Page 12 of Psync
It wasn’t Eli’s fault all the buildings on this side of campus looked the same. He’d been inside three before he’d finally found the right one.
And now he was late for his first geometry class. He barely glanced at the room number as he scurried into the room and squeezed himself into the first free seat in the back.
He opened his bag and pulled out a notebook, doing his best to avoid the teacher’s eye as she stared him down for daring to interrupt her class.
“You’ll have to share with your neighbor. I’m out of syllabi now.” The edge to her voice let Eli fill in the,If you’d been on time, maybe you would have gotten one, she’d left out.
He turned to his neighbor, and, to his horror, it was Haruka giving him a smug smile. Eli decided he’d let hell freeze over before he asked to share anything with him.
“Early risers usually tend to be on time,” Haruka whispered.
“I don’t usually get up that early.” Eli ground out tersely.
“Why the special occasion this morning? Was it just to see me?”
Eli snorted and ignored him. For the next few minutes, he used all his compartmentalizing powers on paying attention to the teacher. Since he’d missed the beginning of class, he didn’t get to hear the usual introductory speech. The teacher—who’s name he’d also missed—had decided to dive right into the curriculum, and Eli already felt lost. This was a 101 class. Why was did he feel so out of his league?
And what was Haruka doing here? According to Alice, he was a junior. He should be well past 101 courses at this point.
His eye fell on the pen his neighbor was rhythmically tapping on his denim-covered knee.
“At least you’re wearing more clothes than you were this morning.”
The pen paused.
Shit. Had he just said that out loud?
Reluctantly, Eli raised his eyes to Haruka’s face and then immediately wished he hadn’t. The man had the devil in his eyes.
“I knew you missed me.” The slow smile creeping across Haruka’s stupidly attractive face forced Eli to look away.
“Who would miss you?” Eli muttered to his desk.
“I know it’s the first day, but I want to you pull outDeductive Geometryso we can go over chapter one before tomorrow,” the still-nameless teacher said. Eli was really going to have to learn her name before the end of class.
Wait.Deductive Geometry? He only hadGeometry: A Comprehensive Course. Fuck, he was going to have to hit the campus store immediately after class, but until then . . .
Apparently, hell was about to freeze over.
“Um.” Eli ventured.
Haruka didn’t respond, but something about his body language told Eli he was listening.
“I don’t have the book with me today.”
Haruka narrowed his eyes and sat back in his seat. “So, you were late, need to share the syllabus, and the textbook—” He held up a hand and was ticking off each transgression on his fingers as he went. “Do you want me to take tests for you, too, while I’m at it?”
Eli scowled, and for some ungodly reason this prompted Haruka to smile. One that actually reached his unfairly pretty eyes this time.
“Are you going to share, or do I need to move and find someone else to partner with?”
In response, Haruka scooted his desk over until it was touching Eli’s.
They both bent their heads over the book as the teacher went over the material. While Eli fought to follow along, the strangest sensation crept over him—he was warm and tingly, and it felt good. Really, insanely good. He started to sink into it until he realized the warmth was Haruka’s body heat.
That was when it finally dawned on him exactly how physically close they were.
Adrenaline coursed through him as he waited for his body’s defense systems to kick in and punish him for getting too close to another person. But nothing happened. Maybe it was because they weren’t actually touching?
