Page 1 of Cocky Professor

CHAPTER 1

CHLOE

I eyed my twin from across the dining hall. The room was packed with students, both undergrad and postgrad. Talking and laughing warred with the clash of cutlery and crockery, and the scraping of chairs on the old hardwood floors. The noise level was close to maximum, but I hardly heard a sound. My attention was focussed on her, Lila Bell.

She was seated between the Brantley brothers, Hunter and Parker. They were also identical twins, but unlike Lila and me, they actually liked each other. Judging by the way they were leaning towards her, their gazes on her, laughing at something she said, they liked her too. She looked like a queen, seated between two courtiers.

Hunter tucked her hair behind her ear and said something in her ear that made her tip back her head and laugh.

Parker nudged his twin's shoulder with his fist until Hunter turned to him and spoke. Whatever he said made his twin all but double up with laughter.

Lila leaned against Hunter, as if she was laughing too hard to support her own weight. He snaked an arm around her, holding her to his chest. She smiled over her shoulder at him.

Fake bitch.

I saw the exact moment she realised I was watching. Her body stiffened and she turned her face.

I looked away before we could make eye contact. I didn't need to see her sneer of superiority. I'd seen it plenty of times already. It was seared into my brain, along with a hefty dose of bitterness.

We'd only been here a couple of weeks, and she was already so sure she was going to be the Queen of Brutham Academy, not just the dining hall.

Why wouldn't she think that? She was the fucking Queen of everything else. She was Daddy's favourite. The daughter who, out of the two of us, was the most like him.

Outgoing, outspoken and tough, that was Lila.

I was the older twin by several minutes, but she was the one everyone noticed. No one gave a shit about me, Chloe Bell. The quiet one. The sweet one. The one people looked at like I was a fucking doormat. Something to step over on their way to my sister.

I blinked away tears of frustration.

If I was going to be noticed, I was going to have to do something big. Something significant.

What sort of something? I didn't know yet. It would be difficult to outdo Lila, but not impossible. One thing I knew for sure, I couldn't do it alone. But she had the twins, and I had—me.

I propped my elbows on the table and rested my head on my hands. Maybe everyone was right about me. Maybe I didn't have what it took to take over the family business.

Lila had everything, and me? I was better at school than she was, but what did it matter? No one seemed to care about that. Our father certainly didn't. He'd notice if we failed, but he didn't give a crap if I got straight As and she got straight Cs.

She laughed again at something one of the Brantley brothers said. The whole dining hall turned to look. Some with envy, but most with interest.

I tucked my hair behind my ear, grabbed my plate and took it over to the cart to add it to the pile for the staff to wash later after tipping out my barely touched meal into the bucket. Lasagne was one of my favourites, but I didn't have much of an appetite today. Or at all, lately. Especially now when we were in the same room.

I swear I felt Lila's gaze follow me out the door, but I didn't look back. I kept my posture straight and tried to walk like I had somewhere important to be. At least until I was out of sight.

Then I hurried away in the direction of my room, like a mouse scurrying back to their mouse hole. Would anyone notice if I stayed there and didn't come out? Lila wouldn't. I was certain of that.

My eyes on the floor, I didn't see anything until I walked into a wall of muscle.

I let out a squeak of surprise before firm hands grabbed me, stopping me from falling.

The only thing that could have made this day worse would have been making a complete idiot of myself by falling on my ass.

I looked up into a pair of intense blue eyes. Swallowed hard.

Shit.

"Mr D. I wasn't looking where I was going." Did my voice have to squeak right now? I sounded like an actual mouse. Maybe the day could get worse after all.

"Chloe Bell. I could tell." He didn't quite smile, but he didn't need to. Dane DiMarco was hot as sin without trying. Being this close to him made my clit tingle. No wonder I squeaked. How could anyone put two coherent words together around him?

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