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Jessica grinned. “I am too. It’ll be so good to not just read books and learn the real shit that goes on. My sister went through a similar program and pretty much said that her time at clinicals was where she learned everything, not the books or projects. These just seem like a waste of time, to be honest. I’d rather be doing the real shit.”
While I often disagreed with Jessica most of the time, I did understand what she meant. “I know what you mean,” I said, my voice a little shakier than I wanted. The call from my mom had rattled me. “It’ll be nice to have real life scenarios and get our hands dirty.”
“See, Audrey gets it.” Jessica sipped her drink and pointed to her computer. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”
I scanned the project outline on our course website. There was a research phase, design phase, implementation, and evaluation of the plan. The muscle in my neck throbbed just thinking about managing the group dynamics, the project itself, and ensuring I got an A while picking up more tutoring hours. The stress headache was coming on fast and furious. Rubbing my forehead, I took a few calming breaths and pushed the worry about my mom and Quentin to the back of my mind. I couldn’t do anything about them right now, so I had to focus on what I could control. Like kicking ass at this project.
“Oh, hello there.” Jessica whistled as she nodded toward the front of the library. Almost on cue, whispers picked up across the study room. Slowly, heads spun toward the entrance, and even my own gaze moved from Jessica toward the cause of the commotion.
Theo Sanders.
Damn it. Why is he here?
A surge of heat—all from anger—raced from my head to the tips of my fingers. I tightened my grip on my water bottle as the rare urge to throw something overtook me. He had no idea about the financial pressures we lived with, and why the hell would he? But that rationale didn’t stop the hate I had toward him. His actions had changed my brother for the worse.
“My god, he is hot as hell. He’s on the hockey team this year, right?” Jessica twirled her hair with her finger as her cheeks pinkened. “Oh, he looked at me. Shit. He’s coming over here.”
Lily shifted in her seat as I stared at my laptop, avoiding looking at him. I had nothing to say to him. From the little I knew about him, Theo Sanders was a jerk, on and off the ice. The bastard played for our rival for three years before transferring here. To Central State. And Coach Reiner just let him after what he did to Quentin. I never understood it. I didn’t care that his stats were great. He smiled after he took Quentin down in that game, and that was unforgiveable.
Jessica and Lily giggled at how attractive he was. Which, sure. The fact he was gorgeous had no effect on me. It made me dislike him more. Someone that devilish should have horns or red eyes or something to warn people away.
The way Quentin screamed on the ice… I cringed at the memory. It seemed disloyal, unfair, and rude that Coach Reiner was allowing Sanders to wear a Central State Wolves jersey. The guys were expected to pass the puck to him? Cover for him?
No.
I hated him. Quentin hated him. The team should hate the guy.
Why is he walking toward us?
“Hey there. You’re new here, right? I’m Jessica James. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She beamed at him.
Hockey guys were pretty legendary here, and it seemed Theo would be no different. I rolled my eyes.
“I am new this year, yeah.” He cleared his throat and tapped the table a few inches from my hand. “Hey, you’re Audrey, right?”
I nodded but couldn’t make myself speak. My stomach twisted with worry as I was forced to glance at him and regretted it. Theo had dark blue eyes and long lashes, chiseled cheekbones and a wicked jawline. The mop of messy blond hair looked like he’d just run a hand through it. It’s a shame he’s so beautiful. He’s still a jerk though.
“I was hoping to speak with you. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.” He smiled and rocked back on his heels. He seemed casual, excited even.
My mind raced with reasons he’d want to talk to me. Was this a prank? Did he want to rub in my face what he’d done to Quentin? That seemed unlikely, but there was no reason for the hockey star to speak to me. “Uh, no?” I mumbled.
“Girl, if a guy who looked like that wanted to talk to me, I sure would.” Jessica nudged me with too much force. It knocked my water bottle over, spilling the contents across my notebook. “Shit!”
I jumped up, grabbing my laptop so no water would get on it. I’d splurged and got a MacBook freshmen year, and I couldn’t afford another right now.Tears prickled my eyes at the thought of needing another device my final year. I’d have to borrow or come here. Damn Theo caused this…
“I’m sorry!” Jessica frantically grabbed a paper from her notebook to try to dry it. “Okay, this isn’t working.”
“I’ll run and get napkins in the bathroom!” Lily took off.
“I’ll see if there’s a towel or something.” Jessica went in the opposite direction as water pooled on the table and spilled onto the floor.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
“Did anything important get wet?” He cussed and picked up a few of my books and neatly stacked them. His gaze landed on me, and the intensity in his eyes had me sucking in a breath. It was almost like he was looking for vulnerabilities.
