She frowns at me. “But it’s a laptop. The thing won’t last two years. At least, mine doesn’t.”
“Okay,” I shift closer and point to the excerpt she was given to work off. “In this case, you need to work out the depreciating cost based on what the IRS requires, which is five years as per the example they gave you.”
She scrunches her nose. “I freaking hate accounting.”
“No, you’re just stubborn,” I joke. “You can’t apply what you would do in real life to your studies. Facts are facts, babe.”
Mila frowns at me. “Why do you call me that?”
“Huh?” Now she’s lost me.
“Babe. Why do you call me that?”
Tilting my head, my own frown forms on my forehead. “Does it bother you?”
“No.” She pushes her laptop to the side and turns to me, crossing her legs. “I just want to know why you call me babe.”
“Because you’re my babe,” I answer the only way I know how to. I don’t think now is the right time to tell her I love her. I want to wait until she’s better.
“Ugh,” she huffs as she grabs her laptop again. “You’re even more impossible to understand than accounting.”
I let out a burst of laughter. “What’s so hard? I’m all about love.”
She lets out a snort, then flinches with pain. “Ooh, I need to take a break and put an ice pack on my ribs.”
Closing my laptop, I set it aside and get up. “I’ll go get one.”
I jog to the kitchen and grab an ice pack from the freezer, and walking back into the room, I say, “Lie down. I’ve seen the nurse help you with this enough times to be an expert.”
Mila lies on her right side, and I sit down behind her. Taking hold of her shirt, I lift it just enough to place the cold compress over her injury. Keeping my hand on the pack so it won’t slide, I lie down and rest my head on my right arm.
After a couple of minutes, my eyes drift over Mila’s profile. “Does it feel better?”
She nods. “Thanks.”
Wanting to get more comfortable, I push my right arm under Mila’s neck, and lying down with my head on the same pillow as hers, I wrap my arm under her chin.
We lie in silence for a moment, and then I ask, “Will you be okay to return to classes on Monday?”
Bringing her hands up, she takes hold of my forearm and answers, “Yeah.”
“When we’re done with the ice pack, remember to show me your schedule,” I say.
“Why?”
“I’m not letting you walk around on campus by yourself.”
She turns onto her back and stares at me. “I’ll be with Jade and Fallon.”
I adjust the pack on her side, then raise an eyebrow at her. “So?”
“So, they’ll be with me. You can’t attend your own classes and follow me around on campus. That’s just crazy.”
“Mila, I’m not going back to classes yet. You’re stuck with me until I’m sure no one will give you shit.”
She sits up and gives me a you-must-be-joking look. When I see the sparks begin to fly in her eyes, a grin pulls at my lips.
God, I missed those sparks.
“You’re not missing any more classes because of me,” she says, her voice sharp with incredulity that I’d even think of doing such a thing.
Sitting up, I lean over to her until our faces are only inches apart. “Yeah, are you going to stop me?”
She lets out a frustrated huff. “You’re impossible, Jase.” Then she pulls a face as she mutters, “And you think I’m the stubborn one in this relationship.”
I tilt my head as my grin grows broader, and catching her eyes, I ask, “Relationship?”
“Ugh, you know what I mean.” She rolls her eyes and begins to scoot off the bed, then she says, “I meant our friendship.”
“Nope, I heard you clearly say relationship,” I tease her.
She walks around the bed and grabs the pillow behind me, then whacks me with it. “Stop teasing me.”
With a scowl on her face, she walks out of my room, and I jump up. I laugh as I run after her. “Where are you going?”
“All the arguing made me hungry,” she grumbles as she stops in front of the fridge.
“Sit down.” I steer her to a kitchen stool before I go to take the leftover pizza from the box. I plate a couple of slices for us, and while it’s warming, I ask, “What do you want to drink?”
“Water is fine,” she says.
I glance at Mila, and when I catch her eyes on me, I wink at her.
It earns me a huff as she rolls her eyes and slides off the stool. “That’s it. I’m choosing another romance to torture you with.”
I laugh as I watch her disappear down the hallway.
Dad was right. Since I started treating her like nothing’s wrong and teasing her again, she’s been much more relaxed and almost back to her old self.