Page 17 of The Substitute

“Uh, kind of both, I guess.” I shrug and shove my hands into my hoodie pocket.

“Coffee shop work?”

“Yes.”

We find a place and since we’re near the university it’s busy but tolerable. Savage leads us to a back corner and tells me to sit.

“What do you want to drink?”

I look up at him, and every possible drink order has left my brain entirely. “Uh…”

He smirks at me. “Or something to eat?”

My stomach grumbles, but the thought of food is gross.

“Uh, no thanks.” I shake my head. “Black coffee with sugar is good, thank you.”

He nods and heads to the counter.

I dig my notes and textbook out of my bag and get them set up.

“Dedicated. I like it.” Savage hands me a cup, which I take and warm my hands on it.

“We’re here to study, right?”

He sits next to me, closer than necessary, and leans over the open textbook. “Physical Chem? That has a brutal lab.”

“Did you take it?” Why would a pre-med student need physical chemistry?

“No, but I know people who did.” He sits back in the seat, watching me, and it makes heat crawl up my neck. I fold my legsup onto the chair to sit criss-cross. “Did you take Calc already, or are you taking it now?”

“I took them freshman year to get them out of the way.” My phone buzzes in my pocket. Confused by who the hell is texting me, I pull it out to find Ambrose is the one sending me a message.

Ambrose: Where did you go?

I don’t respond, just shove the phone back into my pocket.

“Smart.” Savage nods and claps my knee. My phone buzzes again as we get settled. I admit I haven’t done the reading for the last week, so he agrees to read them while I take notes. It feels like a waste of his time. He’s pre-med for fuck’s sake, he has his own studying to do. “Baby girl?”

I blink and turn my head to see him grinning at me. My cheeks heat at being caught not paying attention.

“What’s going on in that brain of yours?”

“Just that there are better ways for you to be spending your time.” Jesus fucking christ. Way to sound ungrateful. I guess it’s better for this god of a man to realize now that I have zero self-worth so he can dip out early.

“If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be.” He smirks like I walked right into that one.

I guess I did.

My phone buzzes again, and I’m ready to throw it. With a growl, I rip it from my pocket and see Ambrose has continued to text me.

“Jealous boyfriend?” Savage lifts his eyebrows at my phone.

“More like your stupid brother.” I open the messages to see what the hell he could possibly want.

“So then yes.”

“He’s not my boyfriend, or I wouldn’t be here,” I snap.