Read Online When You're Ready by Britni Danielle - Free Book Online

time since I’d been in a classroom, but I knew getting a D+ wasn’t the end of the world.
    “That’s passing right?”
    Nola shot me a glare that made me reconsider my question. “ Technically , it’s passing. But I need to get a B in her class.” Her hands massaged her temples. “If I don’t get a B in the class I will lose my partial scholarship, and if I lose my partial scholarship I won’t be able to pay for school.” She stared at me. “If I can’t pay for school I won’t graduate, and if I don’t graduate I’m screwed.”
    I felt my face heat up. Anything or anyone who stood in the way of Nola’s happiness was now my sworn enemy, and this professor was quickly moving to the top of the list.
    The words, “I will give you the money,” were itching to jump off my tongue, but I swallowed them back. I would totally pay Nola’s tuition, and if I could do it without her getting wind of it, I’d handle it in a heartbeat. I couldn’t let on just yet, but the seeds had already been planted. In a matter of minutes I had a list of things I wanted to do for Nola—buy her a car, pay her tuition, take her to Jamaica, make her fall in love with me—I just needed to convince her to see things my way.
    “You know how I know she hates me?” Nola said, dragging me out of my thoughts. “I asked her if there was any way I could revise my paper to bring up my grade and she told me to meet her tomorrow at five.”
    “I don’t understand, isn’t that’s a good thing?” I asked, confused.
    “It would be if I didn’t have to work at six.”
    “Why can’t you just meet her earlier?”
    “I asked, but she said, and I quote, ‘I don’t have time for your whims.’” Nola rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure how work can be considered a whim, especially when I need to do it to survive, but maybe it is in her world.”
    She shook her head, then picked up a strawberry and bit it in half, running her tongue along her bottom lip to lick up the juice. Damn . I felt myself swell at the sight of her pink tongue running over her mouth. She didn’t even seem to know how sexy she was, but it was turning me the fuck on.
    I cleared my throat and tried to think of anything that would stop my dick from getting any bigger—basketball stats, my company’s latest projects, sweaty MMA fighters. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be working.
    “So…you can’t do both?” I stammered.
    “I can, but not on the bus. If I can keep our conversation to about 20 minutes, I may be able to get to work on time if I call an Uber driver or something.”
    “Absolutely not,” I grumbled under my breath.
    “What?” Nola asked.
    I didn’t realize she could hear me, and I tried to play off the possessiveness building in my chest. Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “I’ll give you a ride.”
    “What?” Nola’s eyes went wide, and I suppressed a smile. I hoped she’d give me the same magnificent look when I entered her for the first time.
    “Scout, you don’t have to give me a ride. I’m sure you have other things to do. I can just call Uber.”
    “That’s not safe, Nola. Just the other day I read about some girl getting kidnapped by a driver. I would feel awful if something happened to you when I could have taken you instead.”
    “Nothing’s going to happen to me, Scout. Besides, I don’t want to be any trouble.”
    “You’re a lot of things, girl, but trouble isn’t one of them.” I smiled and Nola’s cheeks flushed pink.
    “Okay,” she said quietly. “Meet me at the Bruin bear at five-thirty.”
    “I’ll be there at five.”
    “Scout—“
    “Just in case,” I said, happy Nola was letting me do something nice for her. I wasn’t about to let her down.

 
    7 Nola
     
    “I had a really great time, Scout. Thanks for meeting me.” We’d spent hours walking around the Getty, eating lunch, and talking. I’m not sure how the day could have been any more perfect, but I really didn’t want it to end. As