He packs up and stands up. “Thanks for your help.”
“Sure thing.”
He lingers in front of me for a second before flashing that cocky, pretty-boy smile. “See how much fun that was, helping me? You sure you don’t want to tutor me? ”
I sigh and fight a smile. I shake my head. “I don’t have time to be someone’s one-on-one tutor. You can come here for helpthough, whenever you need it. There are plenty of tutors here who would be happy to help you.”
That fiery flicker is back again, burning bright in his bourbon eyes as he gazes down at me. “The only one I want is you, Poppy.”
My stomach does a somersault. He lingers for an extra second before he walks off. And I’m left sitting there, my skin hot and tingling at his words.
But then, a second later, I remind myself that he’s just screwing with me. Nick St. George is a legendary flirt. He’s only saying things like that to get a rise out of me.
The rational part of my brain catches up, reminding me of what he admitted during our short session together.
He doesn’t like studying. He doesn’t like putting in the work. He saves assignments for the last minute.
I’d bet anything he wants me to tutor him so I can just do most of the work for him. He did that a lot in high school, copying off his friends’ homework so he wouldn’t have to do it himself.
Sure, Nick is hot and charming, but he’s shallow. And selfish. He only cares about one thing—hockey—and slacks on literally everything else in his life.
That reminder lands like a cold bucket of water thrown over my head. The heat inside of me dies down instantly.
Chapter 5
Poppy
Hey. Are you on campus? We need to talk.
My stomach drops when I see the text from my ex, Brody. I’m in the middle of walking across campus from my last class to study group for my International Relations class.
I shove the phone back in my pocket and ignore his text. I don’t want to talk to that jerk, especially after the way he broke up with me this summer.
Brody and I had planned to spend the whole summer together.
But then, one night when I was staying over at his apartment, I woke up alone in bed in the middle of the night. When I got up to go use the bathroom, I saw him in the living room sending a dick pic to some other girl.
I remember how I couldn’t breathe; I was so shocked. And heartbroken. And then it all came out.
How he had been exchanging sexy texts with multiple women. How he never saw a future with me. How he only started dating me because I was smart and a good study partner, and helped him do well in his classes.
After I lashed out at him, I broke up with him right then and there.
I haven’t spoken to him since, not even when I saw him at the law office where we both interviewed for that ultra-competitive internship.
He’s tried to text me a few times over the past few months, but I ignore him every time. I don’t want anything to do with that scumbag.
An ugly feeling settles in the pit of my stomach when I think about how naive I was with Brody. We dated for all of sophomore year, and I thought he was the sweetest guy. I even lost my virginity to him…
That ugly feeling burrows deeper. If I had known what a cheating bastard he was, I would have never slept with him.
I spot the student union ahead and walk inside, heading straight for the coffee shop. When my stomach is this upset, the only thing that settles it is a coffee with lots of frothy milk.
I get in line to order.
“Hey, you.”
When I look up, Nick is standing in front of me, grinning.
