Page 6 of The Stalker Snafu

His lips twitched. “Do you even have fifty dollars to spare?”

… Right. You needed money to bribe people, and I wasn’t willing to dip into The Noah Fund for this.

Luckily, I still had other options. I leaned closer to Noah’s desk and lowered my voice. “How about a sexual favor?”

A smile slipped through even though he shook his head.

“Go to your group, Emma,” he said, matching my volume. “It’ll be over before you know it. Then after class, I’ll give you a special reward for surviving.”

If anyone overheard that, they might assume Noah was talking about a sexual favor of his own. But I knew better—he meant coffee.

My boyfriend really got me.

My shoulders heaved with a sigh. “Fine. But if I die, you’re gonna feel really guilty.”

“You can get your revenge by haunting me,” he promised before moving one desk over to join his group.

I didn’t have to leave my desk, since Susan came over first. She turned the chair in front of me around and slumped into it without a word. Blaise arrived next and sat to my right—also without a word—and I forced a smile.

“Hey,” I said brightly to both of them, trying to kick things off on the right foot this time.

Neither acknowledged my existence.

I cleared my throat and flipped my textbook open to the page Slade wanted us to discuss. “Well, I guess we’re just waiting for⁠—”

Aaron dropped into Noah’s vacated seat with a sigh. “Great. I’m stuck with the losers again. You two going to behave this time?”

His eyes darted between Blaise and me, my hackles rising.

“Careful what you say to me, Aaron,” Blaise drawled. She raised a shaped brow and pulled out her phone. “I grade your quizzes.”

I frowned at him too. “And what is your problem, anyway? You’ve had it out for me since the first day of class.”

His lips twisted into a scowl. “You’re the bitch who said I smelled.”

Hold up.

“Wait. You’re seriously holding a grudge because I was undercaffeinated and embarrassed you?” I gaped at him. “That was an accident, but I’m sorry I upset you.”

“You wish.” He snorted, pulling out his own textbook. “It takes more than a dumb blonde to upset me.”

“I’m not dumb,” I said, straightening in my seat.

“Well, you did almost fail out of this class,” Blaise chimed in without looking up from her phone.

Aaron barked a laugh. “See? If the stereotype fits…”

A hand clamped down on Aaron’s shoulder.

“Get up, Richards,” a familiar voice growled. “We’re swapping groups.”

We froze in our seats, and I followed the hand all the way up a blazer-clad arm to Noah’s frigid glare. My jaw dropped.

“Huh?” Aaron glanced up at Noah before looking at Slade, who was thumbing through his papers. “Since when can we ask to trade⁠—”

“I wasn’t asking,” Noah said, making me suck in a breath. He did not sound happy. “There’s no grade involved in our work today, and my duet partner is in your group. Get up.”

His grip tightened on Aaron’s shoulder, earning a wince. If Slade looked over right now, Noah’s hold might be mistaken for friendly—but there was nothing warm about his gaze.