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“Sure mom. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yes. I love you, Sweetheart.”
“I love you, too. Talk to the doctor.”
“Talk to Rachel.”
When I turned off the call, I sighed and looked across the campus to the tables full of people laughing and joking together.Friends?She wanted me to make friends, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to do that.
I picked up my bag and decided to forgo dinner tonight since I’d had a big lunch and walked back to my dorm, ready to finish my essay.
Chapter 3
My hands were jittery as I opened my marketing textbook and read a few lines. It still didn’t make any sense, but it was my best subject, and I wasn’t sure what Aster would want to start with. Clenching my jaw, I thought about it for a second and grabbed my Economics textbook instead because that was by far the subject that I needed the most improvement in.
I pushed the marketing book aside and rested my elbows on either side of the Economics book as I looked at a marked page. Symbols flashed across the white paper, making it hard to read, and I could feel myself getting worked up again because I found it so hard to focus.
This had to work.
Asterhad to work.
Ihad to work.
I couldn’t fuck it up.
Aggravation boiled over as I stared at the symbols, completely oblivious to what they were trying to tell me. Why was this so damn difficult?
I couldn’t fail again. Not with how much I had riding on my scholarship. It wasn’t just my future that was on the line. It was Thea’s too, and I wasn’t about to let her down.
Crushing my eyes shut, I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm the aggravation building in my veins. Aster better be as good as Ralph said he’d be. The only way I had a fighting chance of staying at Covey U was on him.
“Tanner?”
When I looked up, I wanted to hurl.
Why did this feel like déjà vu?
“Not this again.” I drawled out, slamming my textbook shut, pushing my chair back in aggravation.
Granted, at least this girl looked like she’d attempted to find out about me before shooting her shot, but that didn’t make me any less annoyed about it. I wondered which roommate must have told her I was into redheads. I swallowed because, damn; she was everything I was ever looking for. With long red hair and a short, pleated skirt, she looked like she popped straight out of my porn search history. Not that I looked it up much, but if I did, well, yeah, it would be her. If I wasn’t in such a shitty situation with school, maybe I’d entertain this girl’s advances.
That wasn’t what mattered right now, though. What mattered was that this girl was pretending to be my tutor to try to get a date, and I was tired of being treated like a commodity instead of a person.
“Tanner Joyce?” She was reading my name off a piece of paper, innocently looking around the tables like she had no idea who I was. I wanted to laugh because her acting skills could use some work. I knew she knew who I was. I’d seen this same routine play out one too many times to be duped into believing it for one second.
Other students were watching us now. They were all probably waiting to see how this was going to end since they were all used to me politely declining their advances. Not this time. This girl had gotten me on the wrong day, and I refused to make it easy on her.
I blew out a breath and trudged over to her. It was only when I got closer that I realized she was wearing white knee-high socks.
Did she really think I’d believe she walked around campus looking like that all the time? Because I knew she didn’t. I’d be the first person to notice her if she did.
The girl was still looking around, pretending she had no idea who I was, and completely ignored me when I stood next to her. Nice trick, but I wasn’t falling for it. I stood there for a minute, watching as she slowly turned to me and looked up. I towered over her, but that wasn’t new to me. I was six foot six, so most people had to tip their chin up to see me. When her eyes connected with mine, I couldn’t help but take in her pixie like features. Large hazel eyes stared up at me as her big bottom lip dropped in awe.
Damn, she was hot, which was going to make turning her down all the harder.
“Are you Tanner Joyce?” She choked out like she’d lost her breath. And there it was. She couldn’t hide it now. Her secret fan girl was spilling out, and it only annoyed me more.
Tired of her amateur dramatics, I raised my brow and studied her with the same intense scrutiny that was usually reserved for rival quarterbacks.
