He lowers himself onto the bench. "Can we talk about this?"
I turn toward him, his stupid green eyes pleading with me to figure this out. I hate the effect he has on me, melting away every ounce of anger I want to harbor. Even if he’s the one who often brings it on.
I clear my throat. “Listen, I know you don’t like me, for whatever reason, and that’s fine. But I can’t drop the tutoring program, and you apparently need it. Obviously, we can’t switch partners on the assignment, either. My grades are important to me, and I won’t let you ruin that because you hate me.”
Johnny stares at me intensely. “I don’t hate you.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I avoid the shockwave that rattles my core. “Let’s just consider this a business transaction. We can agree to get along enough to get the required work done, right? Can you play pretend for a couple months? Once this class is over, you can go back to never talking to me again. Can you handle that, or am I asking too much?”
“Yeah,” is all he says.
It’s not going to be easy, and I’m not even sure if it’s somethingIcan manage. Johnny is a force that wrecks me every second he’s around. But I can’t allow my plan to be derailed because I can’t figure out how to be near him. He’s only human, and so am I. There’s no reason I can’t trick myself into thinking he’s just a means to an end—a way for me to further my chances of getting that scholarship and getting the hell back home.