Page 40 of Secrets and Lies
And even after messaging with him, I’m no closer to figuring out who he is, why he’s doing this, or what his endgame is.
I’m so deep in thought that I jump a mile and almost knock my textbook off the small tray table attached to my chair when someone slides into the seat next to me.
“Howdy, partner.” Anthony’s voice low and raspy as he drops his backpack on the floor at his feet.
“Hey,” I say as I reach down to grab the pen that rolled onto the floor when I was saving my textbook. “What are you doing here?”
“Going to class,” he says with that sexy-as-fuck smirk of his.
I roll my eyes as my neck flushes hot. “I know that, genius. I mean, what are you doinghere, like in that seat?” I motion toward the left side of the room. “Don’t you usually sit over there?”
He unzips his backpack and pulls out his textbook. “Usually.”
“So why are you sitting here?” I ask again.
He pulls a water bottle and a small package of what looks like trail mix out of his bag. “You don’t want me to sit next to you?” he asks, a teasing lilt in his voice.
“I didn’t say that,” I say quickly, probablytooquickly. “I just mean it’s almost the end of the year and you’ve always sat over there, so I thought…”
“You thought?” he prompts, smiling at me like I’m a puppy in a pet store window.
“Never mind.” I give him what I hope is a casual smile that doesn’t give away that I feel like I’m on the edge of losing it. “I’m just distracted today.”
“Did you eat lunch?” he asks.
“What?” I blink at him, confused by the abrupt shift in the conversation.
“Did you eat lunch today?” he asks again.
“Oh, um. No. Why?”
He reaches into his backpack and pulls out a can of cold brew, another package of trail mix, and a pouch of applesauce, like the ones my nieces and nephews like, then places all three items on the corner of my desk.
I look between him and the items. Are those for me?
“Hazen and Connor always forget to eat when they’re distracted,” he says, his voice low as more and more students fill the lecture hall. “And they’re both nightmares to deal with when they get hangry. You were pretty out of it after the meeting last night. I figured you might be the same and forget to eat since you’ve been so distracted lately.”
“You brought me food just in case I needed it?” I ask slowly, like I suddenly lost half my IQ points.
He pulls a second can of cold brew out of his backpack and pops the tab on it. “Yup,” he says, then lifts the can to his lips.
My eyes immediately, and without my permission, flick from his mouth and his Adam’s apple, and I watch his throat muscles work as he swallows.
My stomach tightens as heat gathers low in my body, and I finally lift my gaze to his when he lowers the bottle, only to find him watching me with amusement in his amazing eyes.
For the first little while that I knew him, I assumed Anthony’s eyes were just a really cool shade of bright blue, but it wasn’t until we had our first real conversation that I saw his eyes up close and realized he actually has a ring of ice blue mixed with the most unusual shade of yellow around his pupils that make his eyes even more magnetic than I first thought.
And right now, those eyes are doing things to me they have no business doing.
I tear my gaze from his and look back at the food he brought for me. “Thanks,” I say, my voice way too gruff for no reason at all. “For the…” I pick up the cold brew and pop the tab.
He stretches his long legs out in front of him. “So, why have you been so distracted lately?”
“No reason in particular,” I say quickly.
He gives me a long, assessing look, but doesn’t call me out on my obvious lie.
Feeling way more rattled than I should from his simple question, I take a sip of the coffee he brought me so I have something to do with my hands. It’s ice cold and sweet, exactly the way I like it.
