A Perfect Ten

Page 78

“Just the woman I was thinking about,” I said as soon as I approached.
Her head jerked up, her eyes wide with surprise. After glancing around at all the passing people heading off to classes, she turned back to stare up at me. “People can see us.”
“Damn.” I snapped my fingers and winced as I plopped down next to her. “And here I thought my invisibility cloak was working today.”
She rolled her eyes. “Hardy har har. But seriously, what are you doing talking to me in public?”
I scowled. “Is talking to you in public not allowed?” To keep from reaching for her like I was aching to, I opened my book bag and dug around before pulling up a box full of Junior Mints.
“I just…I guess I didn’t expect for you to...you know...talk to me in public.”
After I opened the top of my Junior Mints, I silently offered her a handful.
A smile lit her face before she held out her palm. “Thank you.” I sprinkled a pile into her hand and then dumped some straight into my mouth.
“I talk to you in public all the time,” I told her around a mouthful.
She seemed to consider that a moment before shrugging and chewing. “I guess you have a point.”
“I know I do.” I swallowed and poured more mints into my mouth. “Now tell me what’s bugging you?”
Her gaze zipped to mine. “Why do you think something’s bugging me?”
I motioned to my own bangs. “You’re doing the hair thing.”
“Hair thing?” She shook her head, letting me know she had no clue what I was talking about.
“Yeah, you know.” I motioned with my hand again. “You always do that thing with your hair when something’s bothering you.”
Blinking, she leaned in toward me. “I do…what?”
“Never mind. Just tell me whose ass I have to kick.”
“You…” She set her hand over her mouth and just kind of stared at me with awe. Then she cleared her throat and dropped her hand as she shook her head. “No one’s ass needs kicking. I was just checking to see if my grade was posted for my filmography final yet.” She looked down at it again and pushed refresh on her screen. “You know the one I was telling you about? Where we had to do a group project and turn in a small skit. Since my group named me freaking director, I basically had to take responsibility for making sure everything got done?”
Hell, yes I remembered her telling me about it. It was the reason she hadn’t been able to come over at night more times than I liked. I nodded and motioned her to continue talking.
She blew out a breath. “Well, I turned it in yesterday.” With a soft growl, she went on. “And I’m worried as hell about our score. I still want to kill Blaze for flaking out on me. I ended up having to write the entire script because she was pissed at me for calling her a loser.”
I held up a hand. “Wait. Did you say Blaze? Is she an Alpha Delta Pi sorority girl? Really named Jan, or something like that, but calls herself—”
“Yes,” Caroline groaned out her answer with a roll of her eyes. “Do you know her?”
I bit the inside of my lip, refraining from letting it slip how well I’d once known Blaze. With a shrug, I mumbled, “You called it right. She’s kind of a bitch.”
“Kind of,” she muttered as if that was an understatement. “She told me I should cheat on Zoey with Quinn…right in front of Zoey’s face.”
Oren snorted and rolled his eyes. “Sounds about right.”
“Anyway,” Caroline went on. “The entire project has been a nightmare. Not only did Blaze ditch out on us, but then Tad didn’t get his sound effects in to me until Saturday, so I had to freaking rush to get the entire thing produced, and…”
When she looked down at her phone again, I set my hand on her wrist, stopping her. “You got an A.”
She blinked and crinkled her brow. “And you know this because…?”
“Because I know how much time and effort you put into it. No way could you get something lower, and it’s going to take forever for your grade to post, so I decided to just tell you what’ll it be. There. Now you don’t have to wait and stew.”
With a reluctant grin, she bumped her shoulder into mine. “Well, look who’s being all sweet and making me feel better.”
I motioned with my finger to quiet her. “Just keep all that sweet shit quiet. I have an asshole reputation to uphold.”
“Oh, right.” She winked and set her finger over her lips. Her lips, which looked really good. I was probably about to do something like lean in and kiss the fuck out of those luscious lips when my phone rang.