AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Surprisingly, Thomas actually listens to me and offers to help when I take the whole task upon myself. He’s not the nicest guy in our group, but for some reason, when he’s talking to me he’s so attentive and friendly that I can’t help the blush on my cheeks whenever our eyes meet. My body feels so warm in his presence, and—
God, why am I so stupid?
Of course a guy like Thomas would never even look at me as a girl. He’s just acting nice to get me to do the task for him, but…ah, what if he wasn’t? What if I could actually catch his eye? What if he carefully touched my hand and asked if I wanted to have a cup of coffee with him? I’d sneak away from my security, spend the rest of the day with him, and maybe I’d even be able to tell him that I—
“Okay, so we have to sign our names, and we’re done!”
Thomas smiles widely, clearly happy to be done with the task, and I feel a sting of regret. Damn it. If only I didn’t finish everything so quickly, I could spend a few more minutes with him, and maybe it would change something. Maybe he would—
It’s stupid. I bite my lip and look down at my fingers on the keyboard. Even my hands are fat and embarrassing, and another minute with Thomas will only make him see it clearer. He’ll never like me, alright?Just stop lying to yourself, you willnever get even a bit of his attention.
“Oh, wait, I don’t know your last name.” Thomas turns to me with a questioning smile, and our eyes meet again. Goddamnit. How can he be so nice to me?
The thought pushes a lump up my throat, but I swallow it and give him an awkward smile. “It’s Escarra. Jacinta Escarra.”
Thomas nods and looks away without a pause, and I guess for him it doesn’t mean anything. That’s good, though. I don’t want people around me to know what bloody power is hidden behind my name.
We finish the task as one of the first pairs, and after checking our results professor Borne gives us a hum of approval and a thumbs up. “Well done! See you next week, guys. Yes, Theo, are you still on the first question?”
While he walks away to help one of my classmates, I glance at Thomas. Are we gonna go out of the classroom together? Or is he gonna leave me behind? In high school, I was always on my own between classes and could only watch other people walk around with groups of friends. But in college, things are different, right? So maybe I have a chance to start something new.
“Jacinta, are you coming?”
Thomas’ voice pulls me out of my thoughts, and I blink and look up at him. Oh. He’s actually waiting for me. I can feel the warmth of a blush on my cheeks, and god, it’s so embarrassing. I look away, trying to hide it, and nod.
“Well, that was fun.”
I can’t help a chuckle and glance at Thomas, following him out of the classroom. “You spent the whole lesson on your phone.”
“What? No, I didn’t!” But Thomas is laughing, looking at me with his dark eyes, and it makes something in my chest warm up. “Alright, alright, but even you have to admit that it was boring!”
Actually, I thought it was quite interesting to learn the basic structure of library archives, but I’m not stupid enough to say that out loud, so I nod without even thinking about it. “Yes, totally. I mean, isn’t this whole subject useless?”
“Exactly!”
We laugh in unison, and something in my chest grows bigger. Is this really happening? Is this my chance? I look up at Thomas, and our eyes meet again. He looks hesitant, as if he wants to ask me something, and I hold my breath with my heart pounding in my ears. This is it, I can feel it!
“Señorita, it’s time to go.”
Goddamnit. Everything inside of me freezes before a wave of frustration takes over me, making me clench my fists and purse my lips. Rafael couldn’t choose a worse time to show up, could he?
I turn to my bodyguard with a glare and raise my voice in Spanish. “Don’t you see that I’m talking to someone?”
As always, Rafael completely ignores my burst of anger and looks down at me with a calm that irritates me even more. If he wasn’t my dad’s age, I wouldn’t hold myself back and I’d tell him what I think about his audacity right in his face.
“You shouldn’t talk to this young man.” He pointedly looks at Thomas, but I don’t care what Rafael thinks about him.
“With you around, I can’t talk to anyone!”
“You can talk to others—but not him.”
“And why is that? Did my father tell you that?”
Rafael doesn’t answer my questions and only keeps looking at Thomas with a suspicious squint. But you know what? This happens every single time I try to talk to a guy! Neither Rafael nor Dad ever lets me have any closeness with people outside of the family, and it looks like a goddamn paranoia.
I huff out loud and turn to Thomas—and of course, there’s not a trace of a smile on his face. He’s looking at Rafael with a cautious frown, and I can’t blame him. My bodyguard is kinda big and scary, which doesn’t make my life any easier.
I clear my throat and try to smile. “Hey, Thomas, so what did you want to tell me?”
