Page 51 of Heartland

“Is it that bad?” she whispers.

“What?” I look up, finding her blue eyes at close range.

“The first three problems. Did I screw up?”

“Uh…” I squint at the page again and force myself to focus. “No. You’re doing fine. They’re not much different than the last two week’s work, but with more terms thrown in.” Chastity tends to panic whenever things start to look different. “Try number four, okay? Let’s see how you go about breaking it down.”

She takes the notebook back with a sigh and begins to factor the expression. The first thing she tries doesn’t pan out.

“No problem,” I coach. “Try again.”

It takes her a few minutes to warm up, but slowly we work through each new problem. And then we get to the doozey at the bottom of the page.

“Ugh, I don’t know,” she complains. “That one will take all year.”

“Just give it a shot? If you hurry, your reward will be pizza.”

She leans over the page. As I wait for her to chew through number seventeen, she taps the end of the pencil against her knee, and my eye is drawn to the hole in her vintage jeans and the smooth skin showing through. I have the unlikely urge to pass my thumb over that oval of skin and test its softness.

Okay.Fuck.

I close my eyes and take a slow breath. What is my problem today? Chastity has always been a looker, but I don’t usually do this. I don’t usually focus on the wrong things.

Opening my eyes, the first thing I see is Chastity’s cleavage. Her soft T-shirt dips into a V right where her breasts stretch the cotton fabric…

There is no safe place to rest my gaze, apparently. My brain has become confused. Confused, and also a traitor.

“Dyl?”

I snap to attention. “Sorry. What was the question?”

“Can I multiply Z like this?”

“Uh…” I take a deep breath and get another whiff of her feminine scent. I must be really hungry, because it addles my brain. “Yes.No. Jesus.”

Chastity laughs. “Which is it?”

“Yes, you can multiply both sides by Z. But don’t forget about your denominator there…”

“Oh, crap,” she says, erasing what she’d just written. “Okay, I have another idea.”

She scribbles away, while I lean back and try to think about my own homework. Tomorrow is a holiday, but I have a history paper due on Tuesday. I close my eyes and think deep thoughts about the industrial revolution.

This works fine until Chastity puts a hand on my leg. It’s just a casual touch—her palm resting over the denim of my jeans, right above my knee. But she might as well have put her hand on my cock, because I’m way too aware of her now.

“Dylan,” she says. “Tell me I’ve got it now. Look.”

I scan her work, and it’s a miracle I can concentrate on the page. But it’s true—she’s cracked it open and arrived at the right answer. “Nice! You’re done already. Now we can eat pizza and watch stupid shit on YouTube.”

She laughs, turning to me. And there it is again—that smile that flattens me sometimes. I love making Chastity smile.

But holy shit. All I can think about is kissing her again.

It hits me that Rickie was probably right. And Kaitlyn, too, unfortunately. It might be the only time they ever agreed on anything, but I am attracted to Chastity. And I don’t have the first idea what to think about that.

I pull out my phone to check my texts.We lost power, Rickie has written.Don’t really care because I have tea and soup and my favorite herbal remedies. He means pot, of course.But how long does it take for pipes to freeze?

It’s only in the 30s, I reply.The pipes are fine.If you light a fire in the fireplace make sure the flues are open.Do you need me home?