Page 59 of The Chemistry of Us

Totally fine.

I repeated this to myself the entire time of our study session and knew I was in even deeper shit when I showed up at our normal table.

And it was someone else.

“Hey.” I dropped my bag on the table. “Is Tru around?”

The guy cracked his knuckles. “She’s taking the day off, so you have the blessed occasion of having the number one tutor in the university help you with your history. I swear if you make any cunt-like jokes, I’ll walk. If you smell like alcohol, I’ll walk. If you point out a hot girl and laugh, I’ll walk.”

I held up my hand.

“I get the picture. You like walking.” I slumped into my chair. “Let’s get this over with.”

He shrugged. “Cool, sounds good. My name's Dennis.”

“You look more like a Kevin.”

He flipped open his book. “I get that often. It’s weird.”

“Because you look like a child. A child who got left alone at Christmas.”

“So…” He ignored me. “Chapter twelve.”

“Shit.”

“No, actually, it’s about the chemistry between?—”

I clap a hand over his mouth. “Let me read the chapter, then you speak. Ignore my rules, and I’ll be the one walking after pulling your spleen out of your throat, mmkay?”

His quick nod was all I needed.

I mean at least that was what I told myself when I knew what I really needed was Tru.

CHAPTER 23

VAUGHN

“Jesus, man,” my friend exclaimed. “Where did your balls go, man? Did you just hand them over to her?”

He laughed from deep within his chest, and I resisted the urge to hit him.

“Why don’t you get the turquoise birthday cake because, like you said, it’s her favorite color.”

I smacked him on the chest. “It is, and it’s her eighteenth birthday. I want it to be special.”

“So you’ve said.”

Shaking my head, I paid for my stuff and then dropped him off at the beach. I was surprising Tru with balloons, gifts, and a cake. Knowing it was the first time she’d experience anything like this.

By the time I made it to her house, it was after three, and I knocked on her door.

My heart fluttered, my stomach dropped, and my mouth parted the moment she greeted, “Hey, there.”

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” I expressed out of nowhere, obviously warming her heart. With that, I grabbed her hand and tugged her toward me to kiss her lips. Then I showed her why I was really there.

She instantly saw all the balloons and cake I’d been hiding on the bed of my truck. I decked it out for her.

“I thought we could go for a ride.”

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