“Back to work,” I say, breaking our staring contest. “We only have forty-five minutes left.”
“Such a hardass,” he growls. “Your anger only turns me on.”
I chuckle. “Who says I’m mad?”
“You look pissed off ninety-nine percent of the time.”
“Oh, yeah? What about the other one percent?”
He smirks. “I don’t know. I was too busy kissing you the other one percent.”
“You’ll pass this class…” I promise, clearing my throat, “…. as long as you put the work in and stop hitting on me.”
Tucker digs his elbows into the wood and cups his face in his hands. The two feet which separate us is not enough when he flashes me a panty-melting smile that goes straight to my core. I cross my legs and suck in a deep breath.
Keep your shit together, Sam.
I can’t lower my guard around him even if he keeps trying to strip away my willpower.
“Hitting on you is part of the fun, Sam.” His condescending tone irritates me. Tucker loves playing with me as if I’m here solely for his amusement. “You know you like it.” His leg intentionally touches mine this time, and he rubs inside my inner thigh. “I want you, too. I don’t see the problem.”
“Stop it, Tucker,” I warn, sliding my chair back from the table.
“Deny me all you want, Sam.” He folds his arms across his chest and smiles. “I always get what I want.”
“You didn’t get your brother’s girlfriend,” I say, knowing it will piss him off.
Tucker supposedly let Trent have the sorority girl they were both chasing after. At least, that’s what my sources told me. The gossip has since fizzled out, and no one cares about what happened with the Kane twins, but I can tell I’ve struck a nerve with him.
He glares at me with real hatred in his eyes and fire in his words. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Get your facts straight before you open your mouth.”
He’s madder than I had anticipated. It was supposed to be a quick jab. I didn’t think Tucker liked girls for more than one night. Trent’s girl must have been more to Tucker than a hookup. Interesting. No wonder why The Queen was so intrigued by his story.
I shrug off his words and pretend as though his anger didn’t slice through me.
Guys like Tucker never see girls like me—at least not in the way they do sorority girls or cheerleaders. His interest will fizzle out faster than this started. He only wants what he can’t have, his pursuit nothing more than a game to claim a prize. And I refuse to be his trophy.
After an awkward pause, his gaze lowers along with his voice, his tone now softer. “I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just…” he trails off, and I can now see how much he liked the girl he gave up for his brother.
A pang of guilt hits me hard, right in the gut. He doesn’t throw the fact I’m poor and can’t afford this school in my face. I guess I misjudged him, or maybe I shouldn’t have judged him at all. I feel like a bitch for doing so, now wanting to help him for real.
“I’m sorry, too.” I reach across the table and hold my hand out for him to shake. “How about a do-over?”
He slips his fingers between mine, electricity skating along my skin, and he smiles. “I’d like that. We got off to a bad start.”
I nod in agreement and shake his hand. The tension between us provokes a deep yearning inside me. His thick muscles flex under the thin fabric stretched tight across his chest. For a second, I catch myself thinking of how good he looks naked and stop myself. His body really is a work of art, carefully created with purpose.
“How about we get back to work?” I lift my cell phone from the table to check the time. “I have to leave soon, and I’d like to get through the assignment before I have to go.”
He winks without speaking a word, and then his eyes are back on the textbook.
I have no idea how I will make it to the end of the semester with Tucker not only sitting in my classroom but also right across from me giving me delicious smirks that weaken me every time.
He’s always been a drug to me. I get a contact high just from being around him. Everyone does.
And that’s why they love Tucker so much.
Chapter Twenty
Tucker
I kick my feet up on the table and pound the rest of my beer. Romeo burps loudly in my ear. Professor crushes a can in his hand and throws it onto the lawn at the Delta Sig house. We’ve kept this pace for the last two hours, buzzed but not yet drunk. I can hold my alcohol, and so can most of the brothers in the fraternity.