Page 101 of Mud, Love, and Chemistry

He sounds incredibly defeated by regret, I feel the need to comfort him, so I place my hand on his shoulder. His muscles instantly tense under my touch, but then relax. “It’s okay. I think I needed to hear all that shit from Connor.”

Sam gives me a sideways glance. “Really? Why?”

“For the last year, I’ve been thinking he left me because I was too weak to hold on to him. But really, he left me because he couldn’t handle my strength.” I squeeze Sam’s shoulder. “You helped me to see that. So, thank you.”

As we stare at each other, the silence falls between us again. This time, though, it’s not heavy. It’s warm, like we’ve opened the curtains to a bright, sunny day. I get lost in Sam’s eyes. The adoration pouring from them makes my heart race.

When he reaches up to lay his hand on mine, his touch sears my skin. So much so, it breaks the spell, and I flinch away. What the hell was that? I clear my throat. “Um, we should get started on the presentation.”

With a deflated nod, Sam scoots his chair closer to me, turning the computer so I can see the screen, and my whole body tenses. We’re so close, I can feel his heat. A rush of adrenaline courses through me as I recall how warm he is when he’s pressed against me. If I adjust my position, I could feel that again.

“What do you think about this?” Sam’s voice wrenches me back to reality, and I shake my head to clear it.

Take it easy, Brynn.

As he walks me through his latest idea, which is a play on Twenty Questions, I slowly relax. The presentation is a nice distraction from my growing desires. We need to get back to this. Back to focusing on the study group and not getting naked.

His idea is a simple design, but it’ll be effective. I tilt my head, and when he notices me staring, he gives me an incredulous look. “What?”

“Have I ever said thank you for all the work you put into these presentations?”

His lips curl playfully. “No.”

“Well, I’m saying it now. Thank you, Sam.”

“Wow, two ‘thank you's’ in one day. I should go buy a lottery ticket,” he says with a wink.

I smack his arm playfully. “Hey, I mean it. You’ve made the study group really successful.”

His cheeks tinge pink. “Well, I couldn’t have done it without your expert knowledge.”

“Whatever. You’re just as smart as I am. You’re the only other person to challenge my test scores.”

“Does all of this make us even, then?” He locks his eyes on mine, not taunting me, but almost like he’s pleading. “Can we stop being enemies?”

The air is stolen from my lungs, but I whisper, “Sam, we haven’t been enemies for a while.”

“Good.” He noticeably relaxes before turning back to the computer to shut it down. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I can feel Maya’s glare burning a hole right through me.”

My laugh cuts any lingering tension, and we pack up to leave. Sam heads for the door, but I walk toward the counter to throw my cup away. As I do, Maya waves me down. Hesitantly, I walk to the other end of the counter to meet her.

“Hey, Maya. What’s up?”

“You win.”

“Excuse me?” I quirk an eyebrow.

She huffs and folds her arms. “You win, okay? Sam is all yours.”

“What?” I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Maya, you’ve got things all wrong. There’s nothing between me and Sam.”

“Oh, shut up, Brynn.”

My eyes pop wide open to see her rolling hers.

“You can stand there and tell me all about how you don’t think there’s anything between you two, but I just spent a good two hours watching you.” She licks her lips, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth. “I saw the way he looks at you. He doesn’t look at anyone like that.”

My lips part. “Maya, we’re classmates. That’s it.”

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