Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 125852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
She bends then, lifting the little boy in her arms and spinning him around, an infectious sense of happiness on her face.
I can’t help but chuckle at the sight.
“So.” A voice snaps me out of it, and I spin around, finding a dark-haired man with a tight-lipped smile and assessing eyes. “That’s what happened to my ice cream.”
Well, shit.
CHAPTER TEN
Cameron
“Tell her to be nice to me, Noah, or I’m going to put a cup to my ear the next time you give her a little late-night call and—”
“Cameron!” Ari cuts me off, shoving me away and swiftly moving in the opposite direction of class to finish her FaceTime call.
Laughing, I yank the door open and head down the hall, taking the steps two at a time until I reach our regular seats. Best part about college, there’s none of that assigned-seat, awkward get-to-know-your-desk-partner shit.
Okay, not best but a def plus.
I lift my legs, crossing my ankles so my shins are against the desk, and pull out my phone to scroll until class starts.
Biting on my straw, I take small sips of my soda, determined to finish it before it starts to get watered down. I’ve been getting headaches more often lately, and I’m convinced it’s my lack of caffeine, not because my thyroid hates me, so I’m doubling down like a proper college student.
Pausing on a video where a college baseball team breaks out in a full dance on the field right before the pitcher throws a nasty curveball, I laugh out loud, quickly hitting the Share button and sending it to the group text thread. The boys won’t see it until later—all three are currently stuck in a shitty math class together—and Ari likely won’t give up the fifteen seconds it would take from her call with Noah, so she won’t see it until after class either, but oh well. I send a second message to go with it.
Me: Whose ass do we have to kiss to make this happen at our games?
“I saw that one.”
I tense, hide my screen against my chest, and drop my head back so I’m looking up at Alister from upside down, seeing as he’s standing behind my chair. I frown, and he smiles, holding out a candy bar.
I face forward, dropping my feet to the floor, and stare straight ahead.
“Oh, come on. You know you want it. Don’t allow the fact that I’m the one who brought it to you stop you from enjoying a sweet snack,” he says, laying it on thick.
And it’s working.
It’s a free candy bar, and I’m fresh out of sour gummy bears in my backpack.
I look away, and he chuckles, setting it down on my desk, and I fight a small smile, then freeze.
Ugh, how does he know what I want him to do?
Facing forward again, I look down and fake a gasp. “Wow, would you look at that? Someone left a perfectly good chocolate bar right here.”
I rip it open, tearing off a piece and popping it into my mouth.
“It must be your lucky day.” He smiles, lowering into the seat beside me.
Ari’s seat.
I turn toward the door, watching as the professor slips in, a little brown satchel bag hanging over his shoulder.
Where is Ari?
The professor looks up then, scans the room, and pauses once he’s staring in this direction.
He lifts a hand, motioning with his fingers.
I freeze, looking to my candy and half-empty soda.
Wait, is this the class I’m not supposed to eat in? I start to stand, but then notice that Alister is taking the stairs down two at a time and the professor is no longer looking this way.
Alister pulls a paper from his pocket and the professor grabs a pen, scribbling something on it before dismissing him.
With a huge smile on his face, Alister heads back this way, the class having filled up around me.
He drops into the seat beside me again just as I spot a familiar head of brown hair pop into the class.
Ari starts this way but freezes, her eyes growing wide when she realizes Alister is in her seat.
I spin my glare on him. “That’s Ari’s desk.”
He raises a brow. “They’re assigned?”
“Yes.”
A laugh leaves him, and he shakes his head, slouching back in that same lazy, hot-boy way Brady does. “Nice try, beautiful.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Shh, class is starting.”
“You’re not in this class.”
He holds up the paper the professor signed, the class access code scribbled across it. He smirks, his gaze traveling across my face. “Am now. Someone dropped, and what do you know? I was next on the add list. I just have to make up a couple assignments, and I’m good.”
I put my straw between my lips and slurp obnoxiously, but the man only laughs harder.
Professor Gilroy flicks on the monitor then, and I tear my gaze from the man beside me, spotting Ari a few rows lower.