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“Now, would you mind going through the answers to my homework with me, please?”
He made his way down the aisle, and didn’t look back, but he knew I was going to follow him. I had nowhere else to go, after all.
He grumbled something under his breath as he turned, disappearing back to our seat, leaving me a moist, tangled up mess between the early learning and ancient history aisle. Pushing all my feelings aside, I held my head up high, and walked back to our study desk with as much sass – albeit a little wobblier – than usual.
When I finally reached the table, I dropped onto the seat, and focused solely on Tanner’s homework in front of me because there was a very real possibility that I would start blushing if I looked at him and thought about what just happened in the aisle.
All I knew was that I’d never look at Alexander the Great or Freud the same again. I could feel Tanner’s heated glare on me but ignored it because I thought that was the sensible thing to do. “You know, if you can’t handle me touching you in the library like that with only a couple of witnesses, how on earth are you going to handle the ball next week?”
I shot my head up, and he was smirking. Crap. He knew, didn’t he? He knew I was wet for him, and I was speechless. He was just so brazen and confident. “Oh, yeah? And what do you plan on doing?” I pushed back with a little more sass, trying desperately to give off the façade that I wasn’t affected by him.
Judging by his smirk, I wasn’t sure it was working.
He scratched his chin, and it was the first time I’d noticed the tiniest amount of blonde stubble grazing the sides of his jawline. So cut, so chiselled. I wasn’t sure if I’d fully taken in everything he said because he was looking at me as though I should be reacting.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Weren’t you listening?”
“There’s only so much jock talk I can take in one day. I reached my quota an hour ago, so you’re lucky I’m even remotely comprehending you. Now, if you’d repeat what you were saying, I’d be grateful.”
“Fine. If you really want to know. Remember that kiss on Friday?”
As if I could forget it. Narrowing my eyes, I played dumb. “Not really. It wasn’t memorable.”
He chuckled, raising a brow. “Oh, is that how we’re going to play it? That’s cool. Just know then, that was a warmup. If you want everyone there to think I’mdatingyou and you aren’t just my tutor, then be prepared for an onslaught.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” I deadpanned, but I was melting inside. Tanner was looking at me with all the fire and molten I couldn’t fully comprehend. I wanted him to show me right now, but again, not appropriate in the library or a study session.
“Challenge accepted,” he replied.
I’d just hoped I could handle what I’d gotten myself in for.
Chapter 10
I pulled the visor of my jeep down to look in the mirror, and ran a hand through my hair, thankful I didn’t take Jackson’s advice and put gel in it. I knew the length ticked some people off. Hell, I was certain it ticked Aster off, but I was a firm believer that she’d rather this than a man bun. After meeting her on the first day, I noticed her left eye twitched every time she looked up at it. I knew then that I couldn’t wear that style around her, because I had no doubts that she’d cut it off at any given opportunity.
So long hair it was.
I flicked the sides that got caught in my collar out and adjusted my purple tie. I hadn’t worn this suit since my high school prom, so it was getting a little tight, but it would work for tonight.
Grabbing my phone from the cup holder, I sent a quick text to Aster before relaxing into the seat.
Tanner:I’m here.
I rolled my head and looked at the flowers resting on the passenger seat. Something about waiting outside for her felt wrong. If we were really dating, I would have taken the flowers up to her room and escorted her down. An involuntary grin split across my face. If I was really dating her, we would have been an hour late because being in her room would have given me all kinds of ideas.
But then my smile faded because I remembered that Aster and Thea were in the same dorm. It was as if someone was playing a cruel joke on me, and although I was certain they didn’t know each other, I also couldn’t walk in there, dressed for prom and Thea asking questions.
Because when Thea asked questions, they weren’t normal questions. She’d ask things like,‘Which deodorant did you put on? Did you make sure she wasn’t allergic to bullshit before you asked her out? Please don’t tell me you’re wearing your lucky boxers from ninth grade?’
I shivered at the idea of Aster and Thea meeting. My brain couldn’t comprehend how that would go down because they were so different. It would need to be a well-managed event. Not that it was going to happen. Aster wasn’t my actual girlfriend, and even though our fake relationship was the talk around campus, Thea was too new to notice.
I rolled my head back and stared out of my car window. The campus was quiet tonight because it was that time between dinner and partying where girls would get ready, and guys would play video games.
Closing my eyes, I waited for my phone to buzz. Aster was never late, but I got here ten minutes early to prepare myself. There was no noise in the car, and for the first time in a long time, I felt at peace. I wasn’t anxiously preparing myself for a pop quiz that I knew I was going to fail, or stressing about an essay I wouldn’t be able to write because Aster’s techniques were working.
For the first time, I felt like I had control over my academic destiny, and it was all down to Aster.
