Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 34206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Teal sat back and ran her fingers through her hair. “Did you ever have a problem taking exams?”
“No.”
“I never used to. I don’t know. It’s like I’ve entered this funk. I get it. Even when you told me to go through the papers alone in my spare time, I can see where I’ve gone wrong.” She growled. “This is so frustrating. What good is having a photographic memory if I can’t use it?”
“You have a photographic memory?”
Teal nodded. “Yeah, not that it does me any good. I can recite the entire textbooks, word for word. Recall equations.”
“Interesting.” He’d never known that about her.
“Don’t say anything,” she said. “It’s not something I tell anyone.”
“How do you know you can do it?”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I’m curious.”
Teal licked her lips and tilted her head to the side. “Then test me.”
Jaxson got to his feet and moved toward his bag. He pulled out the math textbook he’d been working from for their class. Opening it up on a random page, he told her the page.
Teal described word for word what was on the page.
He moved to another page, taking random pages for a good ten minutes, and Teal described them all.
“So I know I can do the work.”
“Ah, but you see, being able to recite everything you see is one part. Putting it all into practice is another.”
“I get that. It’s why I retook the test at home, without anyone around.” She turned toward her bag, pulled out a paper, and handed it to him. “Here you go.”
Jaxson took the paper and started to flick through, working out each question and seeing that she was indeed retaining and understanding each element of work.
“This is very good.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
He nodded. “So, we keep up with the exam questions. We keep up with the pressure, and we work through this until you get multiple perfect scores.”
Teal was about to say something, but all of a sudden, her stomach began to growl.
“Hungry?”
“Yeah.”
Jaxson got to his feet, and Teal laughed. He’d already fixed her knee, and between their exam questions and just talking, he’d forgotten he wasn’t in his home.
“You’re in my home.” This time, she stood. “Er, would you like to stay for dinner? It’s pasta. Simple and basic.”
“You can cook?” he asked.
“Yeah, I cook.” She tucked some hair behind her ear, and he saw the nice red blush on her cheeks. “Would you like to, er, stay?”
“I’d love to.” There was no hesitation.
Inside, he was yelling at himself. Staying in her home was a big mistake. Too much temptation. Too much of anything and everything.
He forced a smile to his lips and tried not to admire the curve of her ass as she walked away. She had a nice, full, rounded ass.
For several seconds, he simply stood there, not sure what he should be doing, and then he followed her into the kitchen.
She already had a full pot of water on to boil. Next, she was in the fridge.
“I’ve got some pesto,” Teal said.
“I hate the stuff.” He wrinkled his nose.
She gasped. “How can you hate pesto? It’s like one of the most amazing things, like ever.”
He burst out laughing. “Trust me. It’s not.”
“I don’t even know if you and I can be friends anymore after that.” She shook her head. “Fine, what is your favorite way to eat pasta?”
“Meatballs. Nice spaghetti sauce, delicious meatballs, and I’m sold.”
“Typical man.” She rolled her eyes. She closed one door, opened the other, and then held up a sandwich bag. “But I did happen to make some the other week. Would you like some?”
“Yeah, I won’t say no.”
Teal chuckled. She moved to the stove and turned on the heat, along with the oven.
“Do you cook all the time?”
“Not all the time. Not a whole lot. Sometimes.” She shrugged. “I don’t mind. It’s relaxing, and that’s what it is supposed to be about, right? Mom, with everything going on, she forgets to eat, and I don’t want her to worry.”
He was tired of her worrying about her parents. Who was worrying about her?
“So, if you’re cooking tonight, then I’m cooking tomorrow night. My place.”
“Jaxson, you don’t have to do that.”
“I insist. I promised your mother I’d take care of you.”
“Oh,” Teal said. “Of course, because my mother asked.”
Before he knew what he was doing, he’d rounded the counter and had gotten up into her space. “No, because I want to.”
Chapter Five
Teal had gotten a text from her mother that she’d landed in England and was with her father. That they were working through their problems, and if she needed anything, she had to be in touch.
That was yesterday night, after she had made dinner for Jaxson.
Today, she was in Jaxson’s kitchen.
He’d already handed her a soda and ordered her to sit.
They had spent the day together. Not intentionally.
Jaxson had been out in his yard, and she’d been out in the pool, soaking up what was left of the sun before fall reared its cold head. She didn’t mind the summer but loved the winter. Actually, she loved all the seasons, and she intended to bask in each and every single one.