Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
Dad: One win under your belt isn’t enough. Get in extra time at the gym. Don’t slack off now.
Hunter: Thanks.
Shaking my head, I pocket my phone and close the door on the chaos that is my apartment. Yeah, I have my own room, but it’s not soundproof. And Evan is loud. So I hitch my backpack on my shoulder and head to the elevator.
I probably should take my dad’s advice and hit the gym. But after riding three floors down, I jog to the Burkavage Business Building. It’s on the other side of campus from where I live, and the fresh air helps wipe my mind clear. State-of-the-art, it’s full of large lecture halls, meeting rooms, and study spots. The one up on the second floor is my favorite. It features a wall of windows that overlooks the entire campus. Looking at it should dwarf me, but it’s energizing. Seeing Lafayette spread out before me helps me focus. I can’t tell my dad that I’m using the time to study instead of work out, but I want to do more than just skate by in my classes. I’d like to actually learn stuff.
The glass doors open onto a massive lobby with soaring ceilings. The setting sun streams into the building, filling the space with a golden glow. Instead of the elevator, I take the sprawling, curved staircase to the second floor and follow the marble hallway until I come to my prime study corner.
And stop short. It’s already occupied.
Natalie sits in profile, curled up in my study armchair, gaze bouncing between the book in her lap and the view. Then she turns and catches sight of me. She quirks a brow.
“Now who’s stalking who?”
I hold up my hands. “Busted. I stalk anyone who tries to steal my study spot.”
“Your study spot? I think not.” She arches her brow.
I can’t help but stare at her red lips.“Uh, yeah. I come here all the time.”
“Well, finders-keepers.”
I lean against the windows. “Really? You’re going with playground rules?”
“I guess I am.” She shrugs, drawing my gaze to the neckline of her green sweater dress. The tiny glimpse of her shoulder makes my mouth water.
“We could share. Joint custody?” I want her to keep talking to me all day.
Natalie purses her lips, then pats the arm of the oversized chair. “How would that work? And why would I agree when I have full custody now?”
“We’d trade off. And maybe you want me to owe you.” I gaze at her, putting all the intensity I have behind the look.
She gasps, faux shocked. “Are you offering me a bribe, Hunter?”
“Never.” I wink. This is way too much fun. “Just a future favor.”
“Hmm.” Tapping her chin, she looks thoughtful. “What do you have that I want?”
Money. Sex. Popularity. Things that are way too crass to suggest to this nice girl. So I inhale and scratch my neck, trying to pull off a Brando impersonation. “Someday, maybe you’ll need something, you’ll call on me to do a service for you.”
“Wait.” Her eyes narrow. “Are you—is it possible that you’re doing a Godfather thing?”
I spread my hands wide and grin. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“That’s the worst impression I’ve ever seen. And you mixed up the quote—he says it the other way around.”
“You’ve seen The Godfather?”
“Of course.” She looks down her nose. “Just because I’m a girl, you assume I haven’t seen The Godfather?”
“It was more that I pegged you for movies with a happy ending.”
Natalie smooths her long dark hair over her shoulder. “I like those, too. But The Godfather is a classic and my dad’s favorite.” She stands and gathers her bag. “So even though you butchered it, you convinced me. You can have the best study spot on campus.”
“Wait.” I put my hand on her arm, and a tingle of warmth spreads through me at the feel of her soft skin. Pulling my hand back, I wet my lips. “You were here first. You should stay.”
“Do you click your pen?”
Her non sequitur throws me. “Uh, no?”
“Chew gum loudly?”
“Nope.”
“Hum while you study?”
“I don’t think so.”
Natalie gives me a once-over. “Okay. There’s another chair down the hall that you could move over.”
“You’re agreeing that we can both be in the same space?” I make a wide-eyed exaggerated face.
She smirks.“Don’t push it.”
Trying not to disturb her, I do as she suggested and grab the extra chair. Not too close to her but I can still enjoy the view. It’s not as comfortable as the armchair, but it’s not bad.
I get out my Intro to Accounting materials and my laptop, reading over the information and trying to internalize it. Studying next to Natalie feels… natural. Comfortable. Right.
After twenty minutes, she rolls her head on her shoulders and then stretches her arms over her head. My eyes bounce to those damn tall boots she’s wearing again. They go over her knee so there’s only a few inches of leg visible between them and the hem of her dress, and I want to run my tongue over her exposed skin.
“So what are you doing here?” she asks, dispelling my daydream. I blink, trying to control my thoughts. She’s attractive, sure, but I can’t remember the last time a pretty girl had this kind of effect on me.
I gesture at my laptop. “Uh, studying?”
Natalie rolls her eyes. “No, I mean here. You have a lovely apartment and a room to yourself. Why come here?”
“Eh. Cooper and Jasmine were watching a weird sci-fi movie and Evan was blasting his music. I just couldn’t concentrate.”
She nods. “I get that. I usually study with Jace.”
“I bet he and Evan are on the same level,” I joke, earning a small smile. “You didn’t bring him?”
“He’s great, but not always a great study buddy.” She twirls her pen, then peers over at my computer. “What are you working on?”
