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“Well, I’m not.”

“Fine. You’re not mad. But that cute little scowl you’re doing says otherwise.”

“God, you’re insufferable.”

He chuckles. “Only you ever call me that.”

“Only I have the balls to.”

“Oh, this is going to be fun.” His grin widens, oddly pleased with himself for some reason.

“As fun as a root canal, you mean,” I groan, only for him to laugh again.

Damn it. I really wish that sound didn’t make my stupid heart forget how to do its job.

No matter.

I just need to focus on the task at hand. Like he said before, this frog isn’t going to cut itself open.

Besides, Ms. Mallory said we’ll be done with this part of the curriculum by the end of the week. I can survive a week with Milo as my biology partner.

Piece of cake. No big deal. No big deal at all.

Fuck my life. Even I don’t believe the lies I keep telling myself.

This week will be hell if I have to spend an hour every day enveloped in his honeysuckle scent, subjected to those bright smiles and knee-buckling winks.

Thankfully, Ms. Mallory moves on with the lesson before my brain can short-circuit any further.

I fully expect Milo to spend the next hour distracting me, but he doesn’t. Instead, he focuses. Really focuses. He listens to every word Ms. Mallory says, scribbling down notes and only looking up when she changes slides or points something out on the board. He doesn’t joke around. Doesn’t whisper stupid comments in my ear. Doesn’t even try to get my attention.

Huh. I glance sideways at him, surprised by how seriously he’s taking this.

Then it hits me—he’s making good on his promise and proving Jalen wrong.

Milo might not care about getting the highest grade in the class, but he cares that I do. And if we’re going to be partners, he has every intention of pulling his own weight instead of expecting me to carry us both.

A guy who actually keeps his word. As if my list wasn’t already long enough. Damn it.

When the bell finally rings, I’m almost relieved. Spending the last forty-five minutes discovering yet another attractive quality Milo possesses has done absolutely nothing for my concentration.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he teases, back to his relaxed self as he shoves his textbook and notebooks into his bag.

“Define bad? That was fucking excruciating,” I mutter to myself.

“Huh?”

“I said it was fine,” I pretend to repeat. “I might need a copy of some of your notes. I… um… didn’t take as many.”

“Sure.” His face lights up. “I could come over to your house tonight—”

“I’m working tonight at the Cushmans’. Can you drop them off there? Or better yet, you can give them to Kody, and he can give them to me.”

Kody is Betty and Bill Cushman’s son, as well as one of Milo’s friends and teammates, so I know they’ll see each other at football practice. It’s not weird to ask Milo to give him the notes to bring to me. Is it? Or am I completely overthinking this?

“I’d rather stop by the diner myself, if that’s okay. Maybe I can even ask Kody’s mom to let you off early so I can go over the notes with you. My handwriting isn’t as neat as yours,” he adds, almost shyly.

“Sure. Why not?” I say, admitting defeat.