior.”
“Three or two?”
“The hearts in your eyes might have clouded your vision, but I had no idea it would affect your counting skills, too.Tell me, how many fingers?”
I rolled my eyes when he held up three digits.
“Fuck you.”
He smirked as he got up.“Fuck you, too.Now, are we done here or do you want to go again?”
This time, I was the one smirking.
27 | She Held All The Cards
Savannah
Myheelsclickedtooloudly against the lecture hall floor as I slipped inside, grimacing at the loud squeak of the door.It was,of course,my own bad luck that I walked in on my professor mid-sentence.The frown lines on Professor Gerald Cartwright's face showed his displeasure for being interrupted, and his hard gaze tracked my movements as I made my way to the back of the class.
“Nice of you to join us, Miss Bristow.”
My shoulders tightened under the stares, and I kept my head down, taking the first empty seat I could find.That's what I get for showing up an hour late.It was unavoidable—for starters, I still couldn't find my phone, and considering how much I was tossing and turning last night, there was no way I would be up early enough for an 8:00 a.m.classwithoutan alarm.
Could this day get any worse?
“Now, as I was saying, a corporation’s most valuable asset is often its proprietary investment—its trade secrets.To protect that IP, the corporation may keep the code 'black-boxed,' hidden from competitors, and sometimes even from its own board.Technological companies often are the secret holders of…”
Digging through my bag for my laptop and books, I shifted the strands of my hair away as I tried to focus on the lesson.Professor Cartwright was usually one of the classes I followed easily because it all depended on the facts, but today I could barely keep my mind on track.
All thoughts would lead back to Jaxon.
Back to last night.
To the heat of his hands.
The sharp edge of his voice.
The way his jaw clenched when he was angry.
The way he looked at me like I was something worth fighting for.
I swallowed and forced my eyes to the board.
Software patents.Non-public data.Data privacy.Licensing frameworks.
All words I normally devoured were now blurred together like frosted glass on a cold day.It didn’t help that the two girls sitting in front of me had their attention very clearly elsewhere.
“Wait, that’s him?”one whispered.
“No way—pause it—pause it!”
I ran my tongue across my teeth, narrowing my eyes at the professor as I tried to ignore them.
“Oh my God, he’s so hot.”
“I know!And the tattoos just make him that much better.Can you imagine running your tongue up all that?”
“Girl, hell fucking yes.”
