“Why the hell not?” she asks on a long whine.

“You deserve better.”

She shakes her head, confused. I stand and reach out for her. She takes a step away, but I grab her wrist. I lean against the table, pulling her body up against mine. It’s just enough to make up the height difference between us so we’re eye to eye.

“You deserve more than some half-assed regurgitated you too. When I tell you that I love you—” I pause, letting her take in the words. “It’s going to be spontaneous and genuine. You’re going to know I’m not saying it to be nice or sweet or any reason other than in that moment I’m completely fucking shattered by how much I love you.”

I slip my hand into her hair and smash my lips to hers. I kiss her as hard as I did that first night. The night she fell in love with me. And I fell for her. I kiss her until she gives in, until she melts into me and we become one tangled mess. I kiss her until I don’t know where she starts and I end. She places her hand on my chest, her palm finding my heart, and it beats just for her.

She breaks the kiss. “Fine.” She pecks me on the mouth and pushes off my chest. With a hair toss, she adds, “But don’t take too long. You’ll give me a complex!”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jessie

I loosen the kung-fu grip I have on my Marketing Principles project report, unraveling it to reread the red See me Professor Pfeffer scribbled across the top. I’m missing another dodgeball game to make it to his office hours, a fact that has guilt mingling with anxiety when I picture Team Captain Maddy’s disappointed frown.

I knock on the door frame of Professor P.’s office. He looks up at me from a stack of papers and smiles. I take that as a good sign. He wouldn’t be smiling if he’s failing me, right?

“You wanted to see me?” I ask, still hoping there was some sort of mistake. Spending time with Devin, on top of all my other social obligations, hasn’t left much time for school. Still, I thought my report on the auto shop was damn good. I’ve increased their productivity by fifteen percent in the first month, and while business is still picking up, I’m confident in my prediction that within the next six months, new customers will more than make up for the cost of the infrastructure upgrades. But maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about, since I got the college equivalent of being called to the principal’s office.