MY HEART POUNDED in my chest, and I had to take several deep breaths to get it under control. What the hell just happened? One second, we’d been bickering, and the next, I was chasing after him through the halls. He walked into class without a hint of defeat and more than a bit of humor in his eyes. Like he hadn’t just pinned me to the wall, making me burn for him. For a brief moment, there was a possessiveness about him, like he was going to kiss me then and there, and then a wall went up between us, and he reminded me of my rules.
I would be a liar if I said I hadn’t thought of him since that night at the club. Oh, no. He’d played a starring role in more than one of my fantasies. It kept replaying in my dreams like I was mourning the night that could’ve been if I hadn’t shut it down.
Why did he have to be a hockey player, of all things?
In hindsight, he had all the typical markers: messy hair, giant build, cocky smile. I normally had a radar that spotted them a mile away. Apparently, I had let a much lower region control my actions that night, or I would’ve clued in sooner.
I would love to say I was behaving like a prickly porcupine because the barista tried to skip me in line, but the reality was all my defense mechanisms snapped into place the second I saw him. It was that or nuzzle into him like some desperate puck bunny. I hadn’t been obsessed with him or anything. I just hadn’t not not thought about him.
I walked into class and gulped down the last sip of coffee before tossing the empty cup into the garbage with a frown. Dammit, I was looking forward to drinking that. I skimmed through the classroom, looking for a spot, and scrunched up my nose when I spotted the remaining empty seat.
Of course it was beside him. Of course it was. I laughed, putting my hands up in the universal—I surrender—gesture as Jax held the chair for me. He looked chivalrous, but the gleam of victory in his eyes told me otherwise.
As I got closer to him, I could practically feel his gaze track over my body, like he couldn’t quite figure me out. I did the same, taking in his appearance. I’d been too caught off guard in the cafe to check him out. He looked strong and sturdy, like he’d find it easy to pick me up and toss me around, and his wide chest stretched his dark shirt, making the barest definition of his muscles visible. He wore fitted gray sweats that hung low on his hips. It was a typical jock outfit, but he made it look sexy as hell. I dragged my eyes up over his sharp jaw, landing firmly on his full lips, which turned into a cocky grin at my gaze. I snapped my eyes away, acting extremely interested in the floor tiles, and tamped down all my indecent thoughts. This guy was completely, one hundred percent off-limits.
“I still won.” I pretended my face wasn’t bright red and slid behind the two-person wooden desk into the chair he held out for me.
“Not a fucking chance.” He gave me a victorious smile as he took the seat beside me.
I couldn’t help my grin. “Nothing in the rules says anything about chairs. Doors only.”
“Do you have rules for everything?” His laugh rang out through the class, but it was cut short when everyone in the room turned toward us. They fixated on him. But honestly, who could blame them?
He stiffened and slid a blank mask over his face. He looked like someone good at keeping others locked out. It was a huge contrast from his grin a few seconds before. While I sat here, heart pumping with the exhilaration of the last ten minutes, he looked unaffected, almost bored.
What the hell?
My phone vibrated, and I did my best to covertly check it, rolling my eyes at the message.
Dad: Sorry I missed dinner. You know how it is. I promise I’ll catch up with you next week.
I shoved my phone back into my bag, determined not to let my dad standing me up again distract me from class.
Most people had turned forward, but there were a few holdouts still looking this way. I twirled my finger, gesturing for them to turn around, and they spun to the front in a dramatic fashion.
Really mature, Sidney.
My arm pressed against Jax’s when I pulled my laptop out from my bag, and I could feel it vibrating with his suppressed laughter. A smile cracked my face, realizing he wasn’t as collected as he looked. I knocked my elbow into his, which earned me a sideways smirk. That’s better.
His voice was so low when he leaned in close and whispered, “Have a hard time making new friends? Maybe challenge them to a chivalry race.”
This totally isn’t flirting. Nope. “I’ve got plenty of friends.”
“Really? How many?”
Well, I had three friends. But they counted for at least a dozen. “So many.”
He raised a brow, not believing me. “We should go out sometime. I’d like to meet them.”
Little did he know he already had. “I don’t know. Our club’s pretty exclusive.” Exclusive to hanging out at home, eating pizza, and watching old reruns of reality TV.
“Okay. Then just you and I.”
Did he just ask me out? My heart was about to pound out of my chest. The guy was hot. Like, roll off a magazine cover hot, and his confidence just made him all the more enticing. I twisted in my chair, already feeling warmth grow in my lower stomach as memories of dancing with him at the club flooded my brain, stealing all rational thought, and barely managed to respond.
“I see you forgot rule number two.”
He raised a brow, but he was cut off before he could reply.
The professor cleared his throat, looking right at us.
Shit.
