like I wanted to be with her, to shield her from the world? It was ridiculous, I knew: me, totally going overboard here for a stranger. I was drawn to her, I liked her. I couldn’t deny that. I wasn’t the type of person to be wishy-washy, to waver back and forth and never admit to myself what I wanted.
No, for whatever reason, me sitting beside her on Monday had started something, ignited something deep within me I could not put out—nor did I want to. I had to know more about Bree, and working with her honestly felt like the easiest way.
She, uh, didn’t seem like the kind of girl who appreciated someone pushing themselves into her life, but you know what? I didn’t care. I wasn’t going anywhere.
I shrugged, taking a sip of coffee from my travel mug, which thoroughly disgusted her, if her face was anything to judge. “That’s the beauty of group projects,” I told her. “You’re forced to work with people you wouldn’t normally talk to. You never know—you and I might just get along great.”
Bree let out a disbelieving chuckle. “Right.” She started to fiddle with her pen, doing anything she could to avoid looking at me.
I let her be, knowing that she would be my partner, whether she realized it or not. There was no one else in this class I wanted to partner up with, no one else I wanted to spend quality time with outside of these walls. Her, though? I wanted to know more about this girl, and what better way than to hang out and work on school shit? Nobody liked doing school shit. There was no better way to bond.
When Friday came, and the professor set aside the last fifteen minutes of class to jot down everyone’s groups and partners, I somehow managed to make her mine.
Chapter Three – Bree
I had no idea why Mason thought I would make the best partner in the entire class. Ever since he showed up late and sat next to me to try to avoid the professor’s dire glare, he’d been nonstop. Trying to talk to me, trying to joke with me, trying to…hell, I didn’t even know. I had no idea what Mason thought he was doing, why he wouldn’t just forget me and move on like everyone else in my life.
Like, come on. Just because he had to sit beside me one day did not automatically mean he had to sit next to me forevermore, you know? But, unfortunately, it seemed he did not get the memo. Mason continued to sit by me, and the bastard became my partner for the psychology project.
Great, I know. I was going to have so much fun with him.
Sarcasm. Because I wasn’t. I never had fun anymore, but I knew for a fact that I would not have any fun whatsoever with him or his flippant, glib, annoyingly persistent attitude.
I was so annoyed with him that I could not stop thinking about the smile he wore when he told the professor that he and I were partners. When the professor had looked to me for assurance, I’d been unable to do anything, still so shocked that he’d want to be my partner.
No one ever wanted to be my anything. That was not an exaggeration, that was fact, learned in the last few years.
Frankly, I didn’t know what Mason thought. Was he the kind of guy who tried his hardest to get in a girl’s pants, doing whatever he thought necessary to get there? Or, maybe, was he genuinely just trying to be my partner? I didn’t know which one would be worse.
I could not stop thinking about his smile, nor his confidence, all day. All freaking day, all throughout the rest of my classes. It was silly, and also annoying to no end.
What was worse? Mason was kind of cute. He had short, light brown hair that I bet got lighter in the sun, warm brown eyes that matched the color on top of his head. Dimples on his cheeks when he smiled, and teeth that were perfectly straight and white. Square chin, with a small cleft in its center. Clean-shaven.
And, what was the absolute worst part of all of that? When he was telling the professor that he and I were partnering together, I got a whiff of him. I smelled him. And, by God, the boy didn’t smell awful.
He smelled good, actually. Had to be his deodorant or something, or maybe I