Page 21 of Sweet Temptation

“Oh, ah, sure.” I shot him a grateful smile before turning to the others. “I’ll catch you guys later.”

I happily hurried from the dining hall and followed Wes outside. Although it hadn’t rained on my run, there were still dark clouds overheard and the air was heavy with moisture. Wes sat down at one of the benches, and I took in a deep breath of the fresh morning air as I went to join him.

“Just so you know, I don’t actually want you to help with the homework,” he said. “It just looked like you really wanted to get out of there.”

“Thanks,” I murmured. “Seeing Noah was harder than I was expecting. I wasn’t prepared for what it would feel like to be ignored by him.”

“Noah’s an idiot,” he murmured.

“I know. It doesn’t make it any easier though.” I let out a long sigh. “I’m going to have to get used to seeing him every day, aren’t I?”

“Probably,” Wes agreed. “It will get easier though.”

“Yeah, maybe.” I hoped he was right. At least when Levi and I had broken up, I’d had the summer without him, and I didn’t have to see him every day at school. I’d been devastated when we’d broken up, and yet, despite the fact Noah and I had barely dated, this felt so much worse. People always said time healed all wounds—but that didn’t mean you weren’t left with a deep scar.

CHAPTERSEVEN

Classes that morning were strange. Several students I’d never spoken to before came up to me to say hi, and even one of the teachers I passed greeted me as Miss LaFleur. He wasn’t even my teacher. Wes had predicted this on Saturday night. He said people were going to view me differently now they knew who my father was. I couldn’t understand why it made a difference. I was still the same person I’d been last week. It was crazy to think who your parents were could change people’s whole perception of you.

The increased attention was only made harder when I still felt broken over Noah. I wanted to be curled up in a corner somewhere—not trading fake smiles with people I had no interest in getting to know.

While students I didn’t know were suddenly interested in me, I assumed Noah’s friends would start to ignore me now we were no longer together. But when I walked into math class, Luther didn’t give me the opportunity to avoid them. I made my way toward a free desk at the front of the classroom, but Luther grabbed my arm and dragged me to the back of the room before I had a chance to pull out the chair.

“Sit, newbie,” Luther said, nodding at the free chair and returning to his desk right by it.

I slowly lowered myself into the seat. “I thought you wouldn’t want me to sit with you now Noah and I aren’t together”

“You kidding, newbie? Math with you is practically the highlight of my week.”

I glanced at Kaden, trying to determine if Luther was joking. Kaden just gave an easy shrug.

“So, you get your kicks out of disrupting my learning?” I asked, focusing on Luther once more. He tended to talk throughout every lesson, and it was a miracle I was managing to keep up with my math homework.

He gave me a bright smile. “I happen to think I make your learning more enjoyable. We all know you’re top of the class.”

“Except, I’m not. Even if I was, it would only be because I have to study my butt off outside of class.”

“See?” he replied. “I’m a great influence.”

I rolled my eyes at him but laughed. Luther was absolutely terrible to sit by in class, but I was secretly glad he still wanted to be friends.

As I sat with him and Kaden, I itched to ask them about how Noah was doing. Perhaps they had some small insight into the inner workings of his mind. I couldn’t bring myself to ask though. Not when I was trying to put the past behind me. If my interaction with Noah this morning was anything to go by, he was struggling to cope as much as I was.

“There’s going to be a party this Friday night at the boathouse,” Luther said. “You should come.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I immediately replied. Surely Noah would object to me being there. Plus, I wasn’t stupid enough to willingly go to a small, intimate party where I’d have no choice but to see him.

“It’s a great idea,” Luther replied. “Kaden and I both want to challenge you to a beer pong rematch.”

I looked between the two of them. “So, you want to get me drunk?”

“I intend no such thing.” Given the way Luther’s eyes sparkled though, he was totally lying.

“I still think it’s a bad idea.”

Luther’s expression dimmed, and he let out a sigh. “Look, Noah’s got issues. I’m one of his best friends, but even I know he can be a total stubborn idiot sometimes.”

“Whatever happened between you two, he’ll come round,” Kaden added.

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