Chapter Twenty EVERLEIGH

Chapter Twenty

EVERLEIGH

We’re halfway through the quarter, and classwork has ramped up to the point that I’m in a state of constant overwhelm. Between that and work and taking care of my agreed-upon responsibilities at the house, I’m swamped. I try to do homework locked up in my room, but even with my old AirPods stuck in my ears, I can’t drown out the sound of my roommates and their various friends playing video games. Because when they play, they’re loud.

They don’t have a lot of faults—wait, I’m lying, they totally do. We all do. But for the most part, we’re living a mostly peaceful existence together, especially if I avoid Nico.

Things have worked in my favor lately, though, and I don’t run into him often. Especially the last couple of days since our “agreement.” I’m able to sneak through his bedroom and use the bathroom to take a shower, doing my best not to leave my “girlie stuff”—Coop’s description, not mine—strewn all over the counter. He hasn’t been around much, and I wonder if that has to do with our “just friends” agreement.

Did I insult him? Has he run off and found someone else to mess around with? Is she prettier than me .?.?.??

Wait a minute. I need to stop thinking like that. I don’t care if she’s prettier than me. I don’t care if he’s hooking up with twenty women who are more attractive than me. At least I’m not the one he’s stringing along and pretending to care about. Nico Valente is a dangerous man.

Dangerous when it comes to my precious feelings, which are still a little raw after our last interaction.

Men. They’re better left alone if you ask me.

Giving up on listening to the endless string of curses coming from our living room, I pack up my stuff and my laptop in my backpack and leave the house, heading for the campus library. It stays open till midnight Monday through Friday, which is ideal for situations like this. Though I don’t want to stay there too late. I have to be at work tomorrow morning at six thirty.

Groan.

Ten minutes later I’m walking through the library, grateful as always that our house is close to campus. I move through the somewhat crowded tables, shocked to see so many students here bent over massive textbooks or tapping away at their laptops. Everyone’s got headphones on or earbuds in, and hardly anyone is talking. It’s so quiet in here I feel like I’m too loud, thanks to the slapping noise my flip-flops make as they hit the bare floor.

Clutching them with my toes to make them a little quieter, I slip through the maze of row after row of books, heading deeper into the library. Not as many people sit in the back, and that’s my favorite place to work. Much more peaceful.

And that’s what I’m seeking tonight. A little peace.

I turn left at one point, heading for my favorite quiet nook of tables and chairs, and come to an abrupt stop when I see who’s sitting there.

It’s Nico, his focus entirely on his laptop, his fingers moving slowly across the keyboard. Oh, and he’s wearing glasses like he’s freaking Clark Kent or something.

Damn it, he’s adorable with the glasses, because of course he is.

Panicking, I’m about to start walking backward and get the heck out of there when he glances up, his eyes widening when he spots me. He whips off his glasses, an embarrassed smile on his face.

“Hey, friend.”

That’s what he’s been calling me the last week or so. He’s saying it just to get under my skin, and guess what?

It’s working.

“Hey.” I offer him an awkward wave because that’s my usual mode of operation when I’m near the guy. “I’ll leave you alone.”

I’m about to turn away and leave him when he says, “You can sit with me if you want.”

I shouldn’t want. I absolutely should not want to sit with Nico but .?.?.

I do.

Turning back to face him, I smile and reach for the chair directly in front of me, pulling it out so I can settle in. “Thanks.”

“What are you working on?”

“I have a research paper I need to finish.”

“Ah.” He nods. “I’m working on an essay.”

“Sounds like we both have a lot of work to finish.” I wrinkle my nose. “And I’m not the best writer.”

“I do all right.” He shrugs those impossibly broad shoulders, drawing my attention to them. To him. He’s hard to look at because he’s so attractive. Currently I’m avoiding his face, my focus zeroing in on his chest.

He’s wearing a white Dolphins T-shirt with Billy the mascot in the center. The cotton stretches across his shoulders and chest, and his skin is tan from spending so much time outdoors. The man practically oozes with sex appeal, and I’ve made a huge mistake, agreeing to sit with him.

It’s too much. He’s too much.

