10. Jason
10
JASON
S even o’clock can’t come fast enough.
I looked forward to seeing Laura in the library tonight. Not just to have another chance to tease her and piss her off, but to see what she thought of the instant replay of her attempt to dump that loser. Ethan hadn’t taken it well. At one point, I thought the dumbass was going to cry.
But what he said was fucking gold.
It was the best bit of reality TV that I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t wait to show it to her and make her relive the awkwardness she had to have experienced.
I watched it several times since the afternoon. Each viewing I gave myself, I noticed more and more details. She’d been tense, and then annoyed. And it would be my goddamn delight to make her watch it again.
That wasn’t all.
This was my ticket to her compliance, too. If she wouldn’t cry or tattle to Dean Chen about how much of a bullying asshole I was to her for any other reason, this video might be the turning point. It was the ace up my sleeve, the leverage I needed to get her to do what I said.
I was in charge here, not her, no matter how she was supposed to be the one tutoring and guiding me .
I came to the library early, determined to have this play out perfectly. My prompt attendance—beating her here—was just one more tool I had to throw her off even more.
When she arrived in shorts and a vintage Guns and Roses band shirt, the most dressed down I’d ever seen her, she stopped short at the sight of me seated at the table. For a full beat, she simply stared at me, like she wasn’t sure what to make of my being here.
Swallowing hard, she stepped forward again to join me. The closer she came, the more my heart raced. Pure pleasure would be coming my way. I could get the ultimate satisfaction at making her miserable, at ruining her, and not only that, but I’d also have this stupid term paper written so I could celebrate my win at a party tomorrow night. It’d been too long since I let loose.
“Evening,” I greeted, coating the word with glee.
“Hi.” Her reply was stilted, almost resigned.
“What are we covering tonight?” I asked, feigning interest in work.
“I have some…” She sat and eyed my phone lying face-up on the table. “I have some practice trig papers you can do.” Her voice was cautious and low, not trusting my so-called enthusiasm to participate tonight. “But I think you also have a term paper due in medical philosophy due soon too.”
“First, I want to review something else.” I stood, enjoying her tense stare as I got up and moved around the table. Pulling a chair next to her, scraping the feet loudly on the floor, I sat so close that our knees touched. As I held my phone up so we could both see, I registered how stiffly she sat, staring ahead with her jaw locked tight.
“I’d…” She swallowed then drew a deep breath, making her chest rise so much that her breasts further strained the thin material of her dark shirt. “I’d rather not.”
“Oh, I insist, Second-Best.”
Ever so slightly, her jaw slid as if she were grinding her teeth.
Smiling, I leaned in to put my arm around the back of her chair to loom over her. She didn’t retreat, rigid and tense.
“Because this is just too good to pass up.” I let the video play, volleying my gaze between the screen and her eyes to make sure she was watching. She was. Like the brave fool she was, she watched it all. Her breakup with Ethan was a mix of comedy and drama, but only to the level of a B movie.
After it was done, I let it replay automatically but I slid the volume down to mute it. “Poor, poor Ethan.”
She drew a deep breath, mute and sullen. If she hadn’t stooped to hate me yet, she would now.
“He sure didn’t seem to take it well, huh?”
Still nothing. Not a tear or a sniffle.
“I guess he couldn’t handle the truth,” I added, determined to get a reaction out of her.
Now she shrugged, just barely. “Is that all?”
“You’re not embarrassed?” I chuckled, leaning in closer to the point I wanted to groan at how fucking delicious she smelled. Sweet like apples yet tangy, too.
“It doesn’t matter if I am. Like I told him, it’s over.”
“Really?” I laughed once more. “But is it over?” I set my phone down and crowded into her personal space some more, finally getting her to make icy eye contact with me. “This kind of stuff never dies down.”
Her nostrils flared but she didn’t break eye contact.
“This is the kind of stuff that goes viral.”
She swallowed, lowering her gaze and cracking for just a moment. “So, you shared it. I’m not surprised. That would fit with your MO.”
I shook my head, reaching out to tuck her long raven hair back behind her eyes. I didn’t want her to hide from me. Not for a single fucking second. “Not yet.”
She raised her brows but didn’t comment, seeming too wary to speak.
“But I will.”
“Of course, you will.”
I grinned. “Or not.”
“I’m not in the mood to play games with you,” she said quietly, almost defeatist about it.
“Then don’t. I’ll make a deal with you, Second-Best.”
She almost narrowed her eyes at that nickname.
“You write my term paper for med philo,” I said, “and I’ll delete the video and never share it.”
She didn’t hesitate, locking those bold green eyes on me as she answered instantly. “No.”
I chuckled, shaking my head again. “No?”
“No.”
“You took med philo last year. It’s not like it’d be hard for you to whip up a paper for me.”
She reached for her books, dismissing me and my phone. Her arm brushed against mine as she settled in to study with me. “My answer is no.”
“You don’t care if this gets shared and goes viral?” I taunted.
She lifted her chin up high, not backing down. If I weren’t so stuck on this path of ruining her, I’d have to admit she looked fucking gorgeous. So fierce, confident like I’d never seen before.
“I refuse to do your work for you, Jason. I care about my ethics too much to cheat or enable you to cheat.”
Goddamn.
I hadn’t expected that.
“Hey.” I shrugged, setting my phone on the table with the video still automatically replaying. “I gave you a chance.”
She huffed a weak laugh. “Guess so. Let’s go over these trig problems first.”
As she carried on, I repeated my habit of interrupting her and making it impossible for her to coherently explain something. It was one of my favorite games, chopping up her train of thought and trying to make her flustered.
I did it every session, but this time, I stuck with asking questions about the breakup.
“Was he really that bad in bed?” I taunted, not bothering to move away. I stayed put, leaning in.
She cleared her throat. “I’m not discussing him with you.”
A few moments later, waiting until she was on a roll again with sine and cosine, I said, “It’s a damn shame he couldn’t even find your clit.”
Her cheeks turned pink.
“Was it frustrating?”
“Now if you…” She cleared her throat again. “If you consider the value of the Y variable here…”
I waited until she was in the middle of something else moments later. “Have you ever had someone find it?”
She furrowed her brow. “The value of XY? No, see, it’s not an option in this one.”
You fucking dork. She could almost be adorable like this, so oblivious. “No.” I leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Your clit, Laura. Anyone ever touch it?”
She drew in a shaky breath, not turning to face me.
“Or just you?”
I inched closer.
“Has anyone else ever gotten you off?”
Her lips parted as she licked her lower lip.
And fuck it I didn’t get harder for her.
“Or is it just you? Lonely in bed and playing with yourself?”
I could see it. Her black hair splayed out on her pillow as she parted her legs and lowered her finger back and forth over her juicy pussy.
“Have you ever had a real orgasm?” I whispered into her ear.
She slammed the book shut and scooted her chair back. “I guess that’s enough for tonight.”
As she scurried away—definitely flustered—I sat right where I was and watched her go. Staying put until the erection tenting my shorts would fade, I rubbed my chin and wondered just what the fuck that was about.
I’d finally pushed her to react. But it wasn’t anything like what I’d expected.
She didn’t freak out and act like a prude at my filthy questions. She didn’t tell me to stop or ask me to focus on the work.
While I waited for my heart to slow down from the thrill of leading her on like that, I hated how disappointed I was that she didn’t answer me at all.
Because now I had to know.
I wanted to know what she looked like and sounded like when she came, too.
Fuck.
I was slowly becoming obsessed with the idea of being the one to make her come.