Roommate Roulette

24 | Finger gun

{~Evelyn~}

I banged my forehead on my desk repeatedly. Self-punishment, you could call it. 

I ended my FaceTime with the girls, since it was getting late and Alaina finally snagged a date with Wyatt. Josie was already half asleep. Val's car was on its way to getting fixed. I had to study for my next exam. 

I stared at my textbook and was on the brink of having a mental breakdown.

I could rip these pages to shreds. But I won't.

I should take a break. But I can't.

Fucking gosh, I was re-reading the same paragraph about three times and I haven't understood a single thing.

That's it. Frustrated tears were springing alive, but I held them at bay. Dumb period hormones. I gathered my pens, textbook and notes, then stalked to Grayson's door, my fist ready to knock but I hesitated.

Is he even willing to help me? I shouldn't do this. I'm embarrassing myself. My stupid brain won't comprehend words on paper. He's probably busy anyway. Much better things to attend to—

"Just come in, smart-ass." His voice rumbled and my stomach does that gymnastics routine whenever I hear it. I knew I was standing here for too long. 

I bit my lip and cursed, silently screaming. I switched my face to neutral again when my hand came in contact with the knob. I plopped onto his desk and scattered my things on it's empty surface.

"I think I lost my smart-assery." I told him, spinning around in his chair.

He sat on his bed, glasses—damn those black rimmed glasses because he looked even hotter in them—resting on the arc of his nose and the same book splayed on his lap from a few days ago. "Cartref. " He muttered under his breath. "What is it?" He scanned my distressed expression.

I forced the words out of my mouth before my stubbornness could think better of it. "I need help with the assignment, Mr. Knight gave out." I said calmly, glancing at him from the corner of my eye.

The comforter fell as he navigated to the edge of the bed, revealing his naked chest. Oh, shit. "Why are you always shirtless." The sentence came out as more of an observation. 

Everything was screaming at me to look away from his torso, but my eyes were stuck.

Like the stupid cocky bastard he is, he smirked, but didn't pry. "What about the work?"

I stuttered idiotically. "Work? Work. Right." I whispered, closing my eyes to compose myself, describing what I was stuck on.

At one point, he hovered over me, rambling about how toasting bread is related to quantum physics. I was half-listening and the other part of me was zoning out on his arms that braced one side of my head.

"—got it?" His voice snapped my attention back onto the paper and I quickly skimmed through the notes in his messy scrawl. The pieces on information slowly came together like a puzzle and clicked in place.

A reluctant smile bloomed onto my face. "Yeah. Thank you." He dipped his head in acknowledgement and went back to reading his book.

It was just comfortable quietness after that. His deep breaths and pages flipping filled in the silence. After finishing, I lolled my head on the headrest and closed my eyes.