“What are you looking at?” he snaps, and I roll my eyes at him.
The guy is as mercurial as a thunderstorm. It’s freaking exhausting. “Well, you are my partner.” I sigh. “I was trying to work out how the fuck we’re going to catch up.”
“We don’t have anything to catch up on,” he snarls before reaching into his bag and dropping a folder onto my desk. “All you need to do is read up and write your half of the proposal.”
“Not this again.” I huff. As if what happened last time he pulled this wasn’t bad enough. I can’t help but frown at him before flicking through the file. An icy rage fills my veins. “I don’t expect you to do all of the work, Lincoln. I’m fully capable of doing my part. After last time, I started my own goddamn proposal. Let me read yours, and I’ll work out how to merge them.”
“I will not risk my GPA, or my chance to escape this place, on some little rock princess who has no idea how the real world works.”
I lean back in my chair, blinking at him. I have no idea where this animosity is coming from, but he looks as tired as I feel. I take a deep breath and decide to take the high road. Snapping at him won’t get us anywhere. He also doesn’t need to know how much I need my GPA to be on track either. “So much for our truce,” I mutter. “I’ll take a look at what you’ve done, and I’ll give you my feedback before the weekend so we can finish our proposal before it’s due in.”
He responds with a grunt before pulling an identical file from his bag and opening it. “There isn’t anything that needs feedback. The work is solid.”
“I’m sure it is.” I sigh, exasperated. Why does he take everything I say the wrong way? I decide the truce is on a very thin layer of ice, so rather than pushing, I turn to the work he’s already done and start reading. I slide him over the work I’ve done too, since I'm not risking another chance at a fail or another proposition from our slimebag teacher. There’s no way in hell I’m getting on my knees for him.
The first part of our project was to write a proposal for a business venture, with basic scaling and projections. The second part is to rework it based on feedback with full-scale profit projections. I worked blind, considering I didn’t have feedback on the first part; and as I read through Lincoln’s work, I kind of hate how solid the project is that he’s put together.
There are definitely tweaks to be made and other profit streams that could be explored but considering he went at this alone, he’s done a fucking lot of work in a short space of time. I am loath to admit that to him though. Especially when he already has a smug asshole way about him. If he was the Lincoln I used to know, I’d have zero issues letting him know how good of a job he did.
But that isn’t the situation we’re in, so I use the time to sit and scribble notes on the pages while the other groups in the class discuss their projects. The silence wouldn’t bother me if I couldn’t feel his eyes on me. I look up, watching him practically twitch as I make notes on his well thought out pages. But I refuse to let him do all of the work alone. He might think I’m a useless princess now, but he should know better than that. I haven’t done anything to give him that impression of me. I take a deep breath and smile softly at him. “It’s a solid plan, but I think there are a few tweaks we could make to widen revenue streams and increase the profit margins.”
He looks a little shocked as he leans back in his seat, nodding stiffly before turning to his version of the file. I do a mental fist pump at shocking him into not snarling at me and take the win. Maybe at some point, he’ll realize he actually has no clue about the girl I grew up to be and clue in to the fact that I’m far more competent than he wants to give me credit for.
I go through and add notes, waiting until the bell rings before handing him the file. “Have a look, see what you think. If you agree with what I’ve done, we can merge our two plans, since they aren’t worlds away, then write up the final proposaltogether.”
He takes the file from my hand, nodding once before stalking from the room. I can’t quite tell if this was a total win, but I head to my next class feeling way lighter than I did before I came to this one.
* * *
“Do you have plans for next weekend?”
I glance over my shoulder at Indi who’s sitting on the counter of the island in my kitchen. Rooting through the fridge trying to find something to eat is a disappointing endeavor, so I sigh and shut it before turning my attention back to her. I sit down at the island as I consider her question.
I squash down the ripple of sadness that runs through me. Dad and I always used to just get away from everything on Labor Day weekend. We’d escape the insanity that his lifestyle brought and find a remote cabin somewhere. I’m not really one for nature, but staying in a log cabin with beautiful water views and making S’mores at night over an open fire was always a really nice escape. It won’t happen this year, and I’m trying not to focus on just how much that thought hurts. “For the long weekend? No, I was just going to curl up in the theatre room in my pajamas and pretend the world doesn’t exist. Why?”
She shrugs before jumping down and sliding into the chair next to mine. “I was thinking maybe we could get away for the weekend. You could definitely use some time away from here. I was thinking of a spa weekend. Ultimate relaxation and all the sleep rolled into one weekend.”
I smile wide. That actually sounds kind of perfect. It might not be what I’ve always done, but it might give me a chance to escape the ever-haunting memories of this house. Both of my dad and what happened recently. I might actually get some sleep. “Yes, let’s do it. That sounds amazing.”
Grinning wide, she pulls her phone out of her pocket, and after tapping at her screen, she shows me the site of a mountain spa. “I was thinking we could go to this place.”
I almost can’t contain my excitement as I take in the images from the website. It looks so fucking zen, I can’t even handle it. It looks perfect. “Yes, let’s book it. Right now. I need this way too much.”
I grab my purse from my bag while she puts all of the details of our stay in. “You don’t need to pay, I can cover my half.” She shoves her hands at me as I go to hand her my card, but I shake my head and refuse to take it.
“Hush, what’s the point in having money if I can’t spend it on the people I love?” I shrug and hand her my card anyway. Money hasn’t ever been an issue, and I know I’m lucky that I can say that. I mean it, though, I know she has plenty of her own money; but I couldn’t spend what my dad made in three lifetimes, so if I can do this, I’m going to.
She books it in my name and grins at me, showing me the confirmation. “Thank you, I mean you totally paid for my birthday weekend away, so I feel like I’m taking advantage—”
“Hush!” I cut her off, laughing. “No one is taking advantage.”
Her phone buzzes, pulling her attention away from the topic at hand, and I see Jackson’s name on the screen before she takes it back from me. She smiles down at her phone, and my heart soars for her. I love how happy she is, but I swear to God; if he hurts her, I will literally pop his nut sack. Pop it.
“Do you mind if I jet?” she asks, biting at her lip.
I shake my head. I don’t want to be alone, but I could totally try to head to bed early. I might not get much sleep, but I figure the earlier I start trying, the more I might get in overall. “You’re good. And don’t worry about getting me in the morning either. I can drive in.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, conflict written all over her face.