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“So are you,” he said, and I smacked his shoulder.
“I’m not an idiot,” I said through my laughter. “Well, I am holding your hand right now, sooo . . .”
“So that makes you the smartest girl on campus. Obviously.” He pulled my hand toward his mouth and planted a quick kiss on the back of it.
Whispers swirled around us as we walked, and I couldn’t help but notice the looks we were getting. People seemed to be noting our locked hands, not that this was unusual for Nick, but it still tended to attract unwanted attention. I tried to pretend that no one else was around, but it was hard to ignore the death stares.
“You sure you’re okay?” Nick asked as my body tensed.
“It’s just the girls. They’re all staring.”
“Let ’em stare.” He stopped walking and pulled me against him. “Or we can really give them something to stare at.”
“Stop,” I said, unable to stop smiling.
“I think you’re embarrassed to be seen with me, Jess Michaelson.”
“Well, you are wildly unattractive.”
He choked on his laughter as he dropped my hand, and I almost started running away from him, but quickly realized that he’d only chase me if I did that. Running from Nick wouldn’t be a good attention-avoiding tactic.
Nick stood in place and pressed a hand to his heart as I started walking again toward our class. “You wound me, Jess.”
“I’m pretty sure you’ll recover,” I shouted back at him, and he jogged to catch up. “See? All better.”
His smile seemed to grow even wider as he raced ahead to reach the building’s door before I did. He pulled it open and waved me inside.
“Such a gentleman.”
He cleared his throat. “It’s knight in shining armor, thank you very much.”
I huffed out a quick laugh. “My bad. I forgot.”
We took our regular seats as Professor Manal started his lecture, his fingers weaving through his long dark beard while he talked. Nick rested his hand on top of my knee.
How was I supposed to concentrate on anything with him touching me like that? I turned my head to glance at him, but he was staring at me.
“What?” I whispered, feeling the heat rise into my face.
“Nothing,” he whispered back. “You’re fun.”
The professor cleared his throat, and I glanced up to find him glaring at us . . . again.
Crap.
Nick squeezed my knee, his lips pressed together as he tried not to laugh. I was too scared to do anything, but he leaned toward me. “You heard me, right?”
“I heard you. You’re fun too,” I whispered back.
Professor Manal hopped down from the small stage he lectured on and immediately headed our way.
“Ten.” Frowning, he stalked toward the last row where Nick and I sat. “Nine. Eight. Seven.” He pointed at the two of us and then at the door, all while continuing the countdown.
Confused, I turned toward Nick, mortification flooding through me.
The professor rapped his knuckles on my desk and pointed at the door once more. “Five. Four. Three.”
After grabbing my bag, I rushed toward the door and left the classroom just as Professor Manal called out, “One!”
