Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 85453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I don’t care about the stupid plaque and trophy. I just couldn’t call Vivienne out as a cheater without proof. I’d done it once before. It didn’t end well.
My stomach gurgles when Crew asks, “Do you think she’ll still be around then?”
The direction of his eyes gives away who he’s referencing, but I can’t help but act stupid when you spend all your time with a genius. “McKayla?” When he mimics my head bob, I ask, “Why wouldn’t she be?”
My heart sinks to my gut when he replies, “Because the midterms will be over, so you won’t need to pretend you’re her boyfriend for her to tutor you anymore.” My anger boils while wondering who the fuck told him about my arrangement with McKayla, but it spills over when he adds, “And I also don’t see him holding back for too much longer.” I grit my teeth when he nudges his head to McKayla again. She’s no longer surrounded by sorority sisters hoping to get into my good books by acting as if she is one of them. Gabriel has singled her out. “He’s so fucking thirsty.”
“But standing at the wrong bubbler.”
“What the fuck is a bubbler?” Crew asks, his voice shouted since I’m racing McKayla’s way like she needs saving from the big bad wolf.
“Hey,” McKayla greets the instant she spots me, her voice low and a little snarky. “I was just coming to find you.”
“But I found you first, so…” My eyes are on McKayla, but my words are for the douche standing next to her.
“So…” She takes a moment to silently demand my focus before finalizing. “I was wondering if you’re ready to walk me home? I’m expecting a call I can’t miss.” Her voice is barely a whisper when she murmurs, “Not if I want to remain breathing.”
Unsure if her excuse is merely to ditch the leech lingering like a bad smell, I ask, “Can you take your call here?”
She strays her eyes to the left before veering them to the right. “Ah. No.” Her face is more riddled with panic now than easygoing. “If you want to stay, I can walk myself home. I don’t mind.”
I’m about to tell her in no uncertain terms can she walk through campus alone, much less in the dress she’s wearing, but before I can, Gabriel jumps into a conversation he doesn’t belong in. “I can walk you home.”
“Oh. Um.” McKayla looks like she wants to say no, but that could be my ego talking. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I push out at the same time as Gabriel. His response is more pleased than mine. I sound as if I’m being forced to eat overcooked broccoli.
After spinning McKayla away from Gabriel, I ask, “Do you want him to walk you home? If you don’t, just tell me, and I’ll kick the fucker out.”
She peers at me like I’m insane before bobbing her chin. “Isn’t this the point?” She inconspicuously waves her hand between us during the ‘this’ part of her sentence.
“Yeah. But.” I’ve got nothing except the whiny pleas of a desperate man.
McKayla smiles to hide the disappointment on her face before leaning in to kiss my cheek.
It is our first official kiss, and it is dismal.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She waits for me to jerk up my chin like a loser before telling Gabriel to lead the way through the crowd that doesn’t part when they see him coming.
They’ve only just cleared the front porch when Kamil scares the living daylights out of me. He snuck up unaware and presses his lips so close to my ear, I wonder if he can smell the sweet scent of McKayla’s skin on my lips. “Are you really going to let her leave with him?” He sounds as disgusted as I feel when he gags out his last word. “That guy is a fucking douche. He isn’t the hero of McKayla’s story.”
“I know that.”
He moves to stand in front of me. “Yet you just let her leave with him.”
I did, and I’m an asshole, but I can’t let Kamil know that. “She’s a big girl, Kam. She can make her own decisions.”
I handed him a brush-off, but Kamil makes out as if I gave him the encyclopedia to my inner workings. “Ah. Now it all makes sense.”
When he brushes me off with a pfft then hightails it into the kitchen, I follow him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He hits the bullseye. “You’re not giving her the opportunity to pick because you’re afraid she’ll pick him over you.” He nudges his head to the window that reveals McKayla’s extremely slow trek home during the ‘him’ part of his reply.
“Like I need to worry about him. Look at him…” I thrust my hand at the window. “She’s freezing, but he’s still wearing his jacket. He’s a fucking douche.”