Not happening. Hell no.

“Why? My seat’s back there.” I pointed to the back of the room, my feet already headed in that direction. One of the senior girls I usually sat with waved at me from her desk, and I shot her a full-on smile. Hold that thought, beautiful.

I glanced back at Weinstein.

“Not today. We’re getting in groups and doing an activity. I’m mixing up the seating, and you’re right here.” She put her hand on her hip, emphasizing her authority. “No more back row seats this semester.”

“Back row hasn’t hurt me yet. I have a B in here.” Barely.

I poured on the charm, softening my face. “And you know you’re my favorite teacher, Mrs. Weinstein.” No lie.

She shook her head in bemusement. “You come close, but flattery doesn’t work on a menopausal woman. And your grades could be better, so front row until the end of the semester. Dovey is your partner for the next class project, so sit down and get to know her.”

I do know her, I wanted to yell out. I fucked her.

I paced around the aisle, my insides jumpy. Skipping class came to mind.

I flicked a glance at Dovey’s rigid back, and it cranked my anxiety up higher. Wasn’t it completely illogical to get worked up like this? She was just a girl. Some scholarship chick from Ratcliffe Heights who thought she was better than the rest of us.

Giving in, I rolled my shoulders and tossed my bag on the desk behind Dovey. She flinched at the sound, but didn’t turn around. Ice would be warmer than her reception. Great. First the episode in the hall and now this? Being near her made me nuts. No doubt, I’d be ready for a lobotomy by the time class was over.

“Where you want me, Mrs. Weinstein? I won’t give you any grief; I like the front row,” Sebastian said, flashing his trademark easy grin. Smooth move. Good luck with that.

She looked at her list, considering. “April, you sit with Zero back in the back. Sebastian, you and Emma can sit here,” she said pointing to the next row over, directly across from me. Score.

April flounced off to the back with Zero, giving Sebastian a longing glance as she left. I knew I wouldn’t miss her.

Sebastian sat down in the adjacent row and we fist-bumped. He had my back.

A few minutes later, Weinstein set down her clipboard and made an announcement. “Based on the overall scores from your last exam, we’re doing more in-class work with partners. Hopefully, this will get you out of the rut some of you seem to be in for my class. Only half of you scored a passing grade on the Macbeth test.” A few heads nodded, remembering the Scottish dude and his crazy-ass wife. Who knew a damn spot could create so much drama? Oh wait. I did.

She continued. “Today, your goal is to interview your new study partner. Find out who they are because they’ll be helping you when we study the poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’.”

Groans and sighs came from every direction, but I’d quit listening to their complaining, too focused on the girl in front of me.

“Okay, let’s begin,” Weinstein said. “Face your partners, please.”

Students milled around, turning their desks around, and I watched with a dawning sense of dread. I’d have to look at her for an entire hour.

Dovey stood and maneuvered her desk to face mine, and it made an awful scrapping sound on the tile, making me draw up more. I froze and sucked in, preparing myself. From the moment I’d met her, I’d decided she wasn’t the kind of girl who made a guy catch his breath, yet I always did. Or maybe all males did, and I was just lying to myself. Either way, guys watched her, desired her—that was obvious from the way their heads moved when her body glided by. She didn’t care about them and that was part of her sexy factor. She didn’t put on airs or pretend to have the latest Louis Vuitton bag, yet she carried herself like a rich girl.

From across the row, Sebastian waggled his eyebrows at me, nudging his head at Dovey. For once, I wasn’t in the mood for his jokes.

He whistled under his breath. “Damn. Looks like you got lucky,” he said to me.

“Hello. I’m not deaf,” Dovey said, face taut.

“Sorry. Rude, huh?” he said to her, an engaging smile working his face.

She dipped her shoulders in an elegant shrug, doodling on a piece of paper.

He cleared his throat. “Most know me…’cause I’m that kind of guy…but in case you don’t, I’m Sebastian Tate.” He looked around the room expectantly. “You’d really think there’d be a drum roll or something when I say my name.”

She rolled her eyes and drew a heart, coloring in a jagged crack down the middle.

He grinned, not giving up. “And this should come as no surprise, but I’m a big deal here,” he said. ”And you aren’t even listening, which is crazy ‘cause you are gorgeous. Why have we never talked before?”

She graced him with brief glance and quirked an eyebrow. “I’m Dovey Beckham. You’re new this year, right?”

“Yeah. Wanna show me around sometime? I hear there’s some study carrels in the back of the library I’ve never seen. It might be dark though. You’d have to hold my hand.” He winked at her and her mouth twitched, making my chest tight.

Everyone loved Sebastian. No doubt, she would too.

He needed to chill with the flirting.

“She’s a ballerina,” I blurted for no apparent reason.

Sebastian shifted his eyes at me, a gleam of surprise there. That boy saw way too much, and I’d hear about it later. “That so? I’d love to hear more.”

“This is stupid,” I remarked, sounding surly. I eyed him, biting my tongue, wanting to tell him to back the hell up and go talk to Emma. Dovey was my partner, not his.

“I find this whole class boring,” Emma said from her desk. I cast a lazy grin at her, encouraging her.

“You a good ballerina?” Sebastian asked Dovey.

Dovey fiddled with her notebook. “I’ve never been to an official academy, just a personal trainer and the dance school here, but I’m good enough to audition for a company, maybe get an apprenticeship. It’s my whole life.”

“Can I call you “tiny dancer”?” he said. “You know, like in the Elton John song?”

She arched a brow. “I know the song—and no.”

“Not with those legs anyway,” I murmured, immediately wishing I hadn’t when she glared at me head-on with those blue eyes.