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Theonlyempty seat was next to Zane. This just couldn't be happening. I scanned the room four moretimes before I finally dragged myself to theback of the classroom.

For some strange reason, I felt like I had to ask to sitnext to him. Maybe it was due to him being so bloody hot, and the most popular guy in school.

"Um, do you mind if I sit next to you?" I stared down at thetable not able to meet his eyes."I promise I will, um, keep to my side."

"Miss Winters, unless you want to spend the rest of the class standing, will you please take a seat now!" the teacher's voice boomed through the classroom.

I immediately dropped into the plastic chair next to him.

Well, this just made it even more awkward.

Chapter Forty-one

If sitting next to him wasn't awkward enough, we now had to work on an assignment together. I was positive my stomach couldn't turn into a tighter knot than it was now. We sat in silence, whileeveryonewith theirpartner, started working on their assignment.

"Would you stop that?" The hardness in his voice caused my head to whip to the side to look at him.

"Stop what?"

"The tapping." He gestured to my hand, and I honestly hadn't even realized I was doing it.

As if the table had burnt me, I placed my hands on my lap under the table. "Sorry."

I snuck a glance at him out of the corner of my eye, hoping he wouldn't catch me.

There was just something about him that made a passionate pull towards him. Maybe it was because of his extremely devilish good looks, or the detailed tattooed work up his arms. Anyway, the point being, I found myself not able to take my eyes off him, or at the very least I couldn't stop the sideways glances.

When it came down to it, the sad and most pathetic thing about my crush on him is that I don't know why I have one, or how or when it started. We had never really had any communication between us. Sure, we shared some classes, but it wasn't like he had ever talked to me or cared enough to smile my way.

Although, in saying all that, one thing had changed; he wasn't usually this hard and grumpy.

"So, um, we should get started." I reached for my textbook.

He looked at me dryly. "What? It took youthatlong to figure that out?" His eyes were sharp as blades slicing through my innocent eyes. Well if he wanted to scare me off, he had succeeded.

***

ZANE

It was physically killing me sitting next to her while her hormones of lust swirled around me. Human Allie liked me. Screw that, human Allie wanted me, wanted to talk, and wanted to get to know me. It was killing me.

The only way I knew how to cope was to snap her out of it.

"So, um, we should get started." Her sweet, nervous voice flowed through my ears, like a wishful perfume.

She was killing me.

"What? It took you that long to figure that out?" I met her innocent eyes with a harsh glare. The only way either of us was going to survive this was if I kept the distance between us. If that meant being harsh, then I'd be harsh.

"Well, are you going to open that book or just stare blankly at me?" I snapped her out of the dazed stare she was giving me.

It seemed to have worked because her eyes snapped back to the textbook. Hopefully, those deep blue eyes I had just filled with pain wouldn't lift from those pages again.

Because I'm sure if I saw the pain in her eyes I would crumble at her feet.

***

"So, this freezing Allie out has been harder than I expected," Taylor said, emptying his second beer.