Page 67 of Love Sick

Forty-five minutes later, I’m glaring as she sits cross-legged on the couch beside me. “Homework?” I say. “Seriously?”

“Did you think I could mindfuck the information into your head, Julian? You have to work for it.”

A wide grin grows on my face. “Hearing Miss Goody Two-shoes sayfuckis always the highlight of my day.”

She rolls her eyes. “I made it so easy. Igaveyou my flashcards! You know how lucky you are right now? I don’t share my flashcards with anyone.”

“Such a greedy girl.”

She smacks my shoulder. “Be serious.”

“Fine!” I slump into the cushions of her couch. “I’ll do your stupid flashcards.”

What a waste of that satisfied smile. I can think of so many other things I could do to make her smile like that.

Ugh. Maybe studying with Grace is a bad idea. All I think about is sex.

I need to get laid.

Maybe she’ll be into the idea of study-break stress relief.

“—then you won’t forget.” She finishes her speech with a nod of her head.That’s that.

“What?”

She growls. “Are you listening?”

I offer a contrite expression, and she lifts her gaze to the ceiling, taking a deep breath.

Nah. She definitely won’t be into casual sex. I doubt I could do casual sex with her. Well, if that’s all she’d give me, I would, but that fantasy of her sleep-tousled and proffering morning coffee is irrevocable now. That’s something I could wake up to every day for the rest of my life.

“Julian!”

I jolt.

She blinks at me. “Wow. How did you make it through med school?”

“A lot of Adderall and being okay with mediocre grades.”

Her shoulders droop.

“Oh, and I slept with the dean.”

For two seconds, she stares, owl-eyed. At my teasing wink, she descends into giggles, and I preen internally. It wakes a new craving inside me—the desire to make her laugh.

My phone buzzes.

Ariel (L&D):Hey Dr. Santini. You free tonight?

With an adorable and determined notch between her brows, Grace organizes papers into stacks to study. “Okay. We can work around your concentration issues. I’ll get this in your head if it’s the last thing I do. I promise.”

She’s so cute, this little bookworm. So sweet. Something inside warms and turns molten, asking me to stay by her side.

I leave Ariel on read.

Grace

SEPTEMBER, YEAR 2

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