“Hi,” I whisper, swallowing hard. “How do I seem stressed?”
“This little line right here might be an indication.” He rubs the spot between my eyebrows, easing the line I get every once in a while. Like now. “You okay, Jo Jo?”
I rest my head against the back of the door, slowly shaking it. “I got into an argument with my roommate.”
“Natalie?” When I nod, he asks, “What about?”
“Something stupid.” I’m not about to tell him it involved him, though really, the argument was more about Bryan than anything else.
“Isn’t that always the way?” He brushes a few stray hairs away from my face, tucking them behind my ear. My skin tingles where he touches me and I close my eyes for the briefest moment, taking a deep breath before I open them and gently push him away.
He takes a few steps back, allowing me room, and I turn into the efficient, on-top-of-everything tutor that I should be.
“You have a rough draft due tomorrow, don’t you?”
Knox grimaces as he pulls a chair out and falls into it. “I do. She gave us time to work on the paper in class today, but I’m sure I mangled it.”
“You probably didn’t,” I reassure him as I settle into the chair right next to his. “Let me read it.”
We work on his rough draft for the majority of the hour. Me offering him tips and tricks while he pecks at the keyboard, frowning in utter concentration. A lock of hair hangs over his forehead and it’s the cutest thing. My fingers itch with the urge to push it back, but I restrain myself.
I mean, I had his dick in my mouth a couple nights ago, but it still feels too soon to be all touchy-feely.
Oh, and he smells incredible, like he spritzed himself with some sort of cologne infused with pheromones and an aphrodisiac, making me want to bury my face into his neck and never, ever leave.
“You keep staring at me,” he says at one point, sending me a shit-eating grin when I gape at him.
I sit up straighter, keeping my focus on his laptop screen. “I’m trying to help you.”
“By staring at me?” The moment I turn to explain myself further, my lips parting, he leans over and kisses me, brief and full of tongue before he pulls away. “It’s not helping. You’re a complete distraction.”
Oh my God, he’s the distraction here.
“We need to stay on task.” I wave at his laptop. “Keep writing.”
“I hate writing papers.” He groans, shaking his head.
“You’re so close. Only a couple more paragraphs.”
“I need a reward,” he says, dead serious. “Something to keep me going, so I finish this stupid essay.”
I check the time on his laptop. “We can make out for five minutes straight if you finish it in ten,” I offer, somewhat kidding.
“Deal.” He hunkers down, staring earnestly at his computer screen while he continues to write.
Of course, he finishes only a few minutes later, angling the laptop toward me, so I can read it. It’s a standard college essay that’s about two pages, and I skim over it, making a few spelling corrections and fixing grammatical errors before I declare it’s good enough to turn in. He sends it with a few clicks of his fingers, then slams his laptop shut, turning to me with that naughty grin he tends to wear.
“You owe me now, Sutton.”
I arch my brow. “Oh, you’re calling me by my last name now huh, Maguire?”
He nods, reaching for me, lifting me completely out of my seat and pulling me onto his lap. I have no choice but to straddle him as he slips his hands beneath my cropped sweatshirt, touching bare skin. “You’re killing me with these crop tops, Sutton.”
“They’re not even that cropped, Maguire.” His fingers slide around to my back, his touch so light, it’s making me shiver. “They barely show any skin.”
“That’s the problem. It’s like a sexy little tease.” He kisses my neck, his mouth lingering. Soft. Damp. “Those words describe you perfectly.”
I rest my hands on his shoulders, leaning into his mouth. “A sexy little tease? Pretty sure no one has ever called me that before.”