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ADONIS WAS STRAIGHTENING papers on his desk when I walked into class. My skin heated and I tore off him, landing on Victor sitting in the front row beside Branlon. On his other side, sat Iris.
She leaned over his seat, looking straight at me as she whispered in his ear. They laughed.
“He dipped his bag in a lot of steaming mugs, my friend. Make sure you separate out the people who are after you, and who are after your man. The latter will be twice as vicious.”
Irritation tightened the grip on my bag. If I was fighting a war for a man I didn’t want whether I liked it or not, I wasn’t about to lose.
“Victor, sweetie.” I sidled up to them, running my fingers through his hair. “Let’s sit in the back.”
Victor stared at me like I grew a third arm out of my forehead. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“In the back,” I said through my teeth. “You and me. Come on.”
He must’ve picked up the forcefulness in my tone because he got his stuff and followed me up. Iris glared daggers at me, stomping over to sit with her friends now that her toy boy was gone.
“What was that?” he asked as we sat down.
“I should be asking you that. Why were you letting her paw you like the last piece of shrimp on the buffet table?”
“Why?” Victor grinned wolfishly. “Were you jealous? Disgusting.”
“Asshole. I’m not jealous. It looks bad if you let people walk all over your fiancée, and it looks bad if I do nothing while women flirt with mine. Although, I’ve got to say, it would help if you didn’t flash that ‘get naked in the closet with me’ grin at everything that moves.”
He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a slut. The grin comes automatic now.”
I rolled my eyes so hard, it hurt.
“But we made a deal—no hooking up. I’ll keep up my end no matter how many women tempt me.” He gave me a look. “So from now on, hands to yourself. And don’t ever call me sweetie.”
“Honey pie it is.”
We grumbled to ourselves, slapping our binders and pens on the desk. What did Victor have to be mad about? He was getting everything he wanted. I was giving up everything I needed.
“Good morning, class.”
“Good morning, Professor Anthony,” we chorused.
“Before we begin, I’m announcing a change to the syllabus.” He held up his hand. “For which you can thank Miss Sinclair.”
All eyes turned on me, frozen like deer facing oncoming death.
“She pointed out to me that true, raw honesty doesn’t flourish in an environment of judgment. First and foremost, my job is to prepare you for the world ahead. Not all of you will become great authors, but if I’ve taught you well, it’ll be because you lack the desire, not the ability. With that in mind, your papers will be marked on a pass/fail scale. A pass for turning in your best work that meets the standard requirements. A fail if you can’t be bothered to turn in anything at all.
“I will mark down my impressions and suggestions to elevate your writing, but as long as you’re turning in honest, authentic papers, you should have no fear of failing this class.”
“Yeah!” Branlon whooped. “Thank you, Sinclair.”
Half the class erupted into cheers, clapping and carrying on. The same people who a day ago were hissing nasty comments at my back. I guess malice takes a day off when you grant your entire class an easy A.
“Settle down, settle down.” Professor Anthony adopted his cross-ankle stance against the desk. “Naturally, this doesn’t apply to tests, quizzes, and exams where you’re required to know the material. Speaking of, I assume everyone went over the supplemental reading.” He held a sheaf of papers over his head. “Pop quiz.”
The groans started up right on cue.
I bent to get my eraser and noticed Victor watching me.
“What?”
“When did you have this chat with my brother?”
My brows snapped together. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I meant. What did you say to him that convinced the guy to throw out his entire lesson plan? Why are you even talking to him?”
“Okay, hold up. I had to see him in his office after one of your possible mugs tried to get me expelled. Adonis gave me a makeup test and— What’s your problem now? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Adonis? Who said you could call him that? Did he?”
“So what if he did? He’s going to be my brother-in-law.”
If I thought I was getting a narrow-eyed glare before, I could hardly see his irises now. “Don’t even think about it, Sinclair.”
“Think about what?” I whisper-shouted.
“I’ve seen that look before. You’re into him.”
“I am not—”
“Save it.” Victor leaned in close, making sure I heard him clearly. “Even if we lifted the no-hookup rule, my brother is off-limits. He’s got too much shit to worry about for a coed to toss her ‘let’s get naked in the closet’ grin and ruin his career. I’m serious, Luna. You try something with him and our engagement is over.”
