Chapter 9

Alex

Lily and I made plans to study again on Tuesday. It was hard to agree to that since I wanted to see her sooner, but after barging in on her life on Sunday, I didn’t want to seem too desperate. I almost didn’t drive two hours to see her, but after hanging up with her Saturday night, something was pushing me to make the trip. The strain in her voice niggled at the back of my mind before I made the decision.

I kept telling myself that I needed her to be in the right frame of mind to help me pass our class. If she wasn’t able to concentrate on our work together, then she would be of no use to me. But that wasn’t the whole truth. I had an urge to want to see her all the time, even when we weren’t studying. Meeting her Grandmother gave me more insight to this amazing girl. I never liked a girl in such a short amount of time before so I knew without a doubt she was special and I wanted to keep her close to me as much as possible.

She wanted to study at the library this time as she didn’t want any distractions. She reserved a small study room so we could talk without disturbing the other students. The room was all glass, so we didn’t have much privacy, but being in her presence was good enough for me.

First, we went over the assignment that was due at the end of the week.

As she reviewed it to herself, I stared at the adorable crinkle of skin at the bridge of her nose.

“This is better than I expected,” she said.

“You weren’t expecting much, were you?” I asked.

Her jaw dropped. “No that’s not what I meant.”

I sat back and crossed my arms. She was even cuter when she was flustered. I took it up a notch.

“You know,” I said. “When I picked you, I didn’t think you hated me so much.”

“I don’t hate you!” She said quickly.

“Sure, sure,” I said. “I recall you rolling your eyes at me in class. You're too good for me, I know it and you know it. I thought you'd be willing to share your knowledge with a dummy like me.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it quickly. The shock in her eyes lessened to confusion. “You’re messing with me,” she said, her cheeks reddening again.

I grinned, unable to hide it anymore.

“I didn’t think a frat boy like you would allow your ego to be bruised so easily.”

“Ouch,” I said, pressing my hand to my heart. “You're harsh.”

She giggled and leaned her head back.

My eyes dropped to the smooth skin of her neck. I rubbed my fingers together, remembering how her skin felt under mine. Jumping back to that night in my mind, those feelings rushed back to me. How I wanted to find a more private part of the library and continue with our little conversation.

“Anyway,” she said, shaking her head. “We should get back to this.”

“Yes, how did I do, teach?”

She smiled at me. “I’m nowhere near as smart as our teachers but thanks. You did really well with the first one here, just a suggestion. Professor Tarrington had an easier way to go about this formula that will definitely earn you some points.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Sure,” she said. “He likes when people pay attention in class.”

“He does?” I slapped my palm on my forehead. “Wow, I had no idea professors liked when we paid attention. I feel like these last three years have been a waste.”

She tapped me on the arm with the eraser end of her pencil. “If you keep this up then I might need to give you a mark with my red pen.”

I leaned closer. “Would you?”

She trapped her lip under her teeth again. A pulsing heat snaked down my body.

“I think you’d like it too much,” she said after a moment.

I leaned back. “I would.”

She cleared her throat and moved onto the next piece of the assignment. I didn’t do so well on the next part, but Lily was confident that I understood a lot more than I should have for only a few hours of work.

As much as I needed to concentrate on the work in front of me, I found it harder the more I was around her. Little movements drove me wild; the way she brushed her hair behind her ears and the way she fluttered her eyelashes when she was trying to think of an example to help me understand better. I jotted all of those small tidbits about her in my memory.

Our time together passed too quickly, and before I knew it, we were finished working.

“Professor Tarrington will be impressed with this work tomorrow,” she said, closing her book.

“I hope he doesn’t think I cheated.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t give you the answers. You came to them yourself. If you need me to talk to him for you?”

“No,” I said. “I’m good.” For some reason, I didn’t want him to like her any more than he did as his prized student.

“So about this weekend,” she said as she finished packing her things. “What time is the Reindeer Riot on Friday?”

I turned away from her, pretending to look through my notes. I ground my teeth together. I completely forgot about that part of the deal. Now that I knew her better, I didn’t want her anywhere near my brothers or the other frat guys that attended our parties.

“I’m not sure if you going to that is a good idea.”

She placed a hand on her hip. “Why not?”

“It just isn’t,” I said firmly. How could I tell her that over the span of less than a week I wanted her for myself? She’d never believe me, and I couldn’t mess up the good thing we had going between us.

“What’s going on, Alex?” she asked, crossing her arms. She stood between me and the door, and I doubted she’d let me out without an explanation. Over the last few days, her confidence around me grew. While she was able to flirt with me as much as I flirted with her, she wasn’t as shy as she had been. “Wasn’t that the deal between us?”

“Yeah—”

“Three parties and you get a passing grade in Cost Accounting,” she interrupted. “I’ve done my part of the deal, and I plan on continuing until the end of the semester. Unless you want to renege on the entire thing?”

“No,” I said quickly. I had to pass this class. For myself and my parents. Failing wasn’t an option.

“So?” she asked, dragging the word out.

I sighed. “So, I’ll see you Friday night at the house.”

“Good,” she said and shouldered her new forest green backpack. “I’ll see you tomorrow in class.”

“See you,” I said, watching her walk away. I raked my hand through my hair, trying to stir up any answers on how to keep her away from my brothers without staking a public claim on her. I had to keep us professional, but each time I saw her, that was getting harder and harder to do.