“What’s up with the glasses?” I ask, needing to focus on something fairly nerdy about him, because trust when I say there is nothing nerd-like about this man.

“Oh. These.” He reaches for them, curling his fingers around them and picking them up. “They’re the blue-light ones. My vision gets fuzzy if I stare at a screen for too long.”

Ah, another flaw.

“You should probably get your eyes checked,” I suggest.

“I already have. They suggested these.” He holds up the glasses and then slips them on his face. “I look like a dork.”

He is the furthest thing from a dork.

“You do,” I say with a nod. He chuckles, about to take them off, but I shake my head. “Keep them on if they help you.”

“You won’t make fun?”

I slowly shake my head. “Never.”

We smile at each other, and oh my God, I wonder what I’m doing. This doesn’t feel like two friends working together in the library.

More like it’s a man and a woman who are desperately attracted to each other, trying to fight their feelings while they work together in a library.

“Mind if I put these in?” I hold up my AirPods case.

“Not at all.” He unzips the front pocket of his backpack and pulls out his own case. “I’ll plug in too.”

I scroll Spotify for my favorite playlist I like to do schoolwork to and turn it on shuffle before I grab my laptop and set it up. Within minutes I’m typing, trying my best to remain focused on the task before me. I’m last minute with this one since it’s due at midnight tonight and the professor already declared there will be no extensions. I’m about halfway done, so it shouldn’t be a problem, but .?.?.

The man sitting across from me is an utter distraction. I can smell him. That spicy cologne I know he uses, because I see it on our bathroom counter, hits my senses every time I breathe in. Then there’s the fact that I can just feel his presence. He’s like a magnetic force sitting across from me, radiating heat and sexiness. Is that even a thing?

The longer I sit here and try to avoid him, the more unavoidable he becomes. I chance a look in his direction, lifting my gaze to peek at him from above my laptop to catch him already watching me.

His gaze jerks away from mine. He returns his attention to his computer screen, sitting up a little and twisting his neck to the left, then the right.

I drop my gaze back to my screen, the words blurring as I stare at them.

Is this going to work? Or do I need to leave and sit in another section? That would be incredibly rude of me, but I’m feeling desperate. The clock keeps on ticking—I check the corner of my laptop screen and see that it’s almost seven thirty—and I’ve got to get this paper done.

Now.

Determination filling me, I tap through the songs on my playlist until I get to one with a fast beat, telling myself it’s go time. No more outside distractions.

I’m going to get this paper done.

Within seconds I’m writing it, 100 percent focused, the music fueling me. Occasionally I have to do some research and look up some facts, but for the most part, I’m putting this paper together with all the energy I can muster. Another thing urging me on is the fact that I have to go to work so early tomorrow. I don’t want to stay up too late tonight because I’ll pay the price in the morning.

I’m not risking it.

After a while I’m so focused on the research paper I’m putting together, I don’t even notice what Nico’s doing any longer. I don’t even smell him. I’m in the zone, bopping my head every few minutes to the beat of the song I’m listening to, skipping the ones I know the lyrics to. Singing along with a song always ruins my attention span.

The first time Nico’s foot nudges against mine, I don’t acknowledge it. I’m sure it’s an accident, and I don’t want to take the time to talk about it.

But then it happens again. I jerk my foot back, frowning. Still not looking at him.

It happens again. This time, his foot slides along mine, his leg curling, like he’s trying to .?.?. what? Trap me?

I lift my gaze to find him watching me, his too-sexy lips curved up in a closed-mouth smile.

Turning off the music, I stare him down, but he doesn’t say anything. “Are you trying to distract me?”

“You’re super focused.”

“I need to finish my paper.”

“How much longer until you’re done?” He lifts his brows.

I check the word count along with the pages I’ve already written. “Probably another page and a half.”

“Cool.” He nods, his glasses slipping a little down the bridge of his nose, and he uses his index finger to push them back into place.

My stomach flutters at the cute gesture. I should not be turned on by him pushing his glasses up his nose, but here we are.

“I’ll leave you alone,” he says when I remain silent.

I turn the music back on and hope like crazy he keeps his word.

Looks like coming to the library was a giant mistake.