Private School Playboys novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Terms

Roberta sets her terms on Jude's balcony and seals the fake relationship with a kiss Brooks sees.

Calder House was the senior boys' dorm with the good rooms.

Everyone knew which window was Jude Rafferty's, because it was the only one with a balcony.

I climbed the iron fire stairs at nine on Sunday night in a hoodie and leggings, with my hair in a knot.

Roisin had offered to come.

I had told her no, because this was the sort of mistake I wanted to make alone.

The balcony door was open.

Jude sat on the stone railing, one boot hooked on the rung, a book on his knee.

He did not look surprised.

"You came," he said.

"I haven't decided anything."

"You climbed three flights of fire stairs to tell me that?"

"I climbed them so nobody would see me use the front door."

His mouth twitched.

He closed the book and set it on the ledge.

It was a chemistry textbook, which surprised me more than anything else about him so far.

"Say your piece, Whittredge," he said.

I stood in front of him with my arms crossed.

"Brooks wants me back. Sheridan is threatening my scholarship."

"I have a review on December first. I don't know why you offered, and I don't trust it."

"Fair."

"So I'll tell you what I want, and you tell me yes or no."

He nodded once.

"We pretend," I said. "In public only. You act like you're with me, Brooks sees it, and he stews."

"And Sheridan?"

"Sheridan sees that her boyfriend's ex has a friend she can't touch."

"She has a father who can touch anyone."

"Your father pays Hollis three times what hers does."

Jude's eyebrow went up, the scarred one.

"You've done homework."

"It's on a plaque in the library."

He laughed, a real one, short and rough.

I held up one finger.

"Rule one. Nobody touches me unless I say so. You kiss me when I decide, and only where people can see."

"Agreed."

Second finger.

"Rule two. You don't lie to me. I don't care what it is."

Something moved across his face and was gone.

"Agreed," he said, after a half second.

I noticed the half second.

I filed it away.

Third finger.

"Rule three. When this is over, I say when."

He slid off the railing.

He was tall enough that I had to tilt my head back, and he stood close without touching me.

"Those are good rules," he said. "I have one."

"What?"

"Don't fall for me."

I laughed in his face.

"Please. I just watched my boyfriend cheat on me with an heiress."

"I'm not in the market for a boy whose last girlfriend got a car."

"She got a necklace. The car was her own."

"Is that supposed to make me trust you?"

"No." His voice dropped. "It's supposed to make you laugh."

I did not laugh.

I did want to.

"Fine," I said. "Tomorrow, breakfast. You walk me in."

"Done."

He held out his hand.

I shook it.

His palm was warm, with calluses along the base of his fingers that did not belong on a rich kid.

He held on one beat longer than he needed to.

I pulled free.

"Rule one," I said.

"I'm aware."

He did not look sorry.

On Monday morning, I stood outside the dining hall doors in my uniform skirt and my good blazer, with my heart going like a drum.

Roisin stood next to me, eating a muffin.

"You could still back out," she said. "Nobody would blame you."

"Everybody would blame me."

"True. They'd also say you're hot, though."

"Roisin."

"Just saying. He's very tall."

I smacked her arm.

Then the crowd by the stairs parted.

Jude walked through them in his black blazer with his tie loose.

He was not smiling.

He didn't look at anyone.

Every girl in the foyer watched him pass.

He stopped in front of me.

"Morning, Whittredge."

"Morning."

The whole foyer got quiet.

I understood that we were being watched by two hundred people and that every single one of them would repeat it by lunch.

"I said I'd walk you in," Jude said.

"You did."

"Is that still all right?"

It was the first time anyone at Hollis had asked me a question like that.

I swallowed.

"Yes."

"And the rest?"

I looked at him.

I thought of Brooks on the chair with his roses.

I thought of Sheridan in the bathroom, dabbing my face.

"Yes," I said. "The rest."

He stepped in, and his hand slid along my jaw, and he lowered his head.

His mouth was warm and slow.

It was not the kiss of a boy who needed to prove something.

It was the kiss of a boy who had all day.

My fingers curled into his lapel without my permission.

Somebody dropped a tray.

When Jude pulled back, his eyes were darker, and my lips felt swollen.

"That's one," he murmured.

I looked over his shoulder.

Brooks stood at the top of the stairs with his phone half raised, the color gone from his face.

For the first time since the coat room, he looked afraid.

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