Co-Ed(28)

This Knox? The one sitting next to me? I didn’t recognize him. “Everything okay?”

He sighed. “Yeah, just tired.”

I winced. “My fault. Hopefully, Slater will be in a better mood tonight and actually let me in the room, though, just in case, I have my keys—”

“He will be,” he said in a confident tone.

“And you know the future now?”

He flinched as if I’d slapped him. Then he leaned back in his chair. “Something like that.” He checked his watch. “Why don’t you finish outlining that last page the way I showed you. I have… a client.”

“Oh.” I pasted on a smile, but I wasn’t feeling it. My cheeks tightened with the need to keep it firmly in place. “Okay, thanks again.”

He stared at me for a few brief seconds before grabbing his bag and walking out the door without a backward glance.

Something was definitely off, but I didn’t have time to process. I had work to do. I kept working on the outline and was about two paragraphs in when I heard the whispers, felt the stares and points.

I looked up.

People were taking pictures of me on their phones.

Others were whispering and laughing.

What had I missed?

As calmly as possible, I grabbed my stuff, shoved it in my backpack, and made my way out of the library.

Leo was in front. “Ready?”

“Huh?”

He shoved his hands in the pocket of his jeans. “Knox said you had a few more things to write down, so I was waiting.”

“For what?”

He frowned. “To drive you back to the dorms.”

“But why?”

“Because you shouldn’t have to walk when you have three chivalrous gentlemen willing to give you a ride.” He winked.

“I bet you’ve been waiting all day to use that double entendre.”

“Two days.” He held up two fingers. “Now get in the car, Shower Girl. It’s time to go back to the dorm and cheer up your grumpy roommate.”

“Don’t you mean yours?” I snorted.

“Knox is always grumpy. What else is new?”

But why?

I would also peg him as tortured, confused, and a bit too confident in his sexual abilities.

It bothered me.

I hated that I wanted to figure him out, and I wondered if that was all part of the plan with Knox. Did he tie everyone up in knots? Is that how he got people sucked in to his vortex of moaning and orgasms?

I shivered.

“Chilled?” Leo grinned. “You know a nice hot shower might be in order…”

“Alone,” I clarified. “And maybe.”

“What if you trip?” He pulled down the street and parked in front of our dorm. “I don’t think I could live with myself if anything—” His face paled then he wiped a hand down it as if he’d just said something stupid, like he’d just messed up or committed a crime.

I reached out and touched his arm. “Hey, everything all right?”

His smile was forced. It was the first time I’d noticed that he looked older, more mature than a junior in college, like life had knocked him around a bit.

“Yeah, it has to be, right?”

“Right.” My eyes narrowed. “You know, you don’t have to do the thing around me.”

He cut the engine and turned his full attention to me. “The thing?”

“Yeah.” I unbuckled my seatbelt. “The ‘hey, I’m so sexy it’s hard to keep clothes on, oh, let me touch you just once and stare through you like I’m making love to your soul’ thing.” I shrugged then yawned. I was too tired to help my bad manners. “It’s just me. I’m not a client. You don’t have to do it.”

His expression sobered.

And he looked away from me like I had just offended him.

I reached for him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“Yeah, you did. You meant every word. Do you think this is an act? Some sort of practiced sexual persona that I have to put on each day like my fucking pants?”

“Uh…” I swallowed against the dryness in my throat. “…no?”

He leaned in until our faces were about a half inch apart; his gaze pinned mine. “What would you say if I told you it took me two hundred and six days to figure out just the right amount of pressure to use against a woman’s mouth?” He tilted his head. “Or the precise moment when a body begs to be touched? Would you believe me? Or say I was full of shit?”

“Both.” I grinned.

He returned my smile. “Thanks for the offer, but honestly, Shower Girl, I don’t know how to be that guy anymore.”

“What guy?”

“The one before her,” he whispered then kissed me on the cheek. “But thank you for believing I could be.”

“I never said—”

“You didn’t have to. It’s in your eyes… I like it, you know. I like the faith you have in me, Finn, especially in Knox. I like that you see past the shit. The problem with that is we’re so deep in it, the only one who doesn’t realize it isn’t real is Knox, and that’s because he’s too busy punishing himself.”

“Why would he do that?”