“Great. This is just great. Of course I get paired with the psychos.” Aaron stood up abruptly from his chair. “I’ll ask Slade if we can go to the music room to work in case you two decide to go at each other’s throats.”
Blaise dragged her feet but followed his lead. I sighed and stopped by my desk to grab a notebook before trudging out of the room behind them.
Against my better judgement, I snuck a glance over my shoulder at Noah’s group. They were all focused intently on the paper between them as Noah scribbled on it. The boy beside him said something, and they all nodded encouragingly.
I frowned and started out the door again before a large lump at my group’s desk caught my attention.
“Susan.” I shuffled back over to her desk and gave her shoulder a quick shake. “Wakeup. We’re going to the other room.”
CHAPTER21
A Two-Scoop Day
Steam must’ve been comingout of my ears by the time class mercifully ended and I stomped out of the music room. Blaise knocked into my shoulder from behind, her bright red ponytail bouncing as she strode past. I made a face at her back.
Seeing Noah leaning against the wall in the hallway when I’d finally escaped the bloodbath did little to calm the aggravated tic I’d developed, but he still managed to make me crack a smile when our eyes met.
“Emma.” Noah nodded and offered me an arm as he turned toward the stairs. “I hope you don’t mind. I found myself in need of a little caffeine and thought you might, too.”
I frowned at his arm and instead slipped my hand into his before we started down the hallway at a leisurely pace. His fingers wrapped securely around mine, and the butterflies in my stomach perked up.
“That’s odd, because I find myself in need of a baseball bat to knock someone over the head with.” My smile turned thin. “Would it be concerning if I suddenly found the bad guys on my crime shows inspirational?”
Noah took my bloodthirsty thoughts in stride and only spared me a side look. “Well, I’m glad to see your day is going well.”
I groaned and leaned my head back with a sigh. “Sorry. This morning just sucked. Like really sucked. Big time.”
“What happened?”
“It’s just the stupid group project.” I scoffed. My blood pressure rose just thinking about it. “When that jerk wasn’t making dumb blonde jokes, he kept laughing at everything that witch said! I wanted to punch him in the throat.”
Noah led us down the stairs, which were a little crowded. Students heading the opposite way jostled my shoulder, so I leaned a little closer to Noah until we got to the last staircase. He looked down at me, eyes understanding. “What can I do to make it better?”
I rubbed a finger across the soft skin between his thumb and forefinger and thought it over. “Depends. Do you have any opposition to removing articles of your clothing while dancing provocatively to seedy music?”
Noah gazed back at me blankly, and I pulled a face when he didn’t laugh.
“I’m kidding. Mostly. Heading to the coffee cart ASAP would be a good start, though, so I think we’ve got it covered,” I said with a cheesy grin.
He nodded warily and gave my hand a quick squeeze. “Is it a two-scoop day?”
A two-scoop day.
I ducked my head to hide the instinctual smile at him remembering, but there was no way Noah could’ve missed it.
“Yep.” I gave his warm hand a return squeeze as we reached the bottom step. “It’s definitely a two-scoop day.”
And Noah Kincaid was very much a two-scoop guy in my book.
September’s weather was gorgeous as we headed toward the quad, and the breeze was gentle enough to only force the occasional strand of hair to block my line of vision. Oak trees lined the open grassy area surrounded by school buildings, and students were littered all across the quad. Girls playing Frisbee. Guys hogging the hammocks. Small pods of students studying or goofing around. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back to soak in the sunlight.
“If you want to grab that table, I’ll get our coffees,” Noah said as we approached the coffee cart. He pointed out the only open table left on the patio of the Student Union before looking at me. “Caramel Macchiato with extra caramel syrup and two scoops of sugar, right? Or did you want something else today?”
“Oh, I’ll grab the coffees.” I reluctantly pulled my hand from his and scratched at an itch on my elbow. He knew my order? To think I’d thought remembering the two scoops was impressive.
“That’s all right. I’ve got it covered.”
“But I still owe you for your pen…” I trailed off and gave him a pointed look.
