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“Okay, let’s get down to it.”
After an hour of working with Tanner, I had to admit I was impressed. He was being attentive and taking on all my suggestions without complaint. I could see how important succeeding was to him, and I was happy that our sessions seemed to be helping.
“So,” Tanner drawled as I reviewed a homework assignment for his market research class. He was supposed to be reviewing the flashcards I made him from ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ but it had been a long session, so I’d let him off this once.
He tapped the cards on the table until I looked up. Then, throwing me a lopsided grin, he asked, “How are you doing after that party last week?”
I held back my grin because I wasn’t expecting him to bring it up. “Last week?” Playing dumb, I glanced up at the ceiling. “Last week. Last week,” I repeated, toying with the words before popping out. “Oh, you mean after you took me to a party and forgot to mention that you threatened to kill my ex if he ever uttered my name again?”
His eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know I said that? I was just about to give you a heads up.”
“Word gets around fast when people think you’ve turned the mild-mannered quarterback into a menace.”
Tanner cropped his gaze to the table and rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “Yeah. Look. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I don’t normally behave like that with people I can’t stand. It’s just…”
I waited for him to finish, but he didn’t. He just let the last words hang between us as though I was supposed to fill in the blanks, which was not something I was capable of because I had no idea what he was thinking. I hadn’t known him long enough to hazard a guess, either.
“Thank you.” I couldn’t hide my smirk now.
Tanner narrowed his eyes and pointed his pen at me. “Something happened, didn’t it?” He studied me, seeing if I would give anything away. I hoped I wasn’t so easy to read, but when he gasped, I was certain he’d figured it out. “Didhetalk to you?” Annoyance stretched across his features, and I couldn’t deny his furrowed brow was kind of… hot.
In fact, even with that bun in his hair, Tanner was hot. Everything about him made me a little giddy these days. From his devastating smile, to his over eagerness to please. I liked it too much. I liked it to the point where I thought I might have a schoolgirl crush on my fake date, but I’d need to keep it to myself. Firstly, I should have learned from last time, and secondly, a guy like Tanner wouldn’t be interested in a girl like me. I’d rather be reading in a library than out on the bleachers. We were too opposite, and I refused to muddy the waters any more than they already were and do him a disservice as his tutor.
“Who’she?” I smiled, but Tanner’s face remained just as stoic as when he originally asked the question, so I waved off his concern. “Not exactly. I mean, he did call me, but I wouldn’t say we talked. It was three am, and he was drunk off his ass. He didn’t know what he was saying. I barely understood. It was so incoherent.”
Tanner’s jaw was so chiselled, it was hard not to notice it ticking. “What did he say?”
“It was all lies. Aster, I made a mistake,” I mocked. “I want you back. Aster, I made anassout of myself. Did you get it? I’ve fallen on my ass for Aster.” I left out the final cutting comment. ‘I can’t believe I gave you up because you didn’t give out.’ That wasn’t something Tanner needed to know, and I didn’t want him to look at me differently because of it.
“What did you say?”
“I told him he needed a night off the booze and maybe he should find Rachel to help drown his sorrows. I blocked his number after that. I refuse to be woken up like that again.”
“Good.”
Tanner sat, stewing in his own thoughts, while I watched him. What was he thinking? Why was he getting so upset over it?
I didn’t think on it too long. Instead, I very dramatically opened a textbook and flicked through it. “Anyway, we have an hour left. We should probably get back to work.”
He nodded, and as I read through the textbook, I noticed it didn’t match the notes I took last night. “You know what? This is the wrong edition. There’s a newer one on the shelves that I was working with.” I raised my finger. “Give me a second and I’ll just go get it.”
“Okay.” I couldn’t help but notice his gaze drift to my legs when I stood up, and a chill ran down my spine. These skirts had never gotten me in trouble, but trouble never looked like Tanner, until now.
Walking past him, I headed for the marketing section, only to slow when I heard some odd noises in the Ancient History aisle.
There was a sharp gasp. Then a grunt. Was that rhythmic bang books falling to the ground?
I tip toed down the early learning aisle, following the noises on the other side of the books.
There was a little squeal of excitement, and I clenched my fists because I was absolutely certain I knew what was happening now, and I couldn’t believe that they’d have the audacity to do that here. In the library, no less.
As I got closer, I peered through the books, only then could I see someone’s back. So I very gently moved a couple of books to get a better look.
I stopped.
I could barely breathe.
I gripped the books as tightly as I could, knowing that if they dropped, I would be found out.
