"It's a waste of time." He tapped the textbook. "And I don't care about your fun."
"Then I'll ask anyway," I said, ignoring the flatness in his tone. "Why are you making me study these questions in particular?"
"Because," he said dryly, "they'll be on tomorrow's exam."
My lips parted. "Wait—seriously?"
"Why else would I waste my time?" His eyes flicked over me; just for a fraction of a second. My skirt had ridden up without me realizing, my thigh practically pressed against the chair.
My breath caught when his eyes flicked over my lap and it was too precise to be accidental.
His face was expressionless.
The next second, his sweater was tossed over my lap, landing heavy across my thighs. "Cover yourself."
My cheeks burned.
"W-what?"
"Don't make me repeat myself." He leaned forward again, twirling the pen around his hand. "Question twelve. Try not to fail this time."
Heat rushed up my neck as I drew the sheet closer to myself. Hayden noticed things—small things others overlooked.
He studied people even when they didn't realize it. It mustn't have only been my thighs; he probably saw everything.
The thought made my stomach twist.
Before I could speak, the heavy clack of something dropping on the desk made me jolt.
Both our eyes shifted. A leather bag sat right between us.
I didn't even have to look up to know whose it was.
Hailey Hewitt. Hayden's stepsister.
"Oops." She feigned innocence, her smirk already aimed at Hayden. "Didn't mean to interrupt your… study date."
Hayden's eyes didn't soften. They sharpened, burning through her like fire. Hayden finally moved, leaning back in his chair, his voice dropped. "Hailey… I forget you exist until you start whining."
She leaned against the desk with her arms crossed. "The driver mixed up our things again. You'd think you could at least give basic instructions, but no, you probably told him mine belonged to someone else, didn't you?"
"And if I did?"
"I'll tell daddy."
"Go ahead,"
"God, you're annoying. Always brooding, always sulking, always trying to ruin me. Jealous much? Face it, daddy actually likes me better. And it's not my fault you hate him. Stop messing with my fucking life!"
When she noticed he wasn't responding anymore, she groaned before pushing the textbooks from the table and storming off.
Hayden rolled his eyes and picked up the textbooks. I bent to help him but he held my wrist firmly, "focus on the equation."
I looked at his hand around my wrist before taking my seat. Even though he was done picking up the textbooks, he was still frowning. And I knew it was from Hailey's interruption.
I bit my lip. "Hayden… are you—"
He turned to me finally, his eyes dismissive. "It's admirable to mind your own business, Porter."
The chill in his voice made me stiffen. I exhaled slowly, then looked down at my notebook again, forcing myself to finish the equation.
When I pushed it toward him, Hayden didn't even glance long. He marked a huge red cross across it, the ink pressing deep into the paper. His side-eye burned with disappointment before he scribbled quickly, then shoved the sheet back.
I frowned, looking at the neat column of numbers. "What's this?"
"The answers to tomorrow's exam." He stood, gathering his things with clipped movements. "I'm calling it a night."
And just like that, he left.
I sat there, staring at the door he'd disappeared through.
In my hands were answers.
Worry and gratitude wrestled inside me. Hayden was hiding something. But even angry and cold… he'd helped me.
Why?
That question clung to me harder than anything he'd said.