CHAPTER 55: MAGGIE

My eyes scaned the room, and I sighed in relief when I saw I had beaten both Austin and Jack to class. Every part of me wished it was a day where we didn’t share a class, but it just doesn’t work that way. This is real life, and as my Nanna always said, real life likes to kick you when you’re down.

I sat down at my desk and remembered who sat with me. Shit. I dropped my head, resting it on the table.

“Crap,” I muttered.

The chair next to me squeaked. “If you’re trying to hide, babe, then you’re doing a shit job. I can see you.” Austin’s words curved around me, wrapping me in a smooth caress, and my throat went dry.

“Why would I be hiding?” I sat up and forward, determined not to meet his eyes.

He shrugged a shoulder carelessly, grabbing his pen and twirling it between his fingers. God – I hated it when he did that. I caught his every movement from the corner of my eye. His eyes were burning in the side of my head, begging me to turn, begging to look at him.

“Because you want me so bad