Page 50 of Brat Baby
Relief washes over me that he took it so well. My face must be doing that stupid thing where my emotions are written all over it, because his smile goes from playboy to gentleman in a flash.
“Friends, still, though, right? Maybe even study partners, depending on the results of this quiz?”
The sudden disappearance of tension has me grinning a little too wide, but I don’t care. He wasn’t an asshole, and honestly, if I didn’t have my daddies to reel back in, I would have taken Will up on his offer for the weekend. “Friends.”
I turn around in my seat, still smiling, only to be slammed with a glare from Derek that makes my insides want to peelaway from my bones. It is only just now becoming apparent that most of the class has already stopped their conversations, with everyone waiting for me to face the front. Shrinking down into my seat, I try to make myself as small as possible as my pulse thunders in my ears.
Sure, I’d been bratting on Monday, and I’d planned on a little snark today, but what I hadn’t been prepared for was the rage emanating from him right now, without me having done anything. Honestly, it feels a little overboard. Like there is something going on that I’m unaware of.
He can’t seriously be angry because I’m talking to Will, can he?
Clearly, Will can feel it too. He clears his throat and calls out to Derek. “Sorry, Professor King. Emery was just agreeing to be my study partner, depending on the results of the quiz today. I have a feeling I’m going to need the help.”
Derek snaps his gaze to Will, all but glaring at the poor guy, and then he looks away for a few seconds. The whole class murmurs for a moment before Derek refocuses on the room. He sends one final dark look my way, like I’m somehow at fault, which has me internally raising my eyebrows, before he launches into his instructions for the quiz.
I think this man is actually jealous of the guy behind me. I almost laugh out loud at the thought of picking Will over Derek.
“There will be silence from this moment forward. Any conversation will result in a failed grade. Please open the student portal and select the Quiz task from our course page. There are three versions of the quiz. They have been assigned randomly. Once everyone has the assessment open, I’ll unlock the test.”
In a slight daze, I open my laptop and follow the instructions until the quiz page is open, and there is a big circle on the screen that says Assessment Pending. The room is silent, except for general movement noises.
Eventually, Derek stops scanning the students, taps a few keys on his laptop, and then a huge countdown timer appears on the screen behind him. He looks directly at me. “No talking to the people around you.”
I have to cover my grin with a hand. Heisfucking jealous. A burst of energy shoots through my body so quickly that it’s a fucking mission to keep myself from wiggling in my seat like an overeager puppy.
“You may begin.”
The quiz loads, and the first question appears on my screen, the answer jumping right out at me.
This is fan-fucking-tastic. All I need to do is crush this exam and come up with a way to really be a brat for Derek.
Then he will be mine again. I know it.
Chapter 29
Emery
My dream is trying to suck me back into deep slumber as my bed shifts beneath me. The fight I put up to drag myself completely out of sleep after taking for-fucking-ever to fall asleep last night is ridiculous, but I have to know. I have to know if it’s Xavier sneaking into my room.
If it’s him, my tiny little bubble of hope might become big enough to hold.
I stay completely still as a very quiet, barely there shuffle comes from the foot of my bed, moving around to my side. Did he sleep with his shoes on? Or are they out in the living room?
Reminding myself to keep my breathing deep and even, I do my very fucking best to mimic sleep. It’s something I’ve done in the past, so I know I’m good at it. Had enough practice. A very male scent tinges the massive lungfuls of air I’m inhaling as I concentrate on trying to slow down my pulse, so it doesn’t give my conscious state away.
The presence stops at my side and hovers for one heartbeat, then a second, really testing my resolve. Do I open my eyes now and catch him? Or do I continue to play this game with him?
The air shifts and fingers trace down from my eyebrow, over my cheekbone, to my jaw. I almost give myself away with a flinch, but I mask it by turning into the hand and making a fake sleep noise. Continue to play, it is.
Then the absolute last fucking thing I am expecting happens.
Lips press into mine. They don’t move. There’s no tongue. Just a pressing of our lips, like I’m Snow-fucking-White and he’s my Prince Charming.
The hands and lips leave my skin at the same time, and I almost whimper. Fuck, I don’t want him to leave, but I can’t suddenly wake up and tell him that. If he wanted me in on the fact that he is sleeping with me at night, he would have woken me up the first time he did it.
Instead, he has been doing this stealthy sleepover bullshit.
The latch of my door makes a quietschnickof opening, and I can’t resist a second longer. Eyes open, I watch as blond curls and a black shirt walk out my door, a hand with a ring around the thumb pulling the door shut behind him.
