I blinked, thinking I’d heard him wrong. “It’s…my favorite video game.”
“What are the odds?” he said, but this time, it sounded like a tease.
As Peanut got distracted by Taylor opening a bag of treats, Jason moved toward the stairs. Only when he moved ahead of me did I let my gaze slide lower than the level of his eyes. Down his neck and over the broad, triangular back, and all the way to…
I looked away.
He walked up the stairs before me, leaving a strong scent of pine and freshness for me to walk through, until we finally reached the room at the end of the hallway.
Stepping into it was as much of a surprise as hearing that Jason knew aboutSeeds of Soulless. Some things were typical. A couple of trophies, a guitar leaning against the wardrobe, a messy desk, and basic furniture. Other things didn’t belong in a jock’s room. There was a Soviet-era poster of an astronaut in space with the words “No God here” in Russian, floating around his helmet. There was the entireFoundationseries by Isaac Asimov on a bookshelf.
Another shelf was filled with the entireWheel of Timeseries and a few other books that no jock should have heard of. I was particularly surprisedto findRed Risingamong the books, because it was a fairly new thing.
“Have you read these?” I asked.
“Nah, I thought they had pictures,” Jason said.
Right.
I stepped aside, examining the space and waiting to be offered a seat.
Jason cocked his head, a small smile playing on his lips. “That’s a joke.”
“Ah. Gotcha.”
“I can, and indeed, at times, I do read,” Jason said, turning his chair around and offering me the spot.
“I didn’t expect that, that’s all,” I said.
“Useful thing for a football player, reading,” Jason said as I sat down. “It helps me be able to tell the players apart. They wear names.”
“Another joke?” My eyebrows rose.
“Now you’re getting it,” he said, then raised his arms high above his head and stretched like a cat, rising to the tips of his toes while he was at it. And dammit, the way he extended all the muscles in his torso was impossible not to watch. “Right. Statistics.”
“Statistics,” I agreed.
“If I keep taking the exams, there is some statistical possibility that I will happen to know enough answers correctly to pass, right?” he asked.
“They say only a fool repeats the same process, hoping for a different outcome,” I said.
“Got me,” he sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, not putting on a shirt or anything. Not even a blanket.He simply planted his elbows on his knees and leaned in. “Let’s change the process, then.”
I placed the textbook on the desk and took out a workbook and a notebook from my backpack. “We’re just going to cover the basic definitions this time. It’s really important that you understand them nowandpractice them later. It’s something you’ll have to memorize.”
“Not to brag, but I can remember things very clearly when I put my mind to it,” he said, lifting his phone and typing a text to someone.
“That’s not how you put your mind to a lesson,” I said.
He shot me a playful look and grinned. “Never said I’d do it with Stats.”
I nodded. He was joking again. I didn’t understand why he felt the need to joke around with me. It wasn’t like we were flirting. Why bother?
“If I guess your favorite Doctor Who, will you be impressed?” Jason asked.
A snort-chuckle escaped me while I looked over the page in the textbook. “He’s just called the Doctor.”
“You need to brush up on Classic Who, Bennet,” he said.