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He’d been whispering in my ear and he hadn’t leaned back in his seat. So our faces were only a couple of inches apart.

I could smell his minty breath and his expensive cologne. The combination was intoxicating. Or maybe it was just the hue of his eyes that had my mind momentarily failing me.

“Nice to officially meet you, Aphrodite,” he said with a smile. “But I think class has begun.”

Had I really just been sitting there staring at him? Gah! I quickly turned back around in my seat. My heart was beating funny in my chest.

He chuckled behind me.

“Everyone is in groups of two for our projects this year,” Uncle James said. “So we’ll have to make one group into three.” He turned to Scarlett. “Pumpkin, I’m adding Adonis to your group.”

Axel cleared his throat. “Uncle James, our project would be really weird with a third character. It’s kind of...”

“Kind of what?” Uncle James said.

I stared at Scarlett. She was glaring at me and nodding her head to my mystery man. She clearly didn’t want Adonis in her group. Because the videogame Axel was making for her was so cute and romantic. It was basically their love story in videogame form.

But I didn’t want him in my group!

“Actually,” Adonis said. “If it’s alright with you, I’ll join her group.”

Please don’t be pointing at me. Please don’t be pointing at me.

“Oh,” Uncle James said. “I didn’t realize you knew Sophie.”

“Yeah, we go way back,” Adonis said.

We do not!

“Do you?” my uncle asked.

“Yeah, we’ve been talking for a while, if you know what I mean.”

I was going to kill him.

“I actually do not know what you mean,” Uncle James said. “But, Sophie, Jacob, is that okay with you?”

“My bro Jacob Miller doesn’t mind,” Adonis said. “Do you, man?”

Jacob looked at me.

I shook my head.

Jacob’s eyes left mine as he glanced over at Scarlett. Who apparently was having a much different reaction than me. Because Jacob slowly nodded. “Yeah, sure. That’s fine with us, Uncle James.”

They were all a bunch of traitors.

“Well, great,” Uncle James said. “Go over everything with him after class and get him all the log in info. Make sure he’s all caught up.”

Jacob nodded.

And then I felt Adonis’ breath on the back of my neck again. “This is going to be fun, Aphrodite.”

I shook my head, hopefully making my ponytail hit his stupid face. Tomorrow I’d make sure to wear my hair down so his breath couldn’t tickle my neck.

I tried to focus on what Uncle James was saying. But all I could think about was the boy behind me. And his warning. To not sleep with Mr. Halifax. I clenched my jaw and looked down at Mr. Halifax’s pen in my hand. I hated Adonis Ariti. Because he’d been right. At least, partially.

Loving Mr. Halifax had hurt me. And maybe you could say that being with him was a mistake because it had led to that hurt. But I wouldn’t have undone it. Because even though that moment meant nothing to Mr. Halifax, it had meant everything to me.