Page 14 of Sin (Salvation #1)
“We’re sharing.” His eyes never leave me as I place the rest of the scallop in my mouth. The light, buttery, slightly sweet taste of the scallop hits my mouth, the flavor somehow heightened by sharing it with Sin.
We eat each piece that way. Sin giving me the names of the sashimi I’m not familiar with, and then taking turns feeding them to each other. I’m so caught up in the experience, I stop being self-conscious around his friends. I forget they’re even there.
Then Sin’s phone rings again, completely shattering the little bubble I’d cocooned myself in with him. He jumps up immediately and walks off to take the call.
Is it Oliver calling again?
The world rushes back, and I try to orient myself back to regular existence that comes without all the intensity of being under Sin’s heady gaze.
“God, I fucking hate organic chemistry,” a red-headed girl, whom I think introduced herself as Chloe, complains, slamming her book closed and throwing it down. “I just can’t wrap my brain around it.”
“What concept are you having trouble grasping?” I ask, knowing a lot of people have trouble with the abstract nature of the subject.
“Stereochemistry is kicking my ass. I don’t understand it, so none of the damned formulas make any sense to me.”
“Come here,” I offer. “I think I might be able to help. “
Chloe sits down beside me, and I place my left and right hands side by side.
“See how my hands both have the same structure, but they can’t be superimposed?
The same goes for molecules in stereochemistry.
” Then, as simply as I can, I go on to try to build her understanding of the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in molecules that is the foundation of organic and biological chemistry.
I open my computer and type in a few formulas for her and walk her through using them.
“Oh, my God. You’re wonderful!” Chloe says, hugging me. “In fifteen minutes, you helped me more than my professor and my tutor put together.”
“I’m a nerd,” I shrug, a little embarrassed at once again being the group’s center of attention.
“Do you do any tutoring on the side? I know this class is going to continue to kick my ass all semester long. I’m paying my current tutor sixty bucks an hour, and I’d pay you eighty.”
Eighty bucks an hour? I’m only getting twenty through the agency I work for. A client like Chloe could really help me get ahead of my debt and stockpile enough money away so I could afford my own place.
Away from Sin . My stomach clenches at the idea, but my brain knows it would be for the best.
“I could definitely tutor you,” I tell Chloe. “The way you grasped the concepts after a little bit of help, I see no reason why you couldn’t get an A in the class, if you’re willing to put in the effort.”
“Wait, can you tutor me in astronomy?” asks a stoned-looking ginger wearing the sweatshirt of a well-known frat on campus. “I took it thinking I’d be able to lie around and stare at the stars, and instead it’s full of math and shit.”
“I can help you. I’m certified to tutor all non-major math and science classes, as well as general ed classes in core curriculums.”
I end up with a total of four new tutoring clients.
Right as Sin grabs my hand and pulls me up, a dark-haired guy with pretty-boy looks strolls over.
Earlier, when Sin was on his phone call, he’d asked how it felt to be the poor relation in the Brandt family.
Mercer had slapped him upside the head and told him that if Sin had heard him say that, they’d be finding pieces of him all over campus.
“I’ll hire you, too,” He looks me up and down and gives me an oily smile.
“I could use some help with my anatomy class. If you’re for sale? ”
I don’t like him, but he’s a potential client and I’m too broke to be picky. “I can?—”
“Sorry, Tate,” Sin says, looking not the least bit sorry. “Cassidy already agreed to tutor me. Looks like you’ll have to go buy a copy of Anatomy for Dummies instead. From what I’ve heard, your dates will appreciate it.”
Tate flips off a smirking Sin and stalks off. I turn to Sin. “I never agreed to tutor you.”
The smirk instantly transforms into a slight pout, with puppy dog eyes thrown in. “Yeah, I’ve been trying to get the courage up to ask for your help. I could really use your ninja tutoring skills in calculus. I’m failing it and don’t want to have to repeat the class.”
“Of course, I’ll help you!” I rush to tell him. I hate that he needed my help and hesitated to ask me for it. “But you don’t have to pay me. I can take on Tate as a client and still help you.”
“No, you can’t,” he says adamantly. “I’m gonna need more help than you realize. It’s gonna take at least two, maybe three times a week to get me out of trouble in this class.”
Okay,” I agree, glad he’s willing to put so much work in passing the class. Usually, the biggest hurdle to successful tutoring is the lack of motivation in the student. With Sin, that obviously won’t apply. “We can start tackling it once we get home tonight.”
“No,” he says firmly. “I think it’s best if we meet here. I’ll come up with a spot where we can study.”
“Oh, okay, sure. Wherever you think you’ll learn best.” I tell him.
He seems satisfied with that, and it’s not until after he walks me back to the science building and I’m in a class that I realize what a lovesick fool I am.
Living in the same house with Sin. Riding to and from school with him.
Tutoring him. It’s definitely not the way to move on from my feelings for my stepbrother.