Chapter 7

Alex

With Bret in our shared shower when I arrived home, I barely made it back to the student union in time to meet with Lily. He always took the longest showers, which annoyed me to no end. I hoped Lily didn’t think I was a slacker because I was a minute later than our arranged time. Bret was almost as bad as a chick when it came to taking long showers.

But she didn’t say anything as I slid into the seat across from her. She chose a table far away from the main entrance. I wanted to think it was so that I wouldn’t be distracted since there were plenty of empty tables closer to the small cafe across the room, the hub of the building.

She covered the surface of the table with books and papers.

I grinned at her, hoping she’d forgive me for last night—since she seemed rather upset about me forcing her to leave—and forgive my tardiness.

Her cheeks turned a shade of pink, and I knew keeping this girl on my good side would be easy. I knew that look from her was the same that other girls gave me when they were around me. She was dazzled by my good looks, and it was evident I had quite an effect on her, one that I could use to my advantage. She seemed a little hesitant to come to my parties, but as long as I played my cards right, I’d pass Cost Accounting at a low cost to myself.

I wondered if that concept was one discussed in class. Did my profitability grow along with her popularity? It was a win for both of us.

“What particular aspects of the class are you having the most trouble with?” she asked. “That way we don’t need to waste a lot of time on subjects that you’re already familiar with.”

“Umm,” I said, scratching my chin. I needed to shave. The skin was prickly around my face, and I was only half sure that it was from embarrassment. “I haven’t done well on any exam this semester.”

“Okay,” she said without any judgment. It was a much different experience than when I told Mom about my grades.

Lily flipped to the front of our textbook and moved the other reference books asides. With that subtle movement, my shoulders relaxed. Being around so many books made my muscles tense, not something I wanted to happen around a beautiful girl. I had a reputation to protect.

“I’m going to start with our quizzes and exams, going through them will streamline the process for what Professor Tarrington is looking for with the final exam.”

As Lily began with the first exam, I found it hard to keep my eyes on the text she showed me. There was a stack of them next to her, all of them with A’s at the top. She hadn’t received one bad mark on any of them.

She was much smarter than I gave her credit for. I knew she was intelligent, but from the way she swooned over me, I had a little reservation about her tutoring me just to get on my good side.

My initial impression was proven wrong in a matter of minutes when she started going over the concepts. No wonder she skipped an entire college grade. Numbers came natural to her, just as sports came easily to me.

Lily was in her element. It was fascinating to hear how Cost Accounting seemed to make a little more sense the way she explained it. Why wasn’t she a teacher’s aide? If she stood in front of the class each day, I’d definitely pay more attention. Especially if she wore that sexy doctor’s outfit.

“Alex,” she said, her lips forming around my name.

“Yeah?”

“I think you should take some notes,” she said.

I finally met her eyes and blinked. She looked slightly annoyed, and I realized I had focused more on her body parts than her words.

I cleared my throat and grabbed my notebook, flipping a few pages in. I flipped over the few pages that I wrote in all semester. Her notebook was almost full with her perfect handwriting. If she didn’t already think I was a slacker, she would now.

After reviewing the concepts from the previous units in class for almost two hours, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. She honed in on my issues without speaking to me as if I were dumb which was the opposite of Tarrington’s methods. If you didn’t understand him, then too bad. He wasn’t even willing to help me. But I was happy to follow his advice and get a tutor. Spending time with Lily was much more fun than him. He seemed to lose the “fun professor” reputation after his indiscretion.

“I should get going,” Lily said, closing our primary textbook. The others she used were a great help as well. Why hadn’t I ever thought to use reference books? Oh, yeah, because I didn’t care much before today. “You should work on this week’s assignment tonight. I think you working through these concepts on your own will help solidify them in your mind. Next time we meet I can go over them with you and make suggestions.”

“Can we meet tomorrow?” I asked. I wasn’t desperate to see her again, but I really wanted to. We had a good thing going, and I didn’t want all our time to go to waste if I didn’t fully grasp everything tonight.

“No,” she said.

I frowned. “Why not?”

“I’m heading home tonight, and I won’t be back until late tomorrow.”

I worked my jaw. I wouldn’t see her for two days. That wasn’t going to work for me. As much as I wanted to continue our streak of me understanding accounting, I wanted to see her more. I enjoyed spending time with her, which surprised me more than how easy this class sounded after she explained it.

“So, Monday then?” I asked.

She dipped her head once but didn’t verbalize her agreement. I had to work on that.

“I guess I’ll see you later,” she said once her bag was packed.

I lifted it from the table and slung it over my shoulder. This girl always carried a back-breaking amount of books, and now I knew why. I recalled that she carried a navy blue bag with her on a daily basis, but now she had a bright pink one. Had meeting me changed her personality that much overnight?

“I want to walk you to your dorm,” I said.

“Oh, you don’t have to.”

“I know, I want to.”

“I was going to get a coffee,” she said, indicating the cafe across the way.

I reached for my wallet. “Let me get it for you. It’s the least I can do for all your help.”

“Thank you,” she said, crossing her arms.

I grinned. She probably didn’t have anyone doing much for her. She seemed so independent and sure of herself, at least in an academic environment. I hoped to bring her out of her shell in the time we spent together. Getting to know her was much more fun than it had been with any other girl in my past.

The walk to her dorm was too short for me. I wanted to drag out our time as much as I could. The idea of working on the assignment without her made my palms sweat. Being around her made me understand the class, but I knew the moment she was gone then I’d probably forget everything again. Bringing a half-blank assignment to her might show that I wasn’t taking this seriously. And I was.

No one was more surprised about that fact than me.

“Can I have your cell phone?” I asked.

“Um, sure?” she said, handing it over.

I quickly programmed my number in her phone. A couple of girls walked out of the dorm, and their eyes lingered on us. Lily chewed on her lip. She was gnawing so hard I wondered if I should have bought her a pastry with her coffee. I smiled to myself wondering if I should say that to her, but I didn’t want to ruin the good thing we had going for us with a bad joke.

I sent a quick message to my phone from hers, and my text tone sounded from my pocket.

“Good,” I said. “I’ll text you if I have any questions.”

“I-I guess,” she stammered.

We stood there awkwardly for a moment. I was unable to end our time together, and it didn’t look like she wanted to either. She seemed unsure of me contacting her, but I wasn’t about to let her out of my life for days without having her in my pocket if I had any issues. Without her, I might slip back and we’d have to start all over again, which might annoy her enough to break our deal.

In typical Alex fashion, I took advantage of the situation and stepped closer to her. We weren’t on a date exactly, but I had the urge to be closer to her. I took her in my arms, the floral scent of her hair flooded my nose. I held her in my arms for a moment before kissing her cheek. I wanted to kiss her on the lips as I did last night, but we had to keep things professional until I got what I needed from her. After the final exam, we could do whatever our bodies told us, but for now, a chaste kiss was all I could offer.

I hoped that would persuade her to allow me to contact her while she was at home, but I wasn’t ready for how the jumble of feelings inside me added to how good she felt in my arms.