جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 70

"If you chew on that pen cap any harder, you're gonna choke on plastic." I knocked Carter's arm off the library table. He looked like death warmed over. His dark hair was sticking straight up, his eyes were bloodshot, and his cheap paper coffee cup was dead empty. Viktor tearing him a new one in the freezing parking lot last night clearly fried his remaining brain cells. "I'm trying to think, Hayes," Carter grumbled, staring down at a blank flashcard. "Cognitive dissonance is... uh..." "When your brain holds two conflicting thoughts and freaks out," I said, tapping my blue highlighter against my notebook. "Like how you think you're passing psych while doing zero reading." He dropped the pen and dragged both hands down his face. "You're mean in the morning." "I'm realistic. Your dad gave you a deadline, which means my scholarship and bank account are on the line." I glanced at the wall clock. Seven twenty. "We need to finish this methodology section before Professor Helen slaught

Carter’s grip on my wrist was warm, but I wasn't about to let that distract me. He actually looked sincere for once in his life, eyes wide, totally stripped of that annoying rich-boy smirk he usually wore like a badge of honor."You think I care about the money?" he said, his voice dropping an octave as he stepped closer. "I don't see you as a tutor, Clara. You're my friend. You're literally the best part of my day."My heart gave a stupid, treasonous little flutter, but I shut that down fast. I didn't melt. I didn't smile. I just looked down at his fingers wrapped around my arm, then dragged my eyes up to meet his."Real friends don't let their bratty rich exes degrade people to their face, Carter."His expression cracked. He opened his mouth, probably to make some lame excuse about Britney or how he didn't mean for things to get out of hand, but I didn't give him the chance.I yanked my wrist right out of his grip. He let go without a fight, looking like I’d just slapped him across

The second I unlocked my dorm room door, a muffled scream hit me square in the face. Allie was face down on her unmade bed, burying her head into a throw pillow like she was trying to suffocate herself. Wadded-up, mascara-stained paper towels littered the floor around her mattress like tiny white landmines. I stepped over a crumpled bag of pretzel sticks and closed the door with my heel, still holding my half-empty iced caramel macchiato. "Allie?" I dropped my backpack onto my desk chair. "What is happening right now? Did somebody die?" She bolted upright, her dark hair sticking out in five different directions. Her eyes were puffy red, eyeliner smeared all the way down to her cheekbones. "Shawn and I are over," she choked out, her voice cracking in the middle. "It’s done. I broke up with him." I stood dead still by my desk, holding my coffee cup in midair. "Wait. You broke up with him?" "Yes!" She grabbed another paper towel off her nightstand and blew her nose with a sound li

"So... you really want a man who would choke the life out of you, all in the name of sex?" I asked, my mouth hanging open while I stared at her in total, unfiltered shock. Allie didn't even flinch. She didn't blush or look away. She just stared right back at me across the two feet of rug separating our twin beds, her dark eyes deadpan and serious. "You really get me," she said, leaning forward until her elbows were digging into her knees. "I need a man who would slap me in the face while banging my little ass, Clara. I need to reach climax, girl! I need to be caught by surprise, not sitting there predicting every single micro-move my man is gonna do in the bedroom!" She pointed a jagged, acrylic nail right at my nose. "Come on Clara, you surely do have a wild fantasy as well?" "Yeah, but not as wild as yours," I said, quickly pulling my legs up against my chest and wrapping my arms around my knees like a shield. "I just want to feel loved by a guy I love... which is Justin. I don'

She threw a crumpled, half-used baby wipe right at my head, but it missed and slapped onto the floorboards with a wet thud.Allie stumbled out of the closet half-naked, violently scrubbing at her cheeks until her skin looked bright red. Her mascara was completely smeared, making her look like a frantic raccoon, but she didn't even care. She hopped on one foot, cursing under her breath while trying to force her hips into those skin-tight black vinyl pants."Book the Uber," she barked at me, yanking a bright red cropped halter top over her head. "Do it right now while I do my lip gloss, Clara. We need to get there before I start crying again."I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket, unlocked it, and just stared at the home screen."Girl, there's a reason I ride my bike everywhere," I said, leaning back against my wall and turning my phone screen toward her.Allie paused, her lip gloss wand hovering two inches from her mouth. She blinked at me, looking totally confused. "And why do yo