Page 70 of Toxic

"We’re fuckbuddies. Period."

"Fuckbuddies…" I whispered. The term was somewhat scary, I just knew it could become a permanent trap with no way out.

He glanced at me again, something flickering in his eyes. "That’s all I can offer you, Skye."

Was that all he could offer me… for now or forever? But what could I say without making him mad? I decided to let it go for now.

"Still, please let me pay those last two payments, just to help out. I’ve got the money. I’ve been working for Nathaniel since the start of MonsterApp, doing various projects, and I’ve saved up a lot. Plus, I’ll be working for him after graduation. So, it won’t even make a dent in my savings."

Soren looked at me for a moment.

"You don’t understand, I don’t want your money, Skye. I won’t take it, not from you… I—" he interrupted, his face suddenly reddening. "It needs to be untainted by money."

His words made me gasp.

It sounded almost… romantic? So not like Soren! But did I know him well enough to judge what he was like inside? Maybe he was exactly what I had never thought—a romantic—just shielding himself with the ‘I don't give a fuck’ attitude? Astrangely pleasant shiver ran down my spine because… I was the same.

Soren continued, probably not wanting me to cut in, "I’m good. You pay me for Python tutoring double anyway. I’ll survive these two months. I already contacted the debt collector and told him I’d be a little late."

It was all… so much. My emotions were somehow stirred, yet I was silent, staring almost transfixed at my hands.

Soren’s voice grew firmer, as if he realized how his words might be interpreted and was now trying to sound more businesslike. "Money corrupts everything. I hated owing Don, and it didn’t end well. I felt obligated to keep my mouth shut. I prefer a clean slate—no strings attached, no new debts."

Making a loud huff, I muttered, "I get it, I get it." The conversation was going nowhere, I didn't need to hear any more of it, it was all just too depressing. "But the Python payment stays. It’s not double. I checked, and some guys charge that much."

"Yeah, they have PhDs."

"You’re as smart as they are."

Soren quickly looked away.

"Thanks," he croaked out. "Speaking of Python, did you do the homework I gave you?"

"I did."

I showed him my work, and he approved.

"You’re catching on quick. You won’t need much more tutoring soon."

"I still want to perfect a few things. Python’s a challenge."

"Well… let me think. We could… work on using tools like garbage collector and memory_profiler to analyze and optimize memory usage. That’ll come in handy later."

"Sure, sounds great."

A silence fell.

Soren lay flat on his bed, and I decided to, almost shyly, put my arm around his waist. My face ended up close to his head, and I could smell his hair and skin. It was pleasant, sweet, soothing…

Then I closed my eyes and…

Woke up!

It was already morning!

I jerked awake, feeling silly, and sat up. Outside the window, a wall of rain was pouring down from the sky. Soren opened his eyes—the same color as the weather outside—and our gazes met.

"Sorry, I overslept. I’m gonna go now. See you in class…" I muttered, pulling on my jeans in a hurry.

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