Page 5 of Test Me
I swear I listened to him as he reframed the problem, but I kept getting stuck on the tiny line that appeared between his brows, and the way his hands moved as he drew an arc through the air, how focused he was, and how intently he glanced up at me every now again to see if I was following as he transitioned into tutor mode. Had he been this sexy freshman year in Western Civ and I just hadn’t noticed, or had he undergone a recent glowup?
But aside from his studiousness getting me hot, the way he reframed the problem actually fucking made sense.
I leaned forward, pushing my burger wrapper aside. “So, to figure out the maximum height of the ball, I need to figure out the velocity athand the time it takes to get there?” I hesitated until Logan grinned, actuallygrinned,at me like he didn’t hate me.
“Exactly. And how do we find that?”
“Shit. Okay, ummmm.” I picked up my pencil and sketched out the ball on the field quickly to try to visualize it. “We need the initial vertical velocity and…”
“What’s the vertical component? Basically, what’sh? Remember that’s the point at which the projectile… errr,ball, stops upward motion and begins to fall back to the ground.”
“Zero?”
“Is that a question?” He arched a brow.
“No, it’s zero,” I decided.
“Right, so let’s get that initial vertical velocity and then we can tackle the acceleration.”
We worked painstakingly through the problem and then I sank back in my chair. “Fuck, they need nap pods in this library or something because I swear this stuff saps my will to live.”
Logan chuckled lightly, unselfconsciously, both the sound of it warming my gut and the fact that I’d caused it. “It’s not that bad. You’re already picking up on it. But you’d better fuel up with those fries, because we’ve still got ten to go.”
“I wish I had natural talent for this shit.”
“I wish I could sling a ball across a field into a tiny net.” When I glanced at him sidelong, he smirked. “Kidding. I do not regret my lack of sports ability except that it might have made junior high a little easier.”
“What happened in junior high?”
He shrugged. “The usual nerdy, scrawny kid type stuff. I was short forever then seemingly overnight sophomore year, I shot up to a ‘respectable’ six feet.”
I eyed the logo on his shirt, a band I’d listened to a lot in recent years. “What kind of music did you like back then?”
“That’s a weird question.” When I didn’t deny it, he scratched his jaw and continued. “Eh, anything from alternative to classic rock.”
“I used to get made fun of because I liked Enya.”
Logan frowned. “What’s wrong with Enya?”
“Fucking nothing, if you ask me. It’s soothing as hell and she’s got an incredible voice. My mom always played it at dinnertime. I got hooked, I guess.”
He quirked a smile. “Do you still listen to it?”
“Yup. Especially if I can’t go to sleep. You?”
“Dark Sky Island. Mostly when studying.” When our eyes locked, Logan inhaled deeply through his nostrils, and for once he didn’t look immediately away. Just for a second, an electric sizzle ran through me at the connection. He had gorgeous eyes, glasses or not. Then he cleared his throat, and the connection poofed. “Anyway, none of that’s gonna be on your test, so maybe we should get back to work.”
I started to interrupt him and tell him I wanted to hear more about junior high Logan, but he was already flipping to the next page in my physics book, the serious tutor expression back, forcing me to tamp down thoughts of what it might be like to see that expression unravel in pleasure.
An hour and a half later, we’d completed all the problems, gone through the practice test, and I felt reasonably confident that after our next session, I could manage a C on the test.
As I packed up my things, I became aware of Logan’s gaze on me. “What?”
“Poodly-doo?” Logan’s lips quirked with an amused half-smile.
“Huh? Oh! Ha, yeah. Family saying, I guess. It slips out sometimes.” I gave him the bird. He wasn’t the first to call me out on that expression. He wouldn’t be the last. I’d take his teases over his glowers any day, though.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say that before. It’s… weird.” But he said it as if it amused him.