Page 141 of The Chase

“I know,” I moan, and as the tears continue to fall, I tell him everything that happened in class today. And then, since I’m already confessing humiliating things, I also reveal what happened in Laurie’s office.

Fitz’s eyes blaze. “That motherfucker. And now he’s punishing you because you didn’t want to sleep with him?”

I swipe at my wet eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe I really did deserve a D.”

“Bullshit. That was not a D paper, Summer. I’m sorry.I don’t claim to be some essay-writing genius, but if I was a TA, I would’ve given you a B.Maybea B-minus if I was being nitpicky about grammar, or a C if I was just in a bad mood that day. But a D-minus is total bull. He’s absolutely punishing you.” He angrily shakes his head. “You need to appeal the grade.”

His confidence in my midterm dries my tears. “Can I do that?”

“I’m not sure how the Fashion department does it, but there’s definitely an appeal process at this college and you need to take advantage of it.” He cups my cheeks with both hands, sweeping his thumbs over my jawline. “You can’t let him get away with this. You donotdeserve that grade, babe.”

But what if you do?my inner critic counters.You’re not exactly the brightest bulb in the—

Shut up,I interrupt, mentally bitch-slapping the negative part of my brain that’s been tormenting me for years.Just. Shut. Up.

I’m not going to listen to the critic. I’m going to listen to Fitz, who sounds so adamant that I did a good job on the paper.

And his faith in me steals the breath from my lungs. I throw my arms around him and hug him tightly. “I love you,” I whisper. “You make me feel…” I pause to think it over. “Smart.”

His husky laughter tickles the top of my head. “Smart, huh?” He runs his hands up and down my back before tightening his hold on me.

“Yes.” I smile against the warm column of his neck, breathing in his familiar masculine scent. “I didn’t appeal the plagiarism paper at Brown because I thought nobody wouldbelieve that I didn’t intentionally cheat. But I should have done it. I didn’t deserve to fail—I deserved extra help.” I steel my jaw. “Because I have a learning disorder.”

I tip my head to find Fitz gazing at me with pride in his eyes.

“I’m not stupid,” I tell him, and for once, my inner critic remains silent. “I just learn differently. I worked my ass off on that midterm, and maybe there were a few run-on sentences and a paragraph or two that I could’ve rearranged. And fine, there wasonespelling error—but come on, do you expect me to believe that not a single other person in the class had so much as a typo?” I jut my chin. “I’m appealing this shit.”

“Damn right you are. Laurie can eat a dick.”

“Damn right he can.” I run my fingers over the stubble dotting his strong jaw. “Thank you for making me feel better about all this.”

“Hey, it’s my job as your boyfriend to make you feel better.” Fitz’s lips brush over mine in a reassuring kiss. “Don’t worry, babe. You’re going to appeal the grade, and the college will overturn it because it’ll be clear that Laurie is a vengeful asshole. It’s going to be fine.” He kisses me again. “I promise.”

31

FITZ

Due to a scheduling conflict with the Arbor House, our venue in Hastings, tomorrow’s junior fashion show will now be held at 7 p.m., rather than 9 p.m. We apologize to ticketholders for any inconvenience this may cause.

“CAN.YOU. FRIGGING. BELIEVE. THIS.”

Rage twists Summer’s beautiful features into something dark and primal. She looks as if she’s prepared to drive to Erik Laurie’s home and strangle him with her bare hands.

I don’t blame her.

“A scheduling conflict?” she screeches. “The day before the event? He did this on purpose. He’s trying to fuck me, literallyandfiguratively.”

I don’t laugh, because I’m furious on her behalf. When she’d emailed Laurie reminding him that half her models won’t be available until this earlier show is well underway, she’d gotten a cold response stating that she’d simply have to redo the independent study next year.

Which is a slap in the face after she’d worked her ass off all semester.

“Are you sure he knew that Rex and the guys wouldn’t be available until eight?”

“He knew,” she says tightly. “I mentioned it several times during our check-ins. He wanted me to open the show, and I told him I’d prefer a later slot to give the football guys time to regroup after their retreat. Plus, it’s a lot of pressure to go first.”

“Can you go over his head?” I ask.

“To who? My academic advisor? Richmond can’t stand me. And he’s in love with Laurie.”

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