“Hut fell through the hole.”
Lola’s eyes widened, her cheeks pinking as a laugh burst out of her. She threw her head back, the loose bun on the top of her head bobbing from the force. I tilted my head, my own lips spreading into a grin at her soft tinkle. I’d never seen someone laugh like that, and if I were honest, the sound was kind of addictive.
“Oh, man”—she clutched at her stomach—“I would have paid a mega amount of money to watch that happen.”
I grinned. “That wasn’t the best of it, though.” I stepped forward and shielded my eyes from the sun. “He had a burger and fries in his hand as he went down. Said burger is now splat against the screen door.” I extended my arm to point at the door, looked over at the sauce marking it, and then moved my attention back to Lola.
“I…” She blinked, her gaze sliding over my arm as she audibly swallowed. “Did you lose your T-shirt in this accident too?”
I froze, my arm suspended in mid-air and repeated what she’d said in my head. Her gaze was fixated to my chest, and the pink on her cheeks from her laughter was now a bright red. Was she…checking me out?
“It’s...hot,” I blurted out as if that explained everything, but I was taken aback by what she’d said. And that was when I realized we were alone. Something was starting to swirl between us whenever no one else was around, but I wasn’t sure whether she felt it too. I was drawn to her in a way I hadn’t experienced before, but I had to keep reminding myself this was a job. This wasn’t real life. This was pretend.
“Uh-huh,” she murmured and shook her head. “I erm…” She hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “I should head inside.”
I nodded, not knowing what else to say. She walked past me, her arm brushing against mine in the process. My hairs stood on end, my skin setting ablaze from the small innocent touch. She dipped her head down, acting as if she hadn’t felt it and jumped over all three steps. Her jeans pulled against her ass at the movement, and my eyes widened. Now I was checking her out.
Fuck.
Chapter Nine
LOLA
“Shit, Lola, you should have seen my teacher's face.”
I grinned at Cade as he relayed the story of getting an A on his test yesterday. I’d never seen a teenage boy so excited over proving his math teacher wrong.
“And then he said”—Cade stood and puffed his chest out—“if I didn’t know any better, Mr. Easton.” I chuckled at his deep-voiced impression. “I’d say you cheated.”
“No way?” I gasped. “What did you tell him?”
Cade shrugged and plopped back down in his seat. “I told him that I was super fly and was fooling him before.”
I rolled my eyes. “You did not.”
“Nah.” He opened his textbook. “I told him I have a hot tutor. He nodded like he understood and told me I did good.” Cade looked up at me, his lips quirked into a grin.
“Get on with your math work before I get Sal in here,” I warned, only half joking. I’d come to find out that Cade was scared of Sal, and not just because of his imposing height and girth, but because Sal was good friends with Cade’s dad.
“Shit. Okay, I’m on it.”
We spent the next couple of hours the same way that we had for the last three sessions. We focused on what he was doing in class, went over it a second time to really pound it home, and then did his assignments.
We’d created our own little routine, and if we finished early, Sal would let us have a shake and some fries to celebrate educational achievements—his words, not mine.
I’d taken to bringing my own books with me for times when Cade was focusing and didn’t need my help. I usually only worked in the library or at breaks, but this meant I was killing two birds with one stone.
“What do you wanna be when you grow up?” Cade as
ked out of the blue.
I snapped my gaze to his and frowned. “You know I’m nineteen, right? I’m already an adult.”
“You can’t drink yet, though.” He leaned back in his seat, draping his arm over the back in only the way teenage boys would to try and look cool.
“Right.” I shook my head and closed my textbook. “I’m studying to be a teacher.”
“Yeah?” Cade’s eyes widened. “You’d be an awesome teacher.”