31. Jonah

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

jonah

All five ofus walk to the nearby Bean Necessities cafe—the actual sit-down establishment that provides the campus with the coffee carts—and I order coffee for everyone except Benny, for who I order a kid’s hot cocoa with extra marshmallows in a passive-aggressive way of calling him a child. Still mad? Me? Little bit.

In my defense, I would have ordered him coffee, but he doesn’t drink it.

It’s possible I’m bribing the other Dalton men and buttering them up so they like me.

I can’t let Emmett walk out of my life that easily, and if I have to swallow my pride, some of my morals, and forget about the school’s policy on cheating, then I’ll do it.

Before I can tap my card to pay, a tall presence appears behind me.

“I’ve got this,” West says, beating me to the machine with his card. When I turn to him, he shrugs. “If you really have come up with a way to save my brothers’ asses, it’s the least I can do.”

“That’s if they’ll even go for it. For all I know, they hate me for being quick to judge.”

We move to the side to wait for my name to be called.

“If anyone has the right to hate anyone here, it’s you. You should hate the twins. Hell, I hate them a little bit.” He gasps like he wasn’t supposed to say that and glances back to where the others found a table to sit at. “Don’t tell them I said that.”

One side of my mouth hitches into a small smile. “I think it’s pretty universal for parents to hate their kids at some stage of their lives, but I don’t hate them. I’m angry and disappointed, but there’s no hate there.”

“How is that even possible?” West asks.

I lick my lips to delay the vulnerability that’s about to come out of my mouth. “I won’t pretend I know what it’s like to be a twin, but I am close with my sister, and I will do anything to protect her. Okay, maybe I wouldn’t do her homework for her, but I understand that need.” When she got pregnant with Cullen, I defended her to our parents. When Cullen’s dad left her, I was ready to kill him.

Our order is called, and West helps me carry the cups over to the table. When I hand Benny his cocoa with a side of a million little marshmallows, my passive-aggressive message is lost on him.

Should’ve known better than to try being snarky by giving candy.

When I turn to Emmett next and hand him his, his fingers brush against mine, and I want to intertwine our hands and never let go.

Asher breaks the spell. “So what’s this plan, and how is it supposed to help Benny?”

Straight to the point.

I take a sip of my coffee, which is scalding hot, but I refuse to do the open-mouth panting thing in front of people I want respect from. So instead, I force my mouth to remain closed and then start coughing like I smoked ten cigarettes at once.

All four Daltons are staring at me, so I pound on my chest even though the pain is in my mouth and croak, “Wrong pipe.”

“You don’t really have a plan, do you?” Asher accuses. “Is this just a distraction so your professor friend can get to the dean before Benny, and then he’ll have no recourse for what’s next?”

I cough some more. “I have a plan. I promise.” It will risk everything I have—my position at Franklin, my entire future as a professor—but I’m starting to think losing all of that would be worth it if I got to be with Emmett. I just hope I’m right about him. About us.

That what we have is something really special. Something to fight for.

And when I see the same hope reflected in Emmett’s eyes, I know I have to fight for the chance to find out if I’m right.

“I want to tutor Ben,” I say.

“I’m a bit past tutoring, aren’t I? You heard me when I said even basic math is hard because I’ve never had to do it? I have trouble telling time on an analog clock.”

“Wasn’t this going to be your plan when you went home?” I counter. “To get West’s husband to teach you? If I can do that, you can stay at Franklin.”

“You’re going to get me through your statistics class?” Ben asks. “Wouldn’t that be similar to cheating?”

“Nope. Because I’m actually going to show you how to work it out in a way that makes sense to you. And also, if you think I’m only talking about statistics, you’re wrong. I’m talking about going all the way back and starting simple. You may never be able to memorize multiplication or tell time, but I’m at least going to show you how to do it using tools at your disposal. It will be difficult, you’re going to hate me for a lot of it, and if you get frustrated and want to quit, I’m only going to work you harder.”

“Why would I agree to that?” Benny asks.

“Because it will give you the chance to graduate on time. At Franklin. And no one would have to know how you’ve gotten this far when you can’t do middle-grade math.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Emmett’s mouth drop.

“You would cover it up?” he asks with a sexy rasp in his voice. “For us?”

“For you. All for you.”

Everyone at the table goes silent for a beat, and the fear that I’m about to be embarrassed in front of half of Emmett’s family has my heart racing, preparing for rejection.

But what comes out of his mouth is anything but embarrassing. “I think I just fell in love with you.”

Whether he’s joking, being serious, or means it in the lighthearted hyperbole way, I also don’t care. Him saying anything in that realm is everything I want to hear. No, need to hear. Especially if I’m going to do this.

“We really should’ve gotten the twins therapy when they were younger,” West says.

“We all need therapy,” Asher replies. “Even this guy.” He grips my shoulder.

That’s probably true. Here I am, putting everything I’ve worked for on the line for a man I’ve barely started seeing. Granted, I haven’t been sure that the path I’ve chosen to become a professor was the right one, but that doesn’t diminish how much of a risk I’m taking.

We all now turn our attention to Benny, who’s staring at his marshmallows.

“You don’t have to take my offer,” I say. “But it’s this or going to the dean.”

“I don’t think there’s much of a choice there,” Benny says dryly and then winces. “Did you kick me under the table?” he asks Emmett.

“Why are you taking so long to say yes?” Emmett scolds.

“Because …” His gaze flicks between me and Emmett. “What if you fuck up dating him, and then it will all be for shit anyway, and I’ll have to go to the dean and get kicked out even closer to graduation.”

“You think I wouldn’t be fair if Emmett and I didn’t work out?” I genuinely ask.

“Well, you’re only giving me this chance because you’re fucking him.”

West covers his ears. “I’m not listening to this. La la la la la la la.”

Asher laughs. He’s probably the most confusing Dalton. He laughs at the wrong times, finds the serious stuff ridiculous, but might actually be the most levelheaded one of them all. Somehow. I wonder what it would be like to be his partner. Not in an I’m interested kind of way, but more from an anthropological kind of way. His partner either has to be completely fucked-up or so put together that he can handle the chaos that is Asher Dalton.

“You’re wrong,” I say to Benny. “I’m not doing this on the proviso your brother and I stay together or fall in love or whatever. I’m doing it because I want to see where Emmett and I can go. It’s still relatively new, but if you get kicked out of school, I won’t even have the chance to find out if there’s more. You’ll move home to Vermont, and where you go, he goes. I understand that, so I’m offering a way for both of you to stay.”

“I so wish we could get out of here,” Emmett murmurs to me.

“Jesus.” West’s hands fly to his ears again. “Still not listening.”

Asher, out of nowhere, bursts out laughing. I don’t mean the snarky snorts or the derisive grunts he has been giving. This is full-on belly laughter.

“What’s so funny?” I ask.

“I just realized something,” he says, sounding like he’s on the verge of tears.

“What?” West asks him.

“Well, at Christmas when we met Harrison, I kept noticing how he deals with Benny. How he supports him but is laid-back yet kind of bossy. No, bossy isn’t the right word. Basically, I noticed similarities between him and the way Kole treats me. And Jonah …” He laughs some more. “He’s so … he’s so …”

I’m hot under the collar, like he’s about to make fun of me, but then he says the last thing I expect.

“Benny fell for Kole, and Emmett’s falling for Jasper.”

I’m so confused.

The twins are horrified.

And then West bursts into laughter too.