Apparently, I’m now someone who likes to… help people? Ugh. I internally sigh at myself before just biting the bullet.
“What’s wrong with you?” I ask, though it comes out as more of a bark than anything else.
Harley startles, his eyes meeting mine before looking around to make sure no one else has spotted him.
Okay… so he’s acting shifty. What is this dude’s issue?
“I’m, uh…” He licks his lower lip before scrubbing a hand down his face. “I’m failing statistics, okay? And I need to get a handle on this shit before my father finds out and forces me to get a tutor. I can’t have a tutor. I just can’t. I’ll fling myself off a damn bridge before I have to—” He cuts himself off as a visible shudder runs through him, and my head tips back as I bark out a laugh.
“You’re really fucking dramatic, you know that, right?”
“Easy for you to say,” he grumbles before looking me up and down and fixing me with a sneer. “You’re in the same class, and I know you’re one of the top students. Is that why you don’t seem to have friends? Because you’re too busy studying?”
I shake my head with a sigh. I don’t have friends because that means I’d have to communicate with people and ew, no, thank you.Though, Savannah seems nice, she’s probably the only tolerable person in this place.
A thought hits me as I stare at the seemingly depressed guy in front of me, and I grin wickedly at him. He notices my expression, and a wary look crosses his face.
“What?”
“Want my help?” I ask with a sweet smile and he perks up.
“Yeah? You’ll help?”
“Of course… for a price.”
His throat bobs as he swallows, a skeptical look crossing his face. He’s no doubt heard of at least one bad thing about me from Cole, so I don’t blame the guy for being a little wary, but whatever his issue is with hiring a tutor is clearly more important than anything that could worry him about working with me if he’s so ready to risk it.
He lets out a resigned sigh. “What do you want?”
I tap my chin in a contemplative gesture. “I’m not sure. Let’s just agree that I’ll help you, and you’ll owe me a favor that I get to call in whenever I need it.”
He groans, probably knowing that whatever I want with him will have something to do with his friend.
“Take it or leave it, sweetheart,” I say with a shrug. “It’s me or the tutor.”
“Fuck, fine,” he mutters. “But not here.”
My arm darts out in a ‘lead the way’gesture and he stalks back through the stacks of books, muttering to himself as he does.
God, these rich boys really are on another level.
Ifollow Harley into his place, which looks totally different during the day. It’s weird being here actually invited, rather than sneaking in in the dead of night.
As soon as we left the library, Harley’s demeanor totally changed. He went from being the fidgety, on-edge guy he was as he sneaked around inside the library to the usual carefree guy I see whenever he’s with Cole, and it left me wondering what the hell that was all about.
I’d ask, but that would mean talking about personal shit,and the last thing I need is for him to turn it around on me and start asking me questions.
We settle on the living room floor, both of us opening our laptops and pulling up what we need. We’re not too far into the semester, so at least I know I don’t have too much to catch Harley up on.
“So, what’s your issue?” I ask.
He tenses beside me, and I realize how he could take it the wrong way.
“With statistics,” I clarify, and he relaxes before explaining about how he struggles with equations.
“It’s like… one moment, I’ll understand. And then the next thing I know, I’m staring at a page that’s just full of random numbers and symbols and I don’t know what the fuck is going on. It’s like it’s all scrambled, and I can’t make sense of anything.”
I lick my lips and debate for a minute about what he just said before deciding to just go ahead and ask. I don’t particularly care if I offend him. I’m here because he needs my help.
