Valentina didn't leave me alone for a long time after she found me. She doted on me nearly every second, even after I insisted that I was okay. She probably would have followed me to my shift at the cafe that night too but thankfully, she didn't.

The next day, she seemed a little more relaxed and I felt like I could breathe again. However, that didn't keep the dread I felt about being with Naomi for another class period. Not only that but today was the day that we had class time to work on our project. The rest we would have to manage outside of class.

I shake away the shivers on my way to English class. Once I get to the door, however, I freeze in my spot at the sound of Roman's voice.

"I need you to pair me with Briar."

I peek my head through the door to see that Roman was standing over Mrs. Jericho's desk. He can't see me from this angle and Mrs. Jericho is facing toward him well enough not to see me either.

Mrs. Jericho raises her brows at his request. "But you're paired with Daniel."

"Daniel nearly pisses himself trying to talk to me and Naomi isn't a good partner for Briar."

"What makes you say that?" She asks.

I wait nervously for his answer but then I tell myself to relax. He had already proved to me yesterday that I could trust him, at least with this. He would have started with Val yesterday if he had wanted to tell people.

Roman doesn't say anything at first, he must have been thinking something over. Then he sighs and goes on. "Look, Mrs. Jericho. I know there's a reason you wanted me to sit with Briar in the first place, right? You want to set me up for success," he says, failing to keep the mock from his tone. "I can't work with Daniel because Daniel doesn't work with me, Briar would. It's as simple as that."

I see Mrs. Jericho bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling. At what, I have no clue. "Well alright, Roman. If you absolutely think this is what's best for you and Briar to be successful in this assignment, I'll agree to it."

I see Roman give a short nod of his head and walk off to our desk. Mrs. Jericho suddenly looks right up at me and gives a subtle little wink.

>><<>><<>><<>><<

"So, it's a little strange of Mrs. Jericho to switch partners around so suddenly, don't you think?" I questioned Roman when we were released for our group work. The fact that he had no idea I was teasing him right now was very entertaining from my end.

"Yeah, strange," He says in both a dismissive and disinterested tone. I just look at him and don't even realize I'm smiling at him until he comments on it. "The fuck are you smiling at?"

It makes me smile more. "Nothing, I'm just happy that she made the switch is all."

Roman looks up to blink at me without saying anything. I expect him to snap at me for being annoying or grumble about anything under the sun, but he just... looks at me.

Then he flips open his book and asks about the assignment like nothing. Our assignment is to create a biography of an author selected from a list. Roman and I decided we were going to create a presentation on Edgar Allen Poe.

We worked well together to set up our plan and how we were going to present it. Time went fast and we were about three-quarters done with class when I strayed off-topic.

"You know sometimes I wish I could be a wood frog," I catch myself thinking aloud.

"Why?" Roman mindlessly questions.

"Because they can hold their pee for like eight months. I'll be right back," I announce and leave to find the closest restroom. I knew there was one right around the corner.

On my way there I stopped short to observe a flier on the bulletin board. A hard chest knocks into me from behind and I startle. I frown up at Roman when I turn around. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" He shoots back.

"Going to the restroom," I say slowly. Like duh, I literally just said so.

"It's over there," he nods his head in that direction.

"I know that. Why are you following me?"

All he does is shoot me a pointed look and I hold back a sigh. "I don't need you to walk me to the restroom. I'm not a child."

"No, but I'm learning that you have a knack for attracting trouble. Isn't that right, Bear?"

"No," I protested. It feels helpless so I walk off and find the bathroom anyway. "Here, hold this," I say and hand him my phone before letting the door close in his face.

Roman is still there when I finish. He's standing off to the side at the end of the hall waiting for me. I'm quiet when I come out, so he doesn't see me right away.

Roman is minding his own business as he leans on the wall. He doesn't notice the pair of girls practically drooling over him farther down the hall, but I do.

It has me thinking about what kind of girl Roman would actually like. Those two looking at him now are gorgeous. One of them is taller than me for sure, has legs for days, and has no problem showing them off. The other has the curves in all the right places, I was sure she had no trouble getting any man she wanted.

I really hoped she didn't want Roman. But when I see she's pacing her way toward him, I already know that she does.

She says something to him that I can't hear, batting her eyelashes with her words. Roman says something back, but his attention is still on his phone in his hands. She says something more, only she doesn't seem satisfied with his response, so she reaches her hand up and places it on his arm.

He looks up at her with a cold stone glare that would have me running in the opposite direction if it were directed at me. Then he raises his brows towards her hand that's still on his arm and the wordless motion has her removing it the next second. She's not feeling flirty anymore.

Roman's gaze locks on mine soon after she walks away and even though I'm already standing still, I freeze. But the harshness of his gaze from just a second before dies down and he nods his head towards the way we came.

My feet find their way and he falls into step beside me. The girl that was talking to Roman is glaring daggers at me when I walk past. I can feel them still behind my head.

"She was cute," I observed aloud. I don't know why I said it, maybe I just wanted to see what he would say.

"Not my type," he says simply as we keep walking.

"Is girl your type? Or do you-"

"I like girls. I just don't like desperate girls who throw themselves at me."

"I bet you're used to it," I say. "Being a pretty boy and all."

"Being a what?" He says harshly as we get our things together. I look up and let out a laugh at the pinched expression on his face.

"Being a pretty boy," I shrug. "With your pretty eyes, and your pretty nose, and your pretty perfect hair." I reached up and tousled his hair. I meant to give it a quick shake and move on, but the feeling of his fluffy locks distracts me. "Woah, it's so soft."

"Briar," He says and takes my hand down. "Shut up and start walking."

I give him an innocent smile and tug his hand to follow me back to class. When our hands drop, Roman doesn't entirely pull away from our tangled fingers and it catches me by surprise. I look at him, but he shows no signs of being aware of our loosely entangled hands.

I don't make a big deal out of it and the pace of our walk naturally tugs our hands apart. It probably only lasted all of three seconds but the disappointment from the loss of his touch still settles.

I brush away the feeling and decide to say something. "So, you think we should exchange numbers now that we're going to have to work together outside of class?"

"Here," he says. He holds out my phone and until this very moment, I had forgotten I gave it to him while I used the restroom. "It's already in your phone. Now put a passcode on it."

Then he drops my phone in my hand and I'm left with nothing to say as he walks into class before me.

✎ A/N: I read Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover in two days. Idk that women sprinkles crack in her writing or something 😩✋🏽