Page 46 of Mud, Love, and Chemistry

“A game?”

“Yeah, we can split the room into teams and play Jeopardy, or something.”

I crinkle my nose. The idea sounds good, but executing it sounds like I’m going to struggle on a computer. “Do you know how to do that?”

“Yeah.” He nods, the smile growing in smugness. “It won’t take too long. We could knock it out in a couple hours.”

I jerk my head back. We? “You mean, like, us meet up to work on it?”

“Well, yeah. We could meet at the library or the coffee place down the street.”

My heart leaps into my throat. That isn’t anything I want to do. “Um, can I email you the info and you put it together?”

His excitement falters. “Oh, um, yeah. That works too.”

I choose to ignore the strange disappointment on his face as he picks up his backpack, hikes it onto his shoulder, and heads for the door. He doesn’t even say goodbye as he leaves.

***

The following Friday, when I get to study group, I don’t have anything to do. Sam made the presentation, so he’s got everything on his computer, and I have nothing. I mean, I supplied all the questions and answers, but I have no physical contribution.

I plop down into the desk chair and swivel around. I hope this session goes well. Sam’s idea wasn’t terrible, even if what he said about my presentation was. I still can’t believe he called me boring right after he apologized for the crap he said the day before. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still miffed about it.

What am I going to do about him? Things between us are so weird.

It’s his fault. One second, he’s doing something sweet like telling me I’m brilliant only to negate it the next second by saying something stupid. It’s confusing to no end. I don’t know what happened to the guy I met in July.

Oh wait, that’s right. He doesn’t exist.

At least not the sensitive, emotional side of him. Physically, he’s the same person, and I can’t deny my attraction to him. I mean, the guy is hot. Downright gorgeous, actually. But a handsome face isn’t enough when you’re a jerk on the inside. Some of the things he’s said have been incredibly harsh, so I can’t blame myself for reacting the way I have. And after all the lies and manipulation, he deserves every bit of pain I inflict.

Though, he did initiate the apology. That was nice of him.

Not nice enough for me to completely forgive him, but maybe enough for me to keep things civil. At least while we’re working on the study group stuff. I mean, we’re going to have to work together no matter what, so why make it more difficult than it has to be?

I’m feeling better about the situation when Sam walks in the room. He shoots me a smile, and something in my brain ticks. Something from a few months ago when I first met him and thought he was someone special. It warms me. I don’t want to like the feeling, but I can’t help it. Even if it’s rooted in vanity, it’s still comforting.

And I’d rather have that than all this antagonizing tension.

He sets his backpack in the chair. “Hey.”

“Hey. All set?”

He nods. “Yeah, I want to go through it real quick to make sure it’s all still there.” Pulling out his laptop and several cables, He sets them all on the desk. “You want to help?”

“Me?” I’m sure the incredulous look on my face is ridiculous. “I don’t know how.”

“I can teach you.” He gives me a teasing smirk. “If you’re not too stubborn to learn.”

That was almost nice. “That’s okay. You should probably do it. I’ll just be in the way.”

“Suit yourself.” Sam gets down to business. He plugs in the different cables, connecting the computer to the projector, and soon the presentation is on the screen. He clicks through all the slides to ensure the questions and answers are all there in the right places.

“You did that very quickly,” I say, begrudgingly impressed.

“It’s pretty easy once you know how to use the program. I can’t believe you’ve gone so long without learning.”

“It’s not like I’ve never used it.” I fold my arms. “I’ve always made the most basic of presentations and used it as more of a guide.”

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