Page 39 of Conner's Luna

"That's shit," he responds in a flat tone as he unpacks two MacBooks and places one in front of me.

"What is this?" I ask. Conner gave me a brand-new MacBook only weeks ago.

"Con told me that maybe your other one was broken?" Braxton doesn't look up from his phone as his fingers fly across the screen.

I look at Braxton blankly. "It's got the tiniest crack in the upper left-hand corner. It's fine." It's not fine. Most people might barely notice it, but I do every time I open it.

Braxton finally looks up and smirks knowingly at me, but thankfully changes the subject. "You ready for our presentation?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I'm always ready to gush about biology," I tell him.

I hear a snicker behind me and feel my cheeks with embarrassment.

Braxton doesn't confront the bully like the rest of my -I meanthe-pack of hot men do. Instead, he leans closer to my until his lips are a scant millimeter away from mine, my hair falling like a screen around our faces. "I like... biology... too, Bailey." He winks and pulls away.

My entire body is hot, but then I see the humor shining in his eyes and hear the jealous scoffs from a couple of the girls in the room. Mirth bubbles up in my belly. It must have looked like Braxton kissed me.

I lose control of my giggles as Braxton smiles smugly. Teasing him I say, "Biology, huh? Not chemistry?"

"In my family, we go straight for the jeans," he deadpans.

We both laugh until the same bully from before whispers snidely, "Is he talking about hisdads? Freak."

Braxton's face goes hard. I feel my eyes widen at how similar he suddenly looks to his older brother. I lay my hand on his arm as he starts to turn towards the bully, but he just gently shakes me off.

The bully is a skinny redhead that I've seen hanging out with Lydia and her minions around campus. I outweigh him by at least ten pounds and he's a foot shorter than Braxton. I internally wince. Braxton will roll this boy up and smoke him before grinding him under his bootheel.

Braxton takes a step forward, but, thank goodness, at that moment the professor walks in. My heart skips a beat when Braxton doesn't drop his gaze from the redhead for another full minute, then two, even as the professor begins the class. The redhead has bowed his head. He's trembling, his face red and shiny with tears. All without Braxton laying a finger on him.

Bad boys. Gorgeous, intelligent, pack of bad boy hotties.

We present next. I can barely concentrate. It's a good thing I know this stuff backward and forward. I rush through the information and slides as Braxton chimes in with his parts just like we practiced. We finish and the professor picks the next group.

I lean over to Braxton and can't stop it... "Brax?"

"Hmm?" he's still upset. I can tell by the tension in his shoulders and the lines bracketing his mouth.

"Are your dads gay? It's not my business," I hurry to add, "but it's ok, you know? It's not the 1980s anymore."

Braxton snorts but his smile for me is still genuine. "Let's talk after class, alright?"

I hate waiting. I love gossip. Two terrible traits that mom used to tease me about all the time. She claimed the waiting was from Dad but the gossiping was all her.

Braxton seems to understand the itchy need under my skin for the scoop on his dads, because as soon as the professor dismisses class he grabs me and my backpack and rushes out of the door. Keeping my hand firmly in his, he pulls out his phone with the other and sends a text.

"Where are we going?" I ask him when he pulls me away from the parking lot.

"Cafe Luna," he tells me.

I'm practically jogging to keep up with his long, hurried stride and envious of his ability to carry two backpacks and tow me along without losing his balance and tripping over his own two feet (unlike the two times I've tripped so far.)

He catches me the second time I almost take a digger on a low landscaping wall and finally slows down.

"Why were we running?" I ask him, a little breathless, as we reach the entrance to Cafe Luna.

He gives me an incredulous look before he starts laughing. "Sorry, Bails. I forgot that you're as short as a dwarf."

"Hey!" I glare at him as a blast of heat from inside the cafe catches me full in the face.

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