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I huffed out an annoyed breath because he was being annoyingly persistent with me. I didn’t want to help him. Why couldn’t he get that? “But there are plenty of empty seats elsewhere for you to sit.”
“Maybe,” he drawled out, and I hasten to add that it almost sounded like he was growling. I shook that thought out of my head because, of course, he wasn’t growling. It was the character in the book that I was reading – not Tanner.
“Yet you chose to sit here.”
“I like the view.” His eyes dragged down on me, and I wasn’t sure if he wanted to eat that delicious-looking burrito, or me.
“You’re infuriating.”
“And you’re the most intriguing person I’ve ever met here.”
I had no idea how to reply to that, so I didn’t. I just dropped my head and focused on my nachos, avoiding the jalapenos like the plague. Ignoring him for the first few minutes was easy, but then his chewing got louder, and louder, making it hard to focus on the salsa. I whipped my chin up and stared at him. “Is there a reason why you persist in annoying me?”
He dropped his burrito in surprise before dusting his hands off and then wiped them with the napkin on his side. He had a little slither of lettuce clinging to the corner of his lips, but I refused to point it out. I was a petty bitch like that, and since he allowed everyone to laugh at me the other day, I was more than happy to give him a little payback.
“Because you haven’t accepted my apology.”
“Maybe because there’s nothing to apologize for.” We both knew there was, but I honestly didn’t want to talk about it anymore. It’d gotten to the point where being humiliated by athletes had become a regular thing, and I wasn’t prepared to let it go into another season.
“If that’s true, then why won’t you tutor me?”
“Easy. Because I don’t have to.” I shook my head and huffed out an annoyed breath before looking over his shoulder. I wished I hadn’t because, low and behold, Connor was walking out of the cafeteria with his arm draped over Rachel’s shoulder. How many times did I need it shoved in my face that Rachel was better than me in every way. Hell, my mom wouldn’t even have to make a deal with her to join the sorority. She’d do it with pride.
“Why are athletes so arrogant?” I asked the air, knowing full well it wouldn’t answer me, and then looked back at Tanner. “Just because you have nothing to apologize for, doesn’t mean that I have to magically get on my knees for you and do whatever you want at the click of your fingers.” I clicked my fingers together to emphasize the point, and he just laughed. It was warm and throaty and went straight down to my toes.
“You’re infuriating, you know that?” He was still smiling, and my toes were still curling.
“That’s one of the nicer things I’ve been called here.” And was definitely better thana desperate jersey chaser,which I’d become accustomed to over the last few months.
When he looked back at me, there was the tiniest of quirks at the edges of his lips, but he masked it quickly. “I suppose you refusing is my punishment for all those times I turned down those girls in the library. Now the girl I actually need the help from wants nothing to do with me, and it’s all because I let my frustration out on her because I stupidly believed that a girl like her would be interested in an athlete like me.”
He'd become a walking red flag at this point. As he just threw out all these compliments. Unfortunately for him, I’d seen them all with Connor, and I wasn’t about to fall for anything this time.
“At least I taught you one valuable lesson.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
His eyes dropped to the table again, and I shifted in my seat, almost feeling like he could see my crossed legs underneath. “But what if the cover’s hot?” He joked.
I pushed my tongue out, clicking it against my teeth in an attempt to mask the smile that was threatening to curl across my mouth. He annoyed me, and for some reason, I was taking pleasure in bantering with him. “It’s still what’s inside that counts.”
“Is that why you aren’t sharing what’s inside your book? Because the naked chest on the front would suggest your reading smut.”
“Why am I not surprised a guy like you wouldn’t get it?”
He raised his hands, sitting back in his chair, leaving that perfectly delectable burrito to go cold. “Hey, like I said before. You’ve got me all wrong. You seem to think I’m some kind of playboy jock, but I’m not.” I threw him a disbelieving glare. “I’m not. I’ve not even been on a date since I started at Covey U, even though I’ve had more offers than I can count.”
“That means nothing.”
“Is there anything I can do or say that would get you to change your mind about me?”
I pushed my lips from side to side, pretending to think for a few seconds before saying, “Nope.” Then I plucked a nacho out of my bowl and ate it with the sassiest, loudest crunch that I was surprised if people on the other side of the state hadn’t heard it.
His smirk dropped as his face morphed into a scowl. He was getting annoyed with me. Good. I wanted this begging to stop. “Why not?”
I laughed out a little louder than necessary. “Are you serious? Is this the first time you’ve heard no in your life?”
