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His face.
Jasper cleared that lovely mental image from his mind, focusing on simply getting Callahan to like him. They could work on him eating her like dessert later. “She was, but now she’s cramming for some chemistry test that has her all worried.” That wasn’t a total lie. Blake was studying around the clock for her chem final. Itwas her self-proclaimed hardest class. If he’d asked her for help though, shewould’vemade time for him.
“I assume you have your study guide filled out already?”By thetone of her question,she presumedhe’d shown up withoutthestudy guide complete,andshe’d walk. Good thing he’d copied that off Blake too.
“Yep.” He opened theWordfile on his laptop, a fully complete and correct study guide. “I have this pretty much memorized. But the syllabus said we’ll need to do a mini essay on one of the poems we went over.Poetry isn’t my jam.” Also not a lie.Atall.He hated poetry, and he reallyneededsome help there.
See? He wasn’t a complete douche.
He was simply an opportunist.
Callahan pushed a tablettohim. “The poems we went over this semester are saved here, we can pick one and dissect it. We shouldn’t pick the same one though, because our points would be too similar.”
“Okay, great, thank you.I really appreciate your help.” He sent her his most genuine smile. He did appreciate her help, but he also appreciated that she smelled like caramel apples,and her white t-shirt let him get a peek at her cleavage.
“I’m doingThe Bee Keeper’s Daughter, so how aboutSonnet 129by Shakespeare?” She proppedupher tablet, lightly tapping the screen until the poem was in front of them. “This one is shorter, and it seems right up your alley.”
“Cool.” His eyes narrowed as he re-read one of the poems they’d gone over at the beginning of the semester. He’d done terrible on that test. Thatwas where his D average came from. “But why is this oneup my alley?” He refrained from telling her he wanted to beupheralley—he doubted shewould’vevalued the joke.
“Really? Did you read the poem?”
He could feel her gaze cut to his, but he was still trying to get through old William’s confusing-as-fuck way of writing. He sighed, coming to the last line:To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell. “Yes, I read the poem more times than I care to admit. Doesn’t mean I understood it.I already told you, poetry is hard for me.” He let humility leak into his tone. None of it was for show, and his honesty seemed to soften her a bit.
Her shoulders dropped slightly from their seemingly permanent place by her ears. “I’m sorry.I’m being rude. Poetry is hard for a lot of people.” She took a deep breath, almost as if she were fortifying herself with patience. “This sonnet is about lust, which tracks because all the poems our professor picked this semester dealt with sex in one way or another.”
His eyes went wide. “Huh. You’d think Iwould’vedone better on material all about sex and lust.” That showed how little the fancy and veiled words registered in his brain. Now he was glad he’d asked for Callahan’s help, for real this time.
She licked her lips, pointing back to the screen and choosing not to comment on his self-deprecation. “This one in particular discussed lust in three parts. Lust before it’s acted on, the act itself, and then the remnants left after two people come together.” He wanted them tocometogether. He barely contained his snort of laughter. These hilarious gems he was keeping to himself were killing him. “When you write your essay, I’d do three or four sentences on each section.”
He leaned closer, his face next to hers as she used a stylist to draw lines throughout the sonnet, showing him which parts belonged together. “Lust as an idea, as the buildup, right?” He pointed to the first few lines:The expense of spirit in a waste of shame is lust in action.He was speaking softly, not out of respect for the other people studying, but to see if he could get goose bumps to break out on Callahan’s arms. “If you ask me, lust is never a waste.”
Her breath hitched, slightly. Ifhe wasn’t paying such rapt attention, he’d have missed it. “Wait’tilthe end of your essay to state any personal opinions. Our professor will want to know you fully grasp the meaning of the poem first.”
He noddedand continued:Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme; a bliss in proof…” He took her hand in his, using her stylist to underline that line. “Bliss in proof. Sex. Fulfilling the lust.”
Her audible swallow made his dick twitch in his joggers. He bit his lips together to keep from smiling. This little tutoring session was going better than hecould’veever expected. If he’d have known they’d be seated close, dissecting an old-school porn poem, he’d have begged her to help him weeks ago.
“Yes.” She cleared her throat, sitting back, making him miss her scent and her warmth. “And then it’s over and he describes it as a woe, a dream, a hell.” He chuckled, rubbing his thumb along his lower lip, intentionally drawing her attention to his mouth. Her beautiful evergreen eyes narrowed slightly. “Shakespeare says lust is mad, in any form. Before, during,and after. That’s what the poem speaks to, and that’s what the body of your essay needs to do.”
“Lust is madness, there’s no denying that.” He was whispering, his gaze holding hers. “But I’d happily go crazy before ever giving it up.” Ah, there were those gorgeous goose bumps he’d been working for. He reached a finger out, trailing it lightly down her arm.
She jerked away from his attention, quickly closing out the tablet and gathering her stuff against her chest. “Like I said, if you have a differing opinion, you can add it in the end.”
“You leaving? Our hour isn’t up.” He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms, marveling at the blush creeping across Callahan’s cheeks.
“Write a rough draft of your essay, I’ll go over it the next time we meet and let you know if you need to do anything differently for the final.” She refused to look at him, choosing to focus on packing up, pushing her chair neatly back under the table. “I’ll text you when I’m free again. Thanksfor the coffee.” She turned on her heel, hurrying out of the library like someone was chasing her.
He couldn’t contain his smile.
Chapter Four
Jasper
A wholedaypassedbefore Callahan texted himto sayshe could meethimthe next night. He had itched to reach out first, to make her speak to him. Instead,he’d let Riley drag him to the gym twice as a distraction. He knew he was closer to having her, to tasting that sweet apple scent. He’d affected her at the library,andshe’d run because he’d turned her on.
He’d promised her dinner, so he’d ordered enough Chinese food to feed his entire pack. And he’d gotten down on his knees and begged Blake and Riley to join them downstairs. As expected, Blake was not pumped to be used in his pursuit of the beautifulredhead. Also as expected, his gift had smoothed things over. He’d gone for the tequila since even mentioning the butt plug had gotten him knocked in the nuts.
“Are you in love with this chick?” Blake was shoveling lo mein into her mouth with the finesse of a drunk sumo wrestler. “This is more effort than I’ve ever seen you make for anythingor anybody.”
