Tutoring the Player Excerpt

“Need a pencil?” He lifts his from the top of his notebook, and because I’m not sure where mine is at the moment, I accept it.

My hand shakes as I trace along the rays with a ruler. I’m embarrassed to admit how his presence a mere foot away from me has me unsteady on my feet and struggling to make air flow through my lungs.

The daisy charm on my necklace swings forward as I crouch over the table. Liam drums his thumbs absently on the table.

“There,” I say when I’m done.

I finally get a deep breath that clears some of my nerves, but then I get a big inhale of his faint cologne, and my chest tightens. He even smells perfect.

“I talked to him.”

“Who?”

“Liam.” I pace in front of her, waving my hands wildly. “And he talked to me. Like a lot. He was so nice, Violet. Like not just polite, but friendly. He asked me questions, and he invited me to come to a hockey game.” Or maybe he just said I should go to a game. Whatever. It’s as close to an invite as I’m ever getting.

“Woah. Seriously?”

I nod my head quickly like a bobblehead.

“Oh my gosh. I can’t believe it. What spurred you to do it? Was it all the Pride and Prejudice? Women knew how to speak to dudes back then—cut them with words without even trying.” Her eyes widen. “Ooooh, or was it the dress?”

“My lab partner was absent again, and I got moved to their group.”

“Their?”

“Liam and Jordan,” I grumble the second name a little. It would have been a perfect two hours if it weren’t for him.

“Ah, the bad boy to your good guy crush.” She takes a bite of her sandwich. “One of them is faking.”

“I don’t think it’s Jordan.”

“Then maybe Liam isn’t really that nice.”

“He is, Vi.” I finally sit and remember dreamily how considerate he was. No one else would have welcomed me into their group like that. He was everything I hoped he would be. No, even more.

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