“Siobhan. Dallas’s, ah…well, I don’t know what they are. But she’s cool. You’d get along with her.” He scrolled into the team selection menu, and we built our lineups.

“You might not be quite as thrilled after I school you.”

He scoffed. “Never gonna happen.”

By the time the pizza arrived, I’d beaten him twice.

“What do you know?” Chase turned to me, giving me a sly once-over. A thrill ran through my body. “Hot and nerdy. You’re full of surprises.” He set the controller aside and got up to answer the doorbell.

Wait. Did he just call me hot?

…And nerdy?

“Hey, let me pay,” I called out, standing up.

“Too late.” He shut the door, a truckload of food in his arms. Two large pizzas, wings, breadsticks, Caesar salad, and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. It was nice, in contrast to Luke’s restrictive chicken breast and broccoli diet he paid a nutritionist thousands of dollars to create. “I paid online when I ordered. Don’t even think of trying to sneak me cash, either.”

“But you paid for dinner that other night and hot chocolate…” Luke literally kept track to ensure we took turns. Everything was always even.

“You’re helping me with my paper, remember?” He shrugged.

I followed him into the kitchen and propped a hip against the black granite counter while he set out the boxes of food.

“Speaking of your paper,” I said, “how far did you get on it?”

“Page four.” He handed me a square white plate from the cupboard.

I suppressed a groan. His essay was twenty pages long, and I had a feeling I wasn’t getting a ride home until it was finished.

* * *

Three hours later, I was hopped up on carbs and cookies, re-writing my notes for my exam. Chase worked so slowly that I had time to focus on my own schoolwork. I couldn’t get off-track and fool around on my phone, because he would immediately use it as license to do the same.

“This fucking history class is going to be the end of me.” Chase snapped his green pencil in half and tossed it into the stainless-steel garbage can beside him with a clang. “It was the only social science elective that fit my training schedule.”

I set down my blue ballpoint pen and shook out the cramp in my hand. If writing things out on paper made for better retention, I’d ace the exam. Having my laptop would have been nice, but I hadn’t planned to stay this long. I should have known to plan for contingencies when Chase was involved.

Not that I was complaining about spending time with him.

“What’s your major again?”

“Econ.” He turned the chair around to face me, and a small smile played on his lips.

My stomach flip-flopped, and not from all the sugar.