Chapter 11. The Math

Tessa’s POV

Knox leaves forty minutes later, still muttering, with a wet paper towel pressed to the chocolate on his jaw and a promise not to go anywhere near Ashford Street.

“If he so much as texts you,” he says from the doorway, pointing at me, “you call me.”

“I’ll handle it.”

“Call me anyway.” He points at Wyatt. “And you. I’m watching you.”

“You’ve been watching me for three years, Evans.”

“Watch harder,” Knox says, and leaves.

The door clicks shut. The apartment goes very quiet.

“So,” Wyatt says.

“So,” I say.

“You really turned down Knox’s money.”

“I really did.”

“Why?”

“Because we made a deal.” I sit down at the table. “Tutoring is my half of it. If Knox pays me, I’m working for him, and you’re a job. I don’t want you to be a job.”

He’s quiet for a beat. “I could pay you.”

“Then you’d be paying for a girlfriend, Wyatt. Rule-wise, that’s so much worse.”

He laughs, short and surprised