Page 4 of Gingers Can Do Maths

Her amused smile drops, and an expression I can’t quite read crosses her features.Sadness?

“Don’t kid about stuff like that,” she says, pinching my arm as I slip my fingers between hers and lead us to the nearest bench in the corner.

Our bench.

As always, I guide Sin to sit facing the wall before I slide in beside her.

Without a view of the canteen, she can't get distracted by anything or anyone else. For forty minutes, she can focus solely on me. That aside, she's wearing the school’s uniform skirt today instead of the trousers. It’s a modest length made immodest by Sin’s ass. I’d be damned if I risked letting anyone else get the upshot I’d focused on for the entire chemistry period where we’re lab partners.

My arm bumps hers as I unwrap the sandwiches, setting up Sin’s first and cracking the seal on her cranberry juice but she doesn’t immediately take a sip like she always does. In fact, she doesn’t spare the food a second glance.

“You hate the thought of living a second without me that much?” I smile.

Again, her expression falls and this time I’m sure it’s sadness as she turns to look away from me. “I do. I hate it so much it hurts.”

The seriousness in her tone catches me off guard.

I ease a finger beneath her chin, tip it back and force her to look up at me. “I’m not going anywhere. I swear.” I swipe my thumb back and forth across her round cheek and resist the urge to run it across her glossy lips. “We have three whole years together at Ennox.”

Then university.

Then forever.

Before she can respond, a kid approaches us and I know what he wants before he even opens his mouth to ask. Crushed in his big palm is the physics exam we’d taken yesterday.

“I’m busy with Sin,” I say before he can even think of sitting his ass at our table.

He pauses, his trainer squeaking against the tile at the abrupt stop. “But you're always busy with S-”

That singular letter peels my eyes offmySin as I glare at him.

“R-roisin. You’re always busy with Roisin. Plus it’ll just take a second.”

“I don’t mind,” Sin says, her voice fake with cheeriness. She never wants anyone to be mad at her, but I don’t care if everyone hates me, so long as she doesn’t.

“I don’t have a second,” I say ignoring her. “We’re busy.”

“Han, don’t be rude,” she whispers, jabbing me with her elbow but the kid lumbers away with an eye roll.

“He’s being rude by breaking my boundary.”

She lifts a brow. “Which is?”

“Everyone knows lunchtime is just for us.”

I know she’s flushing even if I can’t see it creeping across her dark skin.

“I can answer all of their maths problems later. They can wait.”

“I can wait too.”

“I can’t.”

She blinks slowly, digesting my words as I fish out the yoghurts from a brown paper bag.

“I forgot to pack an extra spoon,” I lie, dipping the only one I intentionally brought into her yoghurt first. She has to eat first so I can lick it after her.

“Rohan,” she begins.

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