Page 41 of Unloved

He smiles brighter at my sudden ferocity.

“I think I do, pretty boy—I did my fucking research.”

I shove him harder against the wall, furious he isn’t retaliating.

“Freddy,” Holden calls, grabbing my arm and pulling me back. “He’s not worth it. Back off him. Let’s go.”

Holden looks mildly disappointed—but not in me, it seems. In Kane, his new partner.

I shrug his grip away and grab my stuff, stalking out the door with yet another crushing weight on my shoulders.

It hasn’t been this bad in a while.

Piling on my dad’s phone call with the shitty practice and Toren Kane getting on my last fucking nerve, I feel about ready to scream by the time Dr. Cipher’s teaching assistant passes out last week’s math quiz.

A fucking 45.

Not just a failure, butworsethan last time.

And I tried—really,reallytried.

My face is burning hot with embarrassment at even the thought of telling Ro. I crumple the paper in my fist before shoving it into my bag and darting out the door the second we’re dismissed.

For a moment, I debate canceling our tutoring session altogether. But when I open our text thread, I see our last conversation—the little emojis she sent—and I turn my ass back around and head toward the COSAM center, where she asked to meet.

I even stop to grab an iced dirty chai and a black iced coffee for myself—as if bringing her a treat might soften the blow of her disappointment once I show her the test results.

I want the smile her go-to drink order will bring her before the inevitable letdown.

“Look what the cat dragged in.”

Every bit of stress that had escaped my body at the thought of seeing Ro comes thundering back tenfold at the grating voice calling to me the second I enter the tutoring offices.

Donning my usual smirk, I nod toward him. “Donaldson.”

“Fredderic,” he says, leaning against the countertop. “What are you doing here? Lost?”

I feel a desperate need to needle him, and I can’t help responding with, “Just here to pick up my girl.”

A light snickering from his cluster of cronies listening behind him echoes in the tense silence.

As if summoned by thought alone, Ro emerges from the back office—Carmen’s office, I realize, my stomach plummeting.

Dressed in white pants and a sage-green top that shows a sliver of the tan, brown skin of her stomach, Ro looks gorgeous. She’s so smart, kind, and funny, too. And again, I find myself wondering why in the hell she’s dating Tyler Donaldson.

“RoRo,” he calls, moving to stand by her desk.

I know it’s hers because her backpack with a ribbon tied to it is resting on top.

She gives a quick, small smile to Tyler before looking my way a little anxiously.

My palms feel sweaty.

“Hey, Freddy,” she says kindly. My shoulders relax, any lingering anxiety in my body melting away at her open, sincere smile directed to me. “Let me get my stuff and we can go.”

“Take your time.”

I see it coming long before it happens. Tyler steps into her space, crowding her enough that I can hear the desk creaking with their weight. My stare darts to the ceiling before my curiosity gets the better of me and I watch them kiss.

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