Page 7 of The Stalker Snafu

Aaron hesitated, then shrugged off Noah’s hand.

“Whatever. Your funeral, man.” Aaron stood and shouldered past Noah, but not without a parting sneer at me. “Later, Blondie.”

I would’ve glared at him, but I was too busy staring slack-jawed at Noah sliding into Aaron’s abandoned seat.

Our table was silent as he pulled out his textbook—though I was pretty sure that was partly because Susan had already dozed off—but Noah didn’t acknowledge the awkward silence.

Blaise recovered first.

“Our hero,” she purred, batting her eyelashes at him. “How can we ever thank you for getting rid of that troll?”

I’d wanted to ask him the same thing, but her theatrics made me scowl. She acted like he’d done it for her.

Noah didn’t even glance at her. “Let’s just answer these questions so Emma and I can work on our duet.”

I pressed my lips together to stifle a smile. He didn’t catch the way Blaise’s face soured, but I did.

Noah led the discussion, and we breezed through the first few questions with ease and absolutely no help from Susan. I tried to focus on the task at hand, but it was difficult after Noah had gotten all bossy and protective while getting rid of Aaron. I had to hide a goofy smile behind my hand.

Blaise must’ve had trouble concentrating, too, because after the fourth question, she cleared her throat. “I can see why you were the only one to get a perfect score on the midterm, Noah.”

My smile froze.

Noah looked up from the textbook. “Test scores are supposed to be private.”

“Please. Everyone knows you’re top of the class,” she dismissed easily. “Have you already celebrated? I know a few other bistros like Providence you might like.”

I blinked at her. Was she… asking him out? Right in front of me?

“We did celebrate already. Both our scores.” Noah’s gaze settled on me. “Do you remember where we went?”

The question jerked me out of my staring, but my mind completely blanked. “Um, your place?”

Noah’s brows lifted the slightest bit as his lips twitched. “Before that.”

My cheeks heated. Of course he was talking about dinner and not the celebration that happened after. “Oh, uh, right. It was that new place with the delicious cheesecake, right? Very spongy. And they gave us extra strawberries.”

“They did,” he said with a grin, pulling my gaze down to his mouth.

Was he also thinking about how he’d hand-fed me some of those strawberries?

“Oh, that’s right.” Blaise flicked a finger back and forth at both of us, jolting me back to the present. “You two are still dating, then?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. Considering she’d crashed our first date, it was hard to believe she’d so conveniently forget.

“We are,” I confirmed, sharing a glance with Noah. “But, uh, maybe we should stick to the topics Slade gave us.”

Blaise laughed like I’d made a joke, only baffling me further.

“Sorry. It’s just that you two make an interesting pair. The top of the class” —she nodded toward Noah, then smirked at me— “and the bottom. It’s funny, that’s all.”

Ouch. Okay, then.

That felt a little personal.

I forced a short laugh, too, wanting to crawl under my desk. Blaise had a gift for making me feel about two inches tall.

“You know what they say about opposites attracting,” I said lightly, fiddling with my pen.