He nods and smiles but it doesn’t meet his eyes. “Okay.” Another deep breath. “So, thisgroup…it’s just you and him?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely not,” I reply, and the timing couldn’t be better as Paige and Carter walk in right at that time. They go to join Nico at the table.
Arden watches the exchange and nods, visually relaxing a bit. “So, what are you drinking?”
“Oh, I want a chai latte and asswipe over there wants a black coffee.” Pulling out the twenty from my pocket, I anticipate his raised eyebrows. “Don’t worry, this is his cash.”
“Good,” he says, typing something into the register. “Pocket it.” The register opens and then Arden pushes it shut, the receipt popping out without me paying a thing. Without another word, he goes to make the drinks and I’m back at the table within a few minutes.
Putting the drink down in front of Nico, he looks up at me. “Change?”
“Nope,” I say and grab my anatomy textbook from my backpack. Let the studying begin.
Chapter Seventeen
Danika
Aftertwohoursofnon-stop discussion about back muscles, my phone buzzes on the table, revealing a text from Arden.
ARDEN: My shift ends in 5 minutes. You heading home soon? I’ll drive.
Looking at the text, I can’t help but smile. He’s good at this fake boyfriend thing. I text back quickly.
ME: Yeah, but my car is in the campus lot. I’ll just meet you at home.
It only takes a few seconds for his answering text to come in.
ARDEN: Leave it, I’ll drop you off in the morning.
Before I can get into all the ways that that would be completely impractical, a kiss on my cheek brings me back to focus.
“Ready to go, babe?” I glance up to see Arden’s stunning smile beaming down at me. He’s either in a very good mood or he’s putting on an amazing show.I had no idea he was such a great actor.
“Yep,” I reply, gathering my books up and putting them in my bag. “Thanks for the study sesh, guys. See you tomorrow.” I wave to the group, and the power couple waves back but Nico is still sitting there with a face like a slapped ass. I almost can’t contain the smug look that crosses mine.
Arden grabs my backpack off my shoulder and puts it on his. That’s when I notice he’s still wearing the backward baseball cap.
“What?” He asks because clearly I’m staring.
“Nothing,” I say, biting my lip to hold in my grin as we walk toward the door. He looks at me questioningly but doesn’t push it.
Arden throws my backpack into his back seat as I get into the passenger side.
“Are you sure you still wanna study with me? You just spent two hours staring at textbooks.”
“Of course. We have a deal. Plus, stats is fun for me.”
Arden puts the car in gear and we make the drive back to the apartment.
“You know, I really could’ve just driven myself. It’s a good show for Nico but it seems pretty impractical.”
Arden shrugs, his eyes on the road. “We both have to be on campus in the morning. I’ve got a shift tomorrow at seven. You can come to the cafe with me and get a coffee before your lecture.”
“And, oh yeah, can we do five minutes on this I-work-at-the-cafe situation? Why were you so secretive about it?”
Arden’s knuckles whiten on the steering wheel and before I know it, we’re pulling into the apartment parking lot.
“I wasn’t secretive about it.” Arden pulls into his spot and parks, getting out without another word.