Page 69 of IOU

She cranes her neck to look at them. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Answer my question.”

Now isn’t the time to admit that bantering with her excites me.

“I did. I told you it’s a comfortable position. You should try it. You might find it’s more comfortable than keeping that scowl on your face all day.”

A hearty chuckle bursts from me. “Is that so?”

She nods. “Yep. It must be hard forcing a frown all day.”

“How do you know it’s forced?”

She shrugs one shoulder. “Science. It’s been proven you use more muscles in your face frowning than you do smiling. You would know that if you went to class.”

Again with the class attendance. “I go to class.”

She nails me with an annoyed look that makes me laugh.

“Sometimes,” I amend. “Happy? I go to classsometimes.”

“How do you get away with that?”

Easy.

“Maverick shows up.”

It’s not actually that hard. Most professors do not care what body calls out “here.”

Her mouth drops open in an O. “Who would voluntarily go to class for you?”

I arch a brow. We’re wading into forbidden territory. “Who says they volunteer?”

She gasps and covers her mouth with her palm, leaving her chest in plain view.

“I knew it! That’s what you use the IOUs for! So you can work during the day but still attend classes!”

Fuck her and her astute reasoning.

“Is crossing your arms as comfortable as me holding a frown?” I bring her attention back to her chest and off my life.

“Oh my God!”

She will never learn.

“Fine!” she admits almost shamefully. “I don’t have a bra on and”—she takes a breath—“I thought you were sleeping and didn’t think I would be going out tonight.”

Suddenly, being trapped here, vulnerable in her presence, feels much better.

I drag a finger lazily around my lips. “I see. So you came home and took off your bra?” I just want her to elaborate.

“You were supposed to be sleeping! I thought you were sick!”

My oh my. How this day has perked up, literally.

“And here we are. Me shirtless and you braless. Oh, the rumors that will be spread tomorrow.”

Not that I care. I just want her to know that whatever rumors are created around me will now include her. Yes, she and I have a contract, but I’m not sure I have enough IOUs to keep her quiet about all of this.

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