He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “As I was saying… Welcome to Behavior Change Persuasion Technology. I’m Dr. Carter, and I want you to take a good look at who’s sitting beside you because these are your assigned seats for the rest of this class.”
Dread settled in my stomach. How was I supposed to survive the entire semester sitting next to him? I was going to lose my damn mind.
Jax looked over, one eyebrow raised. Could he tell how much his attention was getting to me? He was like sitting next to a vortex, impossible not to be sucked in. He directed his entire body toward me and searched my eyes, trying to read my expression.
My already warm face grew hotter. It was potent to have someone like him direct all of—that—toward me. He stared a bit too long, and I could feel my skin pebbling at his attention. This man was… dangerous.
Jax had that natural air about him all sports stars had. He’d taken off his beanie, and his light brown hair was in a naturally mussed state, and his eyes stood out with their light gray hue, surrounded by thick lashes. He scratched his neck over a tattoo peeking out above his collar, then pushed his sleeves to his elbows, revealing muscular forearms. Discreetly, I drew in a deep breath. He smelled fantastic and oddly comforting, a subtle woodsy scent mixed with masculine aftershave I hadn’t noticed at the club.
“You might need this,” Jax said and slid his coffee toward me. His voice was a low rasp, drawing me in until all my attention was on him—
Oh no. He was not allowed to be sweet.
Jax’s mouth curled up on the side, his amusement doing nothing to abate my flustered state.
Quietly as possible, I took the rest of my stuff from my bag, having left it for the last minute. I needed to figure out how to ignore him, or I wouldn’t survive this class.
A note was passed across our desk to Jax, and my patience disintegrated as I saw the name Lindsay in bright pink letters, followed by a phone number. I growled up at him, “Rein in your little fan club. Some of us need to take this class seriously.”
His eyes darkened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but not before Dr. Carter called out to me, “Is there a problem?”
Shit, shit, shit.
“No, sir.” I wrung my hands together in my lap, body stiffening.
“This is a serious class, and I expect your complete attention. If you can’t show your classmates the respect they deserve, you need to leave.”
“It won’t happen again, sir, I promise.”
Anger rose in my cheeks, and I slowly turned to shoot daggers at Jax. His grin only widened, making me want to explode. My hands clenched, and I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths. This was exactly why I stayed away from hockey players. They were nothing but freaking trouble, and Jaxton Ryder was no different. Sure, he might have been charming, funny, and apparently thoughtful, but that was the chase. I turned him down. I might as well have waved a giant red flag in front of his too-competitive ass.
Dr. Carter continued. “As I was saying. To get here, you had to be the best of the best, but you’ve never experienced this class.” I glanced over at Jax, but he focused on the professor, who was giving a once-in-a-lifetime speech. “The next four months will be some of the most grueling you’ve experienced. I’m here to make sure you succeed in the real world, which means I won’t go easy on you. You got yourselves this far, and how well you do is in your hands.” He proceeded to list off facts with his fingers.
Ten percent will fail.
Thirty percent will be below average.
Thirty percent will be satisfactory.
And only five percent will be top of the class.
“As an extra incentive, the top three students will get a personal recommendation letter from me.”
Blood rushed through my ears and drowned out Dr. Carter’s next words as I was overwhelmed with both excitement and fear. The exact thing I needed to secure my internship was being dangled in front of me like a freaking carrot. A carrot that might as well be twenty feet in the air for how hard the professor described this class.
Dr. Carter was halfway through the syllabus when I dropped back into reality. We were going to be quizzed weekly, which was more than the typical midterm and finals.
“Most of you have good reasons for joining this class, but let me be clear, if you do not have one, it’s best you leave. This course will be grueling, and your advisor should have informed you of that before you signed up. You either give one hundred percent, or you’re doomed to failure.”
A sense of dread boiled in my stomach. Breathe, Sidney. You’ve got this.
This was my last shot at getting a recommendation. All the more reason to keep my shit together.
“The weekly quizzes do not count toward your final grade. They’re there to help you determine if you should drop out before the cutoff. If you aren’t passing them, you won’t pass the midterm, where you’ll present all your work in front of the class.”
I swallowed hard. I needed that recommendation letter.
For the next hour, I listened to what had to be the most intense first lesson ever given. Begrudgingly, I was thankful for Jax’s coffee. Not that I’d ever tell him that.
Dr. Carter closed his laptop and put it in his bag. “Decide what you’re going to do, and you’re free to go.” He paused at the door. “And good luck.”
I was practically shoved out of the way as classmates surrounded Jax. One cute brunette started in. “You could come by my place. I have it all to myself, so we won’t be interrupted.” She winked in his direction as if what she was implying wasn’t perfectly clear.
I snuck out around them, ignoring Jax calling after me as I escaped class.
