AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, my voice a near whisper. “I should have asked to use this room.”
He looked up from his own laptop. “You weren’t bothering me.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
We stared at each other for a moment. Why wasn’t I leaving? What was I waiting for? Why did I so badly want to stay?
“Do you have a minute?” I asked just as his eyes fixed on his screen again.
He looked back down at me, nodding. I sighed, stepping up onto the podium and setting my bag down on the table. He watched me pull out one of the textbooks he’d assigned to our class.
“Could you go over my notes? I want to make sure I covered everything I think is going to be in your midterm.”
That soft, wry smile I saw whenever I thought of him was my answer, and he motioned toward a stool behind the podium. A few minutes later, we were sitting side by side, and he was actively picking apart my lecture notes.
“Whitney,” he said with a short laugh, “you are probably more qualified to teach this class than I am. You didn’t need my help.”
“Well, maybe.” I grinned, unable to stop myself.
“Maybe what?” He straightened up and neatly arranged my notes before handing them back to me.
“Maybe I just... needed an excuse to talk to you.” What was wrong with me?
I blushed deeply and snatched my notes from him, stuffing them clumsily into my bag.
“Whitney—”
“I need to go. I have another paper to write.”
“You could write it here,” he said, standing.
I shook my head, looking up at him and feeling like a complete idiot. Rhys was the only person I’d ever been able to hold my tongue around. Everything I thought either showed on my face or came right out of my mouth.
“It’s okay. I’ll see you during the midterm exam.” I turned and walked toward the door.
“Whitney, stop.”
I did, clutching my bag for support, but I didn’t turn around.
“Is everything okay?”
I looked over my shoulder at him. The look in his eyes told me he knew something was off, that something was wrong.
If I kept putting myself in his way, something would be wrong, and I’d only have myself to blame for the repercussions.
“Everything’s fine.”
I left the lecture hall without another word.
Chapter 16
Rhys
WHITNEY ACED HER MIDTERM. She breezed through it with flying colors and got a nearly perfect grade on her midterm paper as well. I knew she would. More importantly, she knew she would, which is why I kept wondering why she spent so much time consumed by texts in the library and around campus. The more I got to know her, at least from afar, the easier she was to read. The last week of class before fall break, she’d been practically twisted into a knot with nerves, her brow creased in a constant furrow. I wanted to pull her aside and shake her if only to get her to tell me what exactly was wrong.
But in the end, I didn’t need to.
