Tutoring the Player (Campus Wallflowers #1)(30)

“Thanks.” I move to my desk to grab my laptop and books. “You can have the chair.”

“That’s okay.” She sits on my bed, angling her legs, so her feet hang off the side like she’s trying to keep her shoes off the comforter.

“You’re okay to get your shoes on the bed, sweet Daisy.”

A flare of annoyance sparks in her eyes. “I am really not that sweet.”

I sit on the opposite side of the bed from her. The mattress dips with my weight, and her knees hit mine. If I’d punched her, I doubt she’d move any faster than she does now as she scrambles to move away from me.

Laughing, I shake my head. “Never met a chick quite like you.”

“Like what?” She rearranges herself so that she’s facing me on the bed but too far away for us to accidentally touch.

Smart, hot, quiet, fiery. All of the words describe her, but they aren’t enough. Instead of trying to explain that, I ask a question that’s been floating around since we met. “Do you date a lot?”

Her brows lift, and slowly she smiles, then giggles. “I’ve spent the past three nights tutoring you. What do you think?”

“Off guys at the moment?” I lean on an elbow and kick my legs out toward the end of the bed.

“Do you date a lot?” she asks. Her tone is full of accusations like she thinks I’m some sort of serial dater.

“Not really.”

“Oh, come on. Even I know about your reputation for…” Sweet Daisy looks a little flustered as she realizes she doesn’t want to finish the end of that sentence.

“For?” I prompt.

“Dating.” She waves a hand in the air and looks away. “Partying and sleeping with lots of girls.”

“I didn’t realize my reputation made me out to be such a badass.”

She rolls her eyes. “So it isn’t true?”

“I didn’t say that.” I grin.

“Doesn’t it feel… I don’t know, shallow or something?”

Her face is full of uncertainty and not the judgment I expected.

“No,” I answer honestly. “Connection never feels shallow. Not to me.”

She nibbles on the side of her lip as she studies me. Sometimes the way she looks at me is unnerving.

“Should we?” I motion toward our books.

“Yes. You’re right. We should.” She looks more at ease as she pours her attention on the material. I already knew she was smart, but it’s reaffirmed every time she jumps into tutor mode.

She breaks down the information for me and takes her time making sure I’ve cemented each point before going to the next. The way her brain works is fascinating. She can take each piece apart, but she never loses sight of the big picture.

If I were struggling, I think she’d really be helping me.

As we’re finishing physics and moving on to statistics, Liam knocks on the door and opens it a crack.

“Hey, sorry. I don’t want to interrupt, but I’m ordering pizza. Do you guys want anything?”

“Grab an extra cheese for the morning,” I say.

“Already done,” he says. “Daisy?”

“No, thanks.”

I glance between them for any unspoken communication. Is he still into her? I can’t tell. He’s so damn polite it’s hard to tell the difference with him.

He backs out of the room with a wave.

I can’t read anything about her feelings for him either. She’s not flushed like she used to be during lab, but that just might be her getting comfortable around us.

Daisy looks down at her book and tilts it where I can see the page. “Is this what you covered in class today?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “Let me guess. You don’t like pizza? Or you weren’t allowed to have it as a kid?”

“I like pizza.”

“But?”

“No but.” Her slim shoulders rise and lower. “I ate before I came over.”

“What’s your favorite pizza topping?”

“Pepperoni or green peppers.”

My lip curls. “I don’t understand veggies on pizza. It’s pizza. It isn’t supposed to be healthy.”

“It makes more sense than a plain cheese pizza,” she retorts.

“I like what I like.”

“And what you like is cold cheese pizza in the morning?”

“Exactly.”

“I’ve never had pizza in the morning.” She purses her lips. “Or at least I don’t think I have. And before you ask, it wasn’t that I wasn’t allowed or anything.”

“Leftover pizza in the morning is the best. Especially after a night out.”

“Are you going out tonight?”

“Nah. Game tomorrow.”

“Oh right.”

“Are you coming?”

“Probably not. Violet has a thing against sporting events.”

“A thing against them? Why?”

“Freshman year, she was friends with some of the jocks. Specifically, the basketball team. She and Gavin had a thing briefly. They didn’t date or anything, but I think she wanted to, then he hooked up with her roommate. After that, she stopped going anywhere she might run into him. That was over a year ago.”