Page 61 of Wrong For Me

Yeah, I’m not doing that. “What the hell just happened? Do you know that asshole?”

She snorts out a bitter sounding laugh. “Never seen him before in my life.”

“Then how did he—”

She stops abruptly, causing the two people behind us to swerve in order to keep from plowing into us. Rose seems oblivious as she stares up at me, blue eyes flashing in anger. “I don’t want to talk about it, Leo,” she says fiercely. “I ammortified. I am so pissed off I can barely see straight. The last thing I need right now is to show up late for Hernandez’s lecture. So can you please, please just drop it?”

I want to argue. Want to take her somewhere safe from the prying eyes that surround us and make her tell me what the hell that was all about. But her wide blue eyes are pleading, her lip trembling like it’s taking everything she has to keep from crying, and there’s no way I can deny her.

“Sure,” I say, knowing I did the right thing in dropping it when relief washes over her face.

I’m grateful that she doesn’t argue when I fall into step next to her. We walk down the hall without speaking, Rose’s eyes straight ahead, expression blank. I can still feel the tension radiating off of her, though, the only evidence that she hasn’t forgotten what happened out there.

Right before we get to the lecture hall she stops abruptly and turns to face me. “Thank you,” she whispers, not meeting my eyes. “For getting rid of him.”

“You can’t think I’d just stand by and let him…” I shake my head, unwilling to repeat any of the vile shit that guy was spewing.

Her cheeks go pink again. “Anyhow. I appreciate it.” She turns to enter the room but her gaze catches on my hands. “Sucking up to the advisor, huh?” she asks, mouth lifting slightly at the corners.

And God, even that hint of a smile is enough to send my stomach careening to my knees. She’s so fucking gorgeous. And the fact that she can even come close to smiling after all that shows just how strong she really is.

It takes my breath away.

“Leo?” she asks uncertainly, shifting on her heels.

Belatedly it sinks in that she said something about me sucking up. I look down at my hands and remember the coffee. “Oh. No.” I grab one of the paper cups from the carrier and hold it out to her. “That was for you, actually.”

Her eyes go wide. “For me?”

I shrug, feeling oddly shy all of a sudden. “To, uh, apologize. For being such an ass the other day. When you gave me a ride.” I clear my throat. “And, uh, the other times.”

Her lips twitch again, like she’s fighting a smile. When I push the cup closer to her, she takes it.

“Thanks, Leo.”

Before she can walk into the lecture hall, I grab her arm, unable to let her go without saying something. “I get that you don’t want to talk about it here,” I say in a low voice, hating that even the half smile disappears from her face the second I start talking. “But will you please just tell me if you’re all right? Because I hate the thought of you sitting through this class feeling like…” I trail off, unsure of how to finish that.

“It’s really not a big deal,” she says softly, eyes locked to the floor. “Happens all the time.”

It happensall the time?What the fuck? The thought that she’s dealt with something like that before—multiple times? It has me clenching my fists all over again, wanting to punch something. Before I can say anything to her, she’s turned and walked into the lecture hall where Dr. Hernandez is waiting.

* * *

I’m definitely gettingthe feeling that Rose is avoiding me. I try to wait for her after the lecture but she’s immediately approached by one of the female students. From the relaxed posture of Rose’s shoulders, I get the impression she knows this student, probably from her study session. She certainly doesn’t look anywhere near as tense as she did with the asshole this morning. In fact, after conferring with the student for a few minutes, they leave the room together, still deep in conversation.

So much for getting to the bottom of whatever that was this morning. But I don’t give up—I wait for her outside of the afternoon seminar we share until the last possible second, only to find that she’s already been inside the whole time. Since the class is already starting, all of the seats near Rose are filled, and I have to sit on the other side of the room.

She’s off like a light as soon as the class ends, dashing out the door before I even have the chance to get my book into my bag. Yeah. Definitely avoiding me.

I don’t get the chance to talk to her for two days, not until the beginning of our joint office hours. We’re both required to sit in the office for the duration of the time period in case any kid shows up needing help. So far, my individual hours have been pretty empty—the school year is still new enough that not many students are overly concerned about their grades yet.

Just as I expected, there’s not a student to be found in the office when I get there, just Rose hunched over her desk, nose buried in a book. I take a moment to watch her, the way she absentmindedly braids small sections of her hair while she reads. The way her lips move, just the tiniest bit, her attention completely focused on the work she’s doing.

Until I clear my throat, and she jumps in her chair at the noise.

“Sorry,” I say, trying not to laugh.

She slaps a hand over her heart, breathing heavily. “You startled me!”