LOGINAARON'S POVThe moment our fingers touched, I pulled my hand back quickly.I didn't even think.My body reacted before my brain could catch up.For half a second, the room seemed to disappear. There was only the warmth that had brushed against my skin and the stupid way my heart lurched because of something so small.It was ridiculous.I snatched the pen from the floor without looking at him and forced myself upright.Don't look at him.Just don't.I stared so hard at my answer sheet that the words blurred together.What was the question again?Something about...Shit.I had no idea.I swallowed, blinking several times before reading the sentence again.Still nothing.My brain refused to cooperate."Focus, Mr. Smithy." Professor Robin's voice cut through the silence.I looked up so quickly my neck almost cracked. "Huh?"He sighed dramatically from the front of the room."I mean..." He tapped his own paper with his pen. "Your test is in front of you. Not beside you."Heat flooded my fa
JACK'S POVI was already regretting agreeing to this.At home, mom had insisted. "Just make sure she gets to the administration office. That's all I'm asking."Apparently, "that's all" came with every student on campus staring at us. Though, Claire Beaumont didn't seem bothered in the slightest.She'd only moved into our aunt's house a couple of days ago while her parents stayed overseas to finish work. Claire was my cousin, and Mom had decided that made it my responsibility to walk her to the administration office on her first day.She walked beside me calmly, taking in the massive campus with quiet curiosity while I kept my eyes fixed straight ahead, pretending not to hear the whispers following us."Who's she?""She's gorgeous.""She looks expensive.""No wonder Jack rejected Vanessa.""She has to be the pretty date he mentioned yesterday."I rubbed a hand over my face.Pretty date?They were getting it all wrong. I never said my date partner was a girl. And besides, how can I ask
AARON'S POVI barely slept.Every time I closed my eyes, Mr. Harrison's face found me again, his voice calm and polite, as he talked about my parents like they were pieces on a chessboard."They're devoted Christians, aren't they?""Imagine finding out their son spends his nights sneaking into clubs...""Let's make sure your parents never have to find out where their son spends his nights."By the time my alarm finally rang, I wasn't even sure I'd actually fallen asleep. My head throbbed, my eyes burned, and the notes I'd spent half the night reading for today's test with Jack were scattered all over my bed.I dragged myself into the shower, hoping the cold water would wake me up, but it didn't do much. The mirror was even less encouraging.Dark circles.Red eyes.Great.I looked exactly how I felt.Downstairs, the smell of toast and fried eggs drifted through the house, and for one brief moment I wished I could stay home and crawl back into bed."Morning, sweetheart," Mom greeted the
AARON'S POVThe strange feeling of someone following me still lingered.I told myself I was just imagining it. I had already turned around once and there had been nobody there, just people walking past the restaurant, cars crawling through the street, and a couple laughing on the opposite sidewalk.Maybe I was just paranoid.After everything that had happened these past few days, maybe my brain had finally decided to torture me.I let out a slow breath and pushed the thought aside before pulling the restaurant door open.The smell of coffee and grilled food hit me immediately.For a second, I simply stood there, letting my eyes adjust as they wandered across the room until they landed on him.Mr. Harrison.He was seated in the far corner with a dark face cap pulled low over his forehead, one hand lazily wrapped around a coffee mug while the other rested on the table.The moment our eyes met, my stomach dropped.He raised a hand slightly. "Over here."My legs suddenly felt heavy, but I
JACK'S POVThe school bell rang and I felt like I could finally breathe. I was tired of thinking about Aaron and whatever the hell was wrong with me.I walked out of the building with my bag hanging loosely over one shoulder and pulled my phone out as I headed toward the parking lot.A few notifications sat on my screen but the only one I cared about was the booking app.I opened it automatically.There were three bookings but Aaron wasn't on the list.I frowned and refreshed the page.The same three names stared back at me.Maybe he hadn't booked yet. Maybe the app was just taking forever to update. Or maybe...I stopped myself.What the hell was I doing?I was seriously standing here making excuses because Aaron Smithy hadn't booked me?I locked my phone and shoved it back into my pocket roughly.What the fuck was wrong with me?My chest tightened for reasons I didn't particularly appreciate.Was he still angry about what happened on saturday night at the club? Did he decide he didn
AARON'S POV“My date partner is really pretty.” The words kept replaying in my head as I walked back to class. Of course. I already knew the reason Jack rejected Vanessa's proposal was because he already had a date partner… a pretty one at that.She's probably as rich as him too. My fingers tightened around nothing. Kyle was right.Fuck… why is Kyle always right? Oh shit.I didn't even understand why I was feeling this way about Jack going with someone else. It wasn't supposed to bother me at all. So why the hell was it? It's not like I have feelings for him… right? I stopped walking abruptly.Right? Why would I ask myself that? My brows pulled together. What the fuck was wrong with me? I don't have feelings for Jack. Period.I took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. Then, I continued walking, forcing every single thought about Jack away.I had Mr. Harrison to deal with.Finally, I got to class and was lucky enough to slide into my seat before the professor arrived.I di
JACK’S POVSecret lover?I almost scoffed out loud at Professor Robin’s question.The laughter around the classroom slowly died down after a while, but Aaron still looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.His face was slightly red as he stared down at his test paper. I looked do
AARON'S POVChloe’s words kept repeating in my head long after she left the table.“You always seem like you don’t even want to be here.”I stared at the space she had just been sitting in, my fingers still lightly resting on my phone even though the screen had already gone dark. People were still
AARON'S POV“Aaron?”Chloe’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts for what felt like the tenth time today.I blinked quickly and looked up at her. “Hm?”“You don't seem good. Does your hand hurt too much?” She asked softly, sounding worried. I glanced down at my bandaged palm resting on my laps, and
JACK'S POVBefore I knew it, an evil smirk crept to my lips. If he thinks he can blackmail me and just get away with it, then he was the most delusional person I've ever come across.The idiot probably thought hiding behind anonymous texts made him untouchable. Too bad for him, I’d already started







