so hard my jaw was sore. I convinced myself that I wasn’t pretending it was Decker between my teeth, though I could almost taste rust-like blood pooling in my mouth, thanks to my overactive imagination. “I’m wonderful, you?” I asked, the lie making my teeth loosen from their blow.
“Better now.” Maximillian Hemsworth had charm in spades. It was a physical allure that teased your senses. His shirt was effortlessly pressed but not too stiff. His hair looked the perfect amount of messy and tame. His tie was slightly crooked, and those massive arms of his flexed the moment my eyes landed on them.
“You’ve got game, Maximillian,” I replied with a smile, but I wanted to scowl. Dark hair and pursed lips flooded my mind. I whisked them away. I was armor, baby. Steel.
“I feel like I’m pulling out all the stops. How about you let me take you to dinner?” Maximillian asked before shoving his right hand inside his pants pocket and bouncing on the balls of his feet, feigning that coy shyness I’m sure he thought girls loved. I breathed him in. Even his cologne, a masculine hint of sandalwood and bergamot, seemed orchestrated in some way.
No was the word I wanted to blurt out. “Why not?” I replied with a shrug. If I tried to put distance between Decker and me, Maximillian might be the man for the job—my metaphorical rehab, so to speak. Some people were like drugs. They made you feel great for a little bit, but then you felt like molten tar from the inside out. Decker was prime, white-powdered cocaine. The kind of stuff Mama bought with our tax refund money.
“Your enthusiasm is doing wonders for my pride, doll,” Maximillian replied while biting his lip. I fluttered my lashes, a move I’d seen Mama do a million times, and it made me sick. I was just about to open my mouth to lick his wounds with some verbal enthusiasm, but a dark presence breezed past us. It felt like someone had walked over my grave. I turned to stare. Decker had dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and a blank expression on his face. He walked past like I was…
Nothing. Like I was nothing. Exactly what we told each other we’d be.
“Hey, Mr. H!” Maximillian called at his back. Decker paused. His spine so stiff it could cut ice.
Slowly, ever so slowly, he spun around to face us, his eyes never once greeting mine. “Get to class, Mr. Hemsworth,” Decker gritted out before heading off toward his classroom.
Maximillian let out a low whistle. “Damn. I don’t know how you tolerate him. Grumpy bastard,” he said with a laugh. I nodded because it was the expected thing to do. Because if I didn’t, I would have dropped everything and chased after Decker to demand an explanation or a promise. Neither would be productive.
“Let’s go to class, alright?” I said before looping my arm through his in a comfortable gesture that felt like pricks on my skin.
“As you wish.”
Decker was insufferable in class. It was like someone had shoved a stick so far up his ass that he was speaking in splinters. “Taylor, are you going to raise your hand for every question I ask, or do you have plans on letting other students speak up?” he asked while clicking through a slideshow on the front screen, letting out puffs of white-hot annoyance with every exhale. Beside me, Taylor lowered her hand before leaning forward so that her brown hair covered her embarrassed flush. Biology had never been so…tense.
“What is the purpose of an enzyme? You should have learned this last year, so every damn hand in this room better be up,” Decker gritted. No one seemed fazed that he was cursing in class.
My hand was the first to shoot up, and his eyes glossed over me like I didn’t exist. Buick raised his hand with a lazy wave as he stretched his back. “Yes, Buick?” Decker called on him.
“It’s a protein that speeds up the chemical reactions in our bodies,” he answered effortlessly while adjusting his thick glasses.
“Great, you actually read something last year, Buick. Congratulations,” Decker replied before taking a long gulp of his coffee and slamming it down on the desk.
He continued like that for a while, calling on everyone in the class while completely ignoring my existence. It was pissing me off. When we agreed on nothing, I hadn’t imagined he meant in the classroom, too. Every time I raised my hand,