Page 18 of The Jack*ss in Class

Her nose was so buried in the notebook she was writing in, she didn’t notice me until I stopped at her table, coffees in hand. “Fancy meeting you here.”

She didn’t even look up. “Following me now, Kingman?”

“You caught me. I have spies all over campus reporting your location to me at all times.”

That got her attention. Her head snapped up, dark eyes narrowing. “Why would that not surprise me?”

“Surprise.” I pulled out the chair across from her. “About this tutoring thing.”

“I already told you it’s a moot point.” She returned to her books, clearly dismissing me. “The tutoring program is to help students who need it. You clearly don’t.”

I let out a big grin. “Was that a compliment hidden in there somewhere? Did you just admit I’m smart?”

“Don’t let it go to your head, Kingman. I’m not totally convinced you didn’t just memorize all that jazz you said in class from some study guide.”

“I think, if you’ll recall, it was a duet with Gryff.”

Her lips twitched, but she maintained her serious expression. Progress.

“Look,” I said, leaning forward. “We both have to do this tutoring program thing. But what if we just... did our homework in the same space? No actual tutoring required.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“We sign off online saying when and where we meet. You don’t have to teach me anything, I don’t have to pretend I need help, and we both get credit for participating in the program.” I spread my hands. “Win-win.”

“And what do you get out of this arrangement?”

More time sparring with you. “Coffee?”

She snorted, but I could see her considering it. Time to sweeten the deal.

“I’ll buy your coffee for the semester too.”

Wrong move. Her expression went from considering to closed-off in an instant.

“I can buy my own coffee, thank you very much.” She started gathering her books, her shoulders tensing. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”

“Whoa, wait.” I held up my hands in surrender. “That came out wrong. I wasn’t trying to…I mean, I know you can afford…” I was making it worse. I took a breath.

“Let me try again. No coffee bribes. Just two people, doing their homework, occasionally acknowledging each other’s existence. Maybe even having a conversation that doesn’t involve cute fuzzy livestock making people spill their coffee all across campus.”

She paused in her packing. “The donkey chaos was your fault. You were chasing him.”

“Partially my fault,” I corrected. “But I seem to recall that if someone hadn’t lent a certain four-legged troublemaker to the soccer team for a pep rally, I wouldn’t have had to chase him through half the campus.”

“If someone hadn’t decided to show off his...” she waved her hand in a circular motion in my direction, “football... skills in front of the entire student body, he probably wouldn’t have gotten so freaked out and run all the way through the quad.”

“See? We’re already great at conversation.” I gestured to her books. “Come on. What’s the worst that could happen?”

She sat back down, but her expression remained skeptical. “You actually do your own homework?”

“Shocking, I know. But yes. How do you think I maintain my eligibility to chase balls around a field?”

Another lip twitch. “Fine,” she said finally. “But I have conditions.”

“Name them.”

“No trying to charm me. No asking personal questions.” She ticked them off on her fingers. “And absolutely no....looking at my notebook, umm notes. Keep your eyes on your own paper.”

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