Co-Ed(27)

I narrowed my eyes, searching for clues in his gaze. “Because it takes two to replace one so good?”

“Nope.” He opened his door and looked over his shoulder. “Because the rules state we need four people.”

“So, where’s the fourth guy now?”

He swallowed hard then whispered, “You’re living with him.”

I had figured as much, but hearing it was still jarring. “What happened?”

“Storytime is officially over.” He checked his watch. “Hurry up so you won’t have to do wall sits.”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag. “Your stalker skills are a bit scary.”

“It’s my job to know things.”

“I can tell.” I gave him a quick side hug. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Anytime, Shawn.”

It was the first time he’d said my name, and when he took off his sunglasses and locked eyes with me, it wasn’t lust or sex I saw in their depths.

No, it was something much more dangerous.

It was hope.





Chapter Eighteen


Knox

Classes sucked.

I felt like an absolute ass ignoring every single girl who glanced my way, but I just wasn’t into it today. It was my job to lure them in, to be unobtainable, to give them dreams about what it would be like to grab my hair and pull.

And yet there I was, done with class, sitting at the coffee shop like a chick, waiting to see if Shawn would show up like Finn said she would.

The guy knew her schedule backward and forward. I once asked him how he got so much information on every person on the planet. He’d just shrugged and said he had people.

My ass.

The guy would do wonders for Wingman, Inc. once he graduated. I knew part of the reason they liked him was because of his genius.

I played with the lid of my coffee cup and suddenly felt it.

The anger.

It swirled around me.

Slowly, I looked up into Slater’s dark gaze.

“So now you speak to me?” I hadn’t meant to sound like such a dick.

He took a seat, his eyes never wavering from mine. It was a stare down of epic proportions.

And the shitty part was that the entire school was going to be talking about it in the morning. Our shit was legendary.

I was surprised that Shawn was still in the dark, or maybe she just pretended to be in the dark, because Slater? He was a good actor. He joked. Then again, that had been his job back in the day, right?

He joked; he teased; he was safe.

So fucking safe.

The girls loved him. The guys wanted him.

And he’d primed every single client to perfection. It had been almost too easy when it was the four of us.

“I’m only going to say this once,” he rasped.

“I’m listening.” I leaned back and crossed my arms.

He glared. “Stay the fuck away from her.”

My eyebrows shot up, even though I wasn’t all that surprised. “The her being your roommate?”

“Yeah, the girl whose throat you had your tongue down last night. That girl.” He curled his lip into a sneer. “But now that I think about it, you always had a shitty memory. Need me to draw you a picture?”

“That’s enough,” I said through clenched teeth. “Don’t want you to make a scene. I know how you hate those.”

He looked ready to explode, fists clenched, eyes full of rage. I could feel it then, feel the hurt mixing its way in, the injustice.

It pulled the air from my lungs.

It made me sick to my stomach.

“She’s innocent,” Slater said in a hushed tone. “Keep her that way.”

I nodded, agreeing with him even though I hated every second of it. “We’re just friends. I promise.”

“And the kiss?”

“Trust me. It won’t happen again. I gave my word.”

“It’s funny you think your word actually means something. Funny how I seem to remember a similar conversation with you a few years back, and yet here we fucking sit.”

“Sophie wasn’t—”

“Don’t,” he hissed. “Don’t say her name. Just. Don’t.”

Tears welled in his eyes.

I looked away. I had to.

I couldn’t handle the pain I saw there, or the way it made me want to slit my own wrists so he could see that I still bled for her, still missed her, still hated myself for what happened to her.

He stood. “I mean it, Knox. You owe me.”

“I know,” I whispered. “I know.”

He walked off, leaving gaping students staring at me and him, probably mentally calculating how long it had been since we’d been in the same room.

Easy.

Her funeral.





Chapter Nineteen


Shawn

Knox was late to our tutoring session, and when he did show up, it was without textbook, meaning we had to share, and no coffee. Not that I minded, but he just seemed… different since last night.

He was all business.

From the way he sat a few feet away from me to the way he didn’t meet my eyes when helping me outline.

An hour went by where he didn’t smile, or tease, or flirt, and I found myself missing it.