Is she interested? Breaking her own study rules to make conversation with me? I raise a brow.
She blushes.“I’m bored. Entertain me.”
“At your service, madam. Intro to Accounting, but I’m stuck on this T account question.” I gesture at my screen, and she gets up out of her seat to see it. Hovering over me, I can smell her citrus perfume, and I press my lips together. I force myself to take shallow breaths so she can’t tell I want to sniff her like a creeper. Her arm brushes mine as she points to my computer.
“Oh, I remember this assignment! Professor Nguyen, right?” Of course, she’s already taken this class. I heard her tell Hadley she’s looking for an accounting job next year. She’s obviously way smarter than me, probably majoring in finance or something. Unlike my dumb jock major of organizational business management.
“You must feel like a grandpa in that class! You’re probably the only senior in a sea of freshmen and sophomores. Why did you put it off until now?”
Her tone is curious, but I bristle.
“Hockey,” I bark, and she seems to accept this answer.
I scowl at my computer while she types away, but she doesn’t notice my mood shift. Her voice is excited as she explains. “T accounts are a pain to do, so tedious, but they are really helpful when the accounting gets complicated. You can see all the transactions and catch errors. So you’re just gonna…”
Reaching over me, she types a few keystrokes on my laptop, then stands back, looking pleased. “Ta-da! It’s really simple once you understand that revenue is a credit account.”
“Hmm.” I cross my arms over my chest and glare, feeling dumb for not getting this.
Natalie blinks, then puts her hand on my shoulder. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I can’t stand the pity that’s clearly coming next. Or worse, the condescension. Snapping my computer closed, I shake her off and stand. “I should go.”
I shove my laptop in my bag, and she frowns, her voice getting louder. “You are such a drama queen, you know that?”
“Drama queen?” I huff. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means you act like a grumpy little baby”—she accentuates each word by poking my chest— “instead of using big boy words.”
If I wasn’t so pissed, I’d laugh, but my sense of humor has vanished. What is it about this girl that gets under my skin so fast?
I step closer to her. “My big boy words? I’m not your nephew, Natalie.”
“If you were, I’d give you a time-out for being a jerk.”
The tension pulls me towards her, and my pulse thrums. I thought her eyes were black, but up close I can see they’re actually dark brown. My stare bores into her. A twisted part of me loves she doesn’t back down. “And what makes me a jerk?”
She pushes my shoulder, but I don’t budge. “I helped you! I’m sorry if I took over and touched your computer, but what kind of person responds to that by shutting down and leaving?”
“Oh.” I guess she’s right. Inhaling, I take a step back as my anger deflates. Her chest heaves, and—I should definitely not be noticing her chest. I drop my eyes to the floor. “Um, this is not something for social media consumption, but I… I hate my major.”
“You hate it?” Her eyes go wide. “What does that mean?”
“It’s just…” I sink back into my chair, and she follows suit. “It’s the business major for dummies. Everyone knows this.”
Natalie crosses her arms and juts out her chin. “I’ve never heard that before.”
“Well, it’s common knowledge. I only picked it because my dad and my advisor didn’t think I could handle anything else. Like they didn’t think I could handle Intro to Accounting until now. When everyone knows it’s a freshman level course.”
That I’m struggling with. God, I hate feeling dumb.
“First off.” Natalie scoots closer, bumping my knees with hers, and I’m forced to meet her gaze. She won’t let me hide. “The Business College hasn’t dumbed anything down. It would be stupid, on their part, to allow anyone to graduate with a degree that’s lesser. They have too much money invested in their reputation for that.”
She has a point, but I don’t say that. I grind my teeth, listening.
“Second. You’re a student athlete. You manage—”
“Don’t tell me I manage my schedule, blah, blah blah.” I hold up my hand and make a face. “It’s patronizing.”
“It’s true, though,” she says, under her breath. Aloud, she asks, “If you hate it so much, can you change it?”
Shaking my head, I play with the string on my hoodie. “I’m drafted, but I put off signing with the team so I could get a degree and graduate. I need to do that as fast as possible.”
Her eyes widen. “Like, a professional hockey team has drafted you?”
I nod. “Yeah, it’s a weird system. Teams draft guys when they’re really young and then wait and see how they develop before deciding if they want them or not.”
“Are you good enough to go pro?”
She asks like she’s curious, not like she’s sizing me up. Not like Tricia.
I purse my lips and shrug. “Maybe?”
“So this degree is actually your back-up plan?” Her voice rises as she talks and her passion about it is oddly comforting. I give a quick jerk of my head in response.
“Then just be happy with that!” She throws her hands up in the air. “You’re ridiculous. And I’m telling you—they don’t give out easy or dumb degrees around here.”
I can feel the truth of her words seep into my bones. And it’s nice that she took the time to yell at me and make me feel better.
I nudge her foot. “Thanks. For the pep talk.”
She cuts her eyes at me, then smiles. “You’re infuriating, you know that?”
She makes that sound like a compliment, not an insult, and I grin back. “Yeah, I’ve heard it before.” I open my bag and take out my laptop like nothing happened. “Okay, wanna help me with these journal entries?”
“You bet.”