"Abbi?" Dr. Allen stops me as I leave the science lab.

He's a brilliant man, knows everything there is to know about the atmosphere and weather but he's always a disheveled mess.

"I need you to go to my office and reset the camera feed for the Crane Beach weather monitors. I meant to do it before I left but I forgot." He drops several papers on the ground as he attempts to take a bite from an apple. "We have the collaborative course today with Dr. Robinson's Marine Biogeochemistry class."

"I remember, I was on my way there now. I can go reset the cams. I'll be a bit late-"

"No worries," he cuts me off, "it's just introductory information anyway." He holds a packet of papers out to me that I quickly tuck under my arm.

I know I was cutting it close but I would have made it on time. He's definitely going to be late.

Rushing back from where I just came, I sigh when I get to his office. As usual, the place is a mess and the computer isn't even turned on. Wonderful. My partner is going to think they've been saddled with deadweight.

While I wait for the computer to come back to life, I look at the packet. My partner's name has been penciled in on the top. Evangeline Brolin.

The actual camera rest only takes about five minutes but I'm almost thirty minutes late to class. By the time I walk in the auditorium-like classroom is almost completely empty. Both professors are chatting in the front and one pair of students is quietly looking over the project packet. In the front row, there is a lone woman, busy writing notes in the margins of her packet. She must be my partner.

She's so focused that she doesn't notice me approaching.

Her chin-length hair is just covering her face.

"You must be Evangeline. Sorry for the delay." She looks slightly startled as I hold my hand out to her. "I'm Connor Abbott, you can call me Abbi."

Wow. Fuck me. She is... pretty.

When her soft hand slips into mine and a furrow creases her brow, I'm suddenly self-conscious. She looks upset.

"I hope you don't mind but I asked to be paired with you." I don't know this girl for anything but something in her eyes tells me this flattery won't really smooth things over.

"With me?" An incredulous arch tugs her brows upward.

"Well, not with you, per se, I was in the office while our professor's assigned partners. I may have asked for Professor Robinson's best student. I didn't know it would be you, specifically, I just wanted the best."

"And why exactly did you want the best? To match your caliber or to ride my coattails?"

"I wanted an equal match, Miss Brolin. The fact that you're absolutely stunning is a very welcome bonus."

She snorts and rolls her big blue eyes. "I'm sure that usually works for you, doesn't it? Throw around words like stunning, with that accent? We just can't help ourselves, can we?" She stands at her desk, gathering her belongings. "Let's exchange information. Maybe we can meet at the library later this week to plot out how we are going to attack this."

Wait, fuck. This isn't going well. She thinks I'm some kind of fuckboy.

"Or" I quickly counter, "we could go grab dinner tonight and figure it out."

I'm flooded with a kind of strange panic. I've never seen someone so... like her. She's gorgeous, sure but it's something else. It's her posture and the look in her eyes... her voice...the rings stacked on her fingers or the fact that she's wearing a man's dress shirