Caleb’s eyes narrowed, and he grabbed his pen and scrawled under my question:

Fuck you.

I let my eyes travel down over him, making sure to linger on his mouth, neck, chest, and the zipper of jeans, then put pen to paper again.

Is that a pick YES or NO kind of answer, because it’s a definiteYES.Please, fuck me.

Caleb cleared his throat, and Professor Livingston immediately zeroed in on the two of us.

“Do you have something to add, Mr. Reeves?”

I waggled my brows at him, and Caleb looked like he wanted to kiss or throttle me. I had a feeling he was leaning more toward the latter, though, the killjoy.

“No,” he said, turning to face Livingston. “I just had a bit of an…irritation. Sorry.”

I bit down on my lip, trying not to laugh, as Livingston arched a bushy brow at Caleb, clearly not buying what he was selling. When he went back to what he’d been talking about Caleb, gave me aquit itlook.

Hey, he was the one that didn’t want me to talk. Not communicating atallwould be asking the impossible.

I went back to writing him a note.

Aren’t you curious what my piercing feels like?

When I pushed the pad his way, he did a double take. Then he quickly scribbled something back, and I smiled in satisfaction.

Shit. I am now.

As I wrote,Care to blow this,he rolled his eyes, then I added,joint?

I tapped my pen on the pad, hoping his answer would be yes, but fully expecting the one I got instead.

No. I’m your good influence, remember?

Care to influence me in the staff bathroom?

Just how many guys have you taken back there?

Today?

When he stared at me, I smirked.

None, but I hear it’s private. Good acoustics.

Noted.

For later?

He shifted in his seat, his shoulder bumping up against mine, and it was almost pathetic how much I craved every little touch. How I’d do anything for his attention. But that was the power he’d always held over me, the reason I’d shut myself down the first time around.

Caleb Reeves was my biggest weakness, one I couldn’t seem to resist, and when he turned his head, a crooked smile tugged at his lips and I felt myself fall even deeper under his spell.

And just when I thought he’d turn me down, he reached over and scrawled across the paper:

Yeah, come find me later.

TWENTY-THREE

caleb