“That’s the plan,” I said, glancing at the neatly typed bullet points. She didn’t wait for me to comment — already getting ready to walk away. “That’s it?”
She looked up at me, licking her bottom lip. “Huh?”
“You could have emailed me this, Sav.”
I swear she was trying not to roll her eyes. “Optics,” she replied smoothly. “And to remind you that you need to go to the library tonight and sit there, look studious, and if anyone asks, I’m guiding you through the finer points of governance structures in educational institutions.”
I smirked. “You rehearsed that, didn’t you?”
She ignored me and waited patiently. When I didn’t speak, she gave a sigh. “Appearances, remember? If anyone asks, we’remeeting twice a week. Remember, the rooms get monitored for people who book and don’t turn up. We need to ensure they think we’re using it.”
“Sure,” I said, leaning back. “See you when I see you.”
“Fine by me.”
She didn’t even look back as she walked away. Alone. She was always alone. She was pretty, funny when she wanted to be, and confident. Where were her friends? Did she have any? Savannah Cole was a mystery to me, and I wasn’t happy about the fact that I wanted to learn more about her.
She always had a quick or witty reply, and she had no issue challenging me.
“She’s hot.”
I turned to Noah. “Yeah, she is.”
“Tutoring?” he asked as we walked toward the business center.
“Yeah. I opted for Educational Policy and Governance, and it doesn’t hold my attention,” I confessed.
“Think I dozed off just listening to that sentence,” he quipped, and I grinned. “Nice to get the dean’s daughter to assist.”
I nodded. “Is it?” I joked. “She has so many notebooks.”
Noah laughed. “My little brother is in advanced classes foreverything,” he offered, and I realized it was the first time we were talking, just the two of us. “Sophomore year at my old school, I made him drive up and do a forty-eight-hour study crash session with me, it was the only way I scraped by finals.”
I looked at him from the corner of my eye as we walked. Six-four of muscle, ink crawling up his arms like warnings no one needed because the guy’s reputation spoke louder than any tattoo. Black hair, always messy like he didn’t give a damn, and eyes that didn’t blink much — sharp, dark, and way too good at reading plays before they even happened.
Noah looked like a bruiser. Every inch of him saidfighter, and I could see him either behind the defensive line, ready to run a route, or in the corner of an octagon, ready to break bones. It was honestly one of the things I liked about him. Quarterbacks would be keen to runfromhim, or in a rush to throw the ball before he got to them, and that was only a good thing when it came to the defensive game.
“You know the Academic Administration will give you extra tutoring if you need it,” I told him carefully. I didn’t want to offend him by implying he needed it.
He nodded. “Yeah, I know, I’m doing okay so far,” he told me. “Mostly B’s but, as I said, I got the brawn, Tate got the brains.”
“Mostly B’s are better than okay, Noah.”
He grunted in acknowledgment, and we walked in silence.
“You need to be quicker in the pocket,” Noah said out of nowhere, like he’d just been waiting to pounce.
I shot him a look. “And you need to be either my coach or wearing a headset and getting paid to say that.”
Noah smirked, not missing a beat. “Just saying — if I can get to you in three seconds during practice, imagine what a guy who doesn’t give a damn about your pretty face can do in a game.”
I snorted, adjusting the strap on my bag. “Pretty sure no one’s breaking through my line like you do. You’re a freak of nature, Noah.”
He shrugged, like he wasn’t flattered. “Freak of nature or not, shave half a second off your read and you’ll make my job a hell of a lot harder in practice.”
I grinned at him. Was this Noah’s love language — criticism wrapped in steel? “Noted, big man. I’ll do my best.”
He nodded, looking down at his feet. “We could practice, or something.”
