SMACK!
The sound was so loud it echoed off the concrete walls of the hallway, yet Knox didn’t flinch. He just stood there, clenching his jaw, his dark eyes narrowing as he slowly turned his face to look down at me.
A faint red mark was already blooming across his cheek.
"Feel better?" he asked dryly.
"Not even close," I hissed, my hand still stinging from the impact. "Are you out of your mind? A lover’s quarrel? A girlfriend? What is wrong with you?"
"Hey, I didn’t have a choice there," Knox said in a low voice. He pulled his hand out of his pocket, his knuckles wrapped in white gauze. "That asshole Orwell was showing the video of you falling on the ice, making crude comments about what he wanted to do to you. I lost my temper."
"I didn’t ask you to defend me!" I snapped, crossing my arms. "I didn’t send you to do that!"
Knox let out a harsh, sarcastic laugh. "My bad for being human and defending you behind your back, especially after you broke my nose less than twenty-four hours ago. Ungrateful bitch."
"Me?" I scoffed. "If you’re expecting a thank-you, you can keep dreaming," I fired back, matching his glare. "You were the one who put me in this scenario in the first place. If only you had agreed to the tutoring session without being a prick, we won’t be talking about my embarrassing display on ice."
Knox’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t deny it. "Fine. You want to argue about the past, or do you want to keep your paycheck?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, my voice dropping.
"My father is trying to force me into an arranged pairing with Harold Orwell’s daughter Vanessa to secure some corporate alliance," Knox said, leaning against the brick wall.
"What does that have to do with me?" I asked in a dry voice.
"He moved up my academic evaluation to pressure me," Knox explained. "If I have a public girlfriend, his plans are ruined. So, you pretend to date me for the next two weeks. We go to the Gala together, and I will double your weekly pay."
"Not interested," I said, immediately turning on my heel and walking down the hallway.
"Bennett, wait," Knox called, catching up to me in seconds. He stepped in front of me, blocking my path. "I’m serious. I need this."
"And I’m serious when I say no," I said, trying to step around him. But he shifted, blocking me again.
"Come on. Name your price. What will it take?"
I stopped and crossed my arms. Just then, a sudden, wicked thought popped into my head. It was time to give him a taste of his own medicine. "Fine," I said. "I’ll consider it, but on one condition: you have to beat me on a quick math test, right here, right now."
Knox stared at me with wide eyes. "Are you kidding me? A math test? Right now?"
"Yes."
"This is not the time to be petty, Bennett."
"Oh, so I’m petty now? If you think I’m petty, you’re wasting your time asking me. Go look for someone else. There are plenty of girls who would love to play this game with you."
"No, I can’t," he replied. "I want it to be you."
I paused, caught off guard by the intensity in his tone. I studied his stubborn face, the bandaged nose. "Why me? There are a hundred girls on this campus who would jump at the chance to pretend to date you."
"Exactly," Knox said with a dry smirk touching his lips. "They’d want it to be real. They’d make it complicated. You? You look at me like I’m a headache, and you literally sniped me in the face yesterday. I know I can trust you to keep it strictly business."
I closed my eyes, doing the math in my head. Double the pay. The bank penalty covered. My mother’s shop saved. It was the only way.
I closed my eyes and considered the options. Double the pay would save my paycheck and help my mother, but playing girlfriend to a giant pain in the neck sounded like slow torture.
"I’ll think about it," I said.
Knox’s jaw tightened, and he let out a low, irritated grumble.
"Don’t look at me like that," I fired back, raising my chin. "A ’think about it’ is way better than a solid no."
Before he could argue, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, squinting at the screen, and his expression instantly darkened.
"What is it?" I asked.
"My father’s assistant," Knox said in a tight voice. "My father’s AD representatives already told him about our ’relationship’ in the meeting. He wants us to join him for a private lunch at the country club today to verify it."
He looked at his watch.
"He wants us there at noon," Knox said. "We have forty minutes."
"What?" My jaw dropped. "Are you insane? I’m not going to some fancy country club! I have a shift at the diner in two hours, I haven’t showered, I’m completely sore from yesterday, and look at me... I’m wearing a faded Briar sweatshirt and beat-up sneakers! I don’t even own a country club dress!"
"I’ll cover your shift," Knox said, grabbing my arm and pulling me toward the exit doors. "And we’ll stop by your apartment. You have ten minutes to find something that doesn’t scream ’nerd’ or ’bookworm.’"
"I haven’t even agreed to the deal yet!" I yelled as he dragged me down the steps.
"If you don’t show up, Pierce suspends me, the tutoring contract is canceled, and there is no deal to think about anyway," Knox said, unlocking the car with a chirp. "So you’re coming. Get in the car, Bennett."