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“Thanks.” I mumbled, getting my books together and rushing out of the door before I had time to think about how it felt to talk about Tanner with my mom.
As I skittered across campus, I felt rough. Although I managed to get one of my signature skirts on, I was wearing Tanner’s sweatshirt with nothing underneath, which felt a little breezy, to say the least. Wearing his clothes across campus was a statement, and I knew Hazel would have questions when she saw me.
Grumbling to myself, I attempted to run a hand through my hair while holding all of my books but lost my balance, falling straight into a hard chest. My books fell to the floor, and I cursed. “I’ve got to stop doing this.”
Annoyed with myself, I didn’t bother looking up at the person I bumped into because I was already so late. I didn’t have time to talk. “I’m sorry. I was distracted.”
Bending down, I gathered my books and clutched them to my chest tightly.
“You? Distracted?” He chuckled. “Because I'd say you're distracting everyone else with that skirt of yours.”
I winced, not wanting to look up, but knowing I’d have to if I wanted to get to Hazel. Standing, I came face to face with him. Those blue eyes piercing me, but not in the way they did before.
“Hey, Aster.” His gaze flicked to my clothes before coming back up to look at me, and he smiled. “It’s been a while. You look good.”
I drew my attention down and dusted off my skirt. “Hey, Connor,” I mumbled begrudgingly.
He huffed out a sarcastic breath. “Glad to know you still remember my name.” He sounded bitter, but I couldn’t figure out why. Did he not remember what went down between us?
“What are you talking about?”
“You don’t answer my calls. My texts go unread. You didn’t even bother to say hi to me at the Alpha Delta Theta ball. For a while there, I thought I was invisible.” He raised his brows, tipping his chin. “I suppose I am now that you’ve found a new athlete to obsess over. I’ve been ghosted and I’ll never be able to live with myself.”
I bit my tongue, holding back all the things I wanted to say because he wasn’t worth it. Talking to Connor was like talking to a brick wall. It didn’t matter that he treated me like a pile of crap, or that I’d seen him with countless women, most notably Rachel, since we stopped ‘dating,’ he’d only focus on the fact that I’d moved on from him. He just didn’t get it, and it would have been a waste of my oxygen to get him to.
Clutching my books with one arm, I raised my hand with the other. “I’m sorry, but why on earth would you think I’d want to hang out with you, let alone say hi after everything that happened between us?”
His smile grew, and I knew I’d made the wrong decision about getting into a conversation with him. I was feeding his ego, just like he wanted.
“Come on. It wasn't all that bad between us.” He flashed me that same smile that used to make me do things I knew I shouldn’t. Now, all it did was make me want to vomit. How on earth did I fall for that? It was so fake and self-serving. “I remember some pretty good times.”
“You mean like the time I caught you cheating on me with Rachel?”
Again, another obnoxious breath, and it was taking all the restraint in me not to slap him.
“Come on. You and I weren’t serious. We were just having a little fun between tutoring sessions.”
I gulped. “Is that what you call it?”
“Yeah. It’s not like Rachel’s even interested in me.”
“You sure about that? You looked pretty cozy in the cafeteria a few weeks ago.”
His smile split into a full-on grin. “Oh, Aster. If you wanted to get my attention, you didn’t need to stalk me. You just had to ask. I miss you.”
I rolled my eyes, letting out a groan. “Stop it.”
“It’s true. You’re the best tutor I ever had, and I regret messing things up with you.” He shook his head, looking off to the side. “I’ve got this guy, Ralph, now. Do you know him?” I nodded. The only reason I was entertaining this conversation was to see where he was going with this. “He’s terrible. Knows hardly anything and isn’t great at critiquing my essays.” I bit my bottom lip because I knew what that was code for… He didn’t improve Connor’s essays like I did.
“Sorry about that. You shouldn’t have been an ass, and maybe things would have turned out differently.” I tried to sidestep him, but he was too quick, and stood directly in front of me. “Connor. I’m late. Please let me go.”
“What will it take to get you back as a tutor?”
“A miracle and an apocalypse. Not necessarily in that order.”
“Why are you being so difficult?”
“If you’re really asking that question, then I’m sorry to say, but you’re going to need a lot more than a tutor’s help to pass anything.” I pushed past him, letting my hair flutter in his face.
