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he chuckled. “Are you sure that wasn’t a band of beauties? Maybe a flock or a brood or even a throng?”
    I stopped and put my hands on my hips. “What do you want, Aaron?”
    He gave me a sexy little smile that sent electricity shooting through me. The man was fine, no doubt about it. But no matter what Dr. Griffin said about him, he was still a member of The Clubhouse. I had no interest in being a point on his score card. Or several points, apparently, if he got my V-Card.
    “I thought you might want to set up a schedule to work on our final project. It seems to be important to you.”
    I nodded. “It’s very important to me.”
    “Would you like to meet for a few hours after class every Thursday?”
    “And what about dinner?” The class got out at four in the afternoon.
    “We can work and have dinner. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive.”
    “As long as we’re clear that we’re working and having dinner together is not anything else.”
    “Anything else?” He feigned ignorance.
    How stupid was I to think that he would even consider taking me out on a date? Of course, it was just about class work.
    “Never mind.” I could feel my cheeks get hot.
    He was stifling a chuckle. Asshole. He really knew how to push my buttons.
    Then he leaned in so his lips were nearly touching my ears. Another wave of shivers rushed through me. How did he do that to me so easily and so often? I felt like I no longer had control of my own body.
    “I would never confuse our work together as a date,” he whispered. “Not that I don’t think about taking you out. I think about it a lot. Especially what happens after I walk you back to your room.”
    I gulped. I couldn’t believe Aaron thought about me at all. The idea seemed ridiculous. Then my rational self reminded me that he was probably just feeding me a line, which he was apparently an expert at, and I had almost fallen for it. Again.
    “I’ve got to get back to the dorm,” I said weakly. “My roo mmate’s waiting for me.”
    He winked at me. “See you next week, Sunshine.”
     
    ***
     
    W hen I got back to my room, Lucas was helping Olivia with some math problems. I sat on my bed and listened to them for a few minutes. Even though it was obvious that Olivia was completely frustrated with the math, Lucas was being extremely patient with his sister, which impressed me.
    When Olivia finally said the answer Lucas was hoping for, he gave her a small round of applause and Olivia gave a half bow. It was cute. It was times like these that I felt a twinge of jealously and sadness that I didn’t have siblings.
    Then the pair looked over at me almost simultaneously, as if they were just noticing me. A look of concern spread over both of their faces.
    “What’s going on?” Olivia questioned.
    I sighed. “Do yo u want the bad news or the worst news?”
    “Definitely go with the bad news first and save the wors t news for last,” Olivia retorted. She always tried to find the funny in every situation. Lucas just rolled his eyes at her.
    “Whatever it is, I’m sure we can figure something out,” Lucas said calmly.
    The more I got to know him, the more Lucas reminded me of my dad. Always trying to find the positive in every situation and always looking for solutions to every problem.
    “Aaron Donovan is in my Intro to Art History class,” I moaned.
    “Stay away from him,” Olivia said harshly.
    “I wish I could but our professor, Dr. Griffin, assigned us as final project partners.”
    Olivia’s eyes went wide and Lucas chimed in, “Is there any way you can trade partners with someone or be assigned to a different partner? Of perhaps Dr. Griffin would be willing to allow you to work on the project independently.”
    I shook my head. “She was adamant about us not trading partners and no reassignments. I think I’m stuck with him.”
    “This is bad,” Olivia confirmed. “Please tell me that was the worst news.”
    I shook my head again.
    “I had a