Page 47 of Keep Me Never
Paige’s closest friend.
My best friend’s soon-to-be-real brother.
Bro, fucking stop!
Self-loathing eats up my chest, its teeth digging in and spitting me out.
Throwing myself into my seat, I close my eyes, and that is exactly how I stay until it’s time to get out.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Chase
The second my pen lifts from the page, my notebook is swiped from under me, my head yanking toward Paige as she grins my way, quickly flipping through the pages.
I tense, watching as she scans over my handwriting, a small scowl building along her features as she does.
“I don’t know whether to be embarrassed or impressed,” she teases. “Or maybe I’m a little of both because your notes are almost the lecture verbatim.”
I force myself to chuckle, hoping it doesn’t sound as anxious as it feels, and track the item as she slides the notebook back onto my desktop. If she were to look closer, she would see it is nearly the entire passage from today’s section. I copied as much as I could in the library this morning.
“Is this your way of kissing his butt since nothing ever happened with the whole phone-during-testing thing, being overprepared just in case he comes to look? I still feel like that was my fault, by the way.”
“It wasn’t and one of us has to act like we’re paying attention to avoid his.”
She tips her head, her long hair falling over her shoulder and piling on her desk. “Are you calling me out right now?”
“I mean, you’ve been staring at me for the last five minutes.”
Her lips purse adorably, that cute little blush I might be getting addicted to creeping up her chest as she takes in the slow curve of my mouth.
I can’t help but lean in a little, keeping my tone low. “Not going to deny it, Shortcake?”
“Shush.” She faces forward to avoid giving away her full smile, and I’m a little surprised at how much I want to see it, at how nice this feels.
It’s been a few weeks since the theater, and while my mind was heavy in the few days that followed, we’ve somehow fallen into this easy rhythm where we’re a bit more playful than before. A small shift thatsheinitiated, and though I’ve tried, I find myself powerless to evade, likely from the fact that I don’twantto. I quite like this other side of her, and I like to think I’m the only one who sees it.
I keep my eyes locked on the side of her face, knowing she can feel my stare, and watch as her smile breaks free little by little, welcoming the prickling sensation that plays along my spine.
Finally, she gives, an airy laugh leaving her as her chin drops to her chest, but only for a moment before she faces forward once more. “It’s your fault.”
“Oh?” I fold my hands over the edge of the desk, moving all the way over until I’m all but caging her tiny frame. “Do I distract you?”
“Not even a little.” She shakes her head, but her lips couldn’t possibly curve higher.
I stare at the corner of her mouth, a smile on my own face as I drop back against my seat. “Mm-hmm.”
She laughs this time, folding her legs in her chair and shifting so she’s facing me. “Okay, but seriously. This is so boring. If everyone followed the syllabus, we should have already read this. Why do we need to sit and listen to him talk about it?”
“Did you read it?”
She scrunches her nose with a grin. “No, but I will later.”
Now I’m the one who’s laughing.
“Okay, serious question.” She glances at the professor and leans toward me. “If you had to guess, what would you say was Professor Michaels’s favorite hobby?”
My eyes cut forward, narrowing on the silver-haired man. “Judging by the vest he’s wearing today, chess. Or knitting. Competitive bird watching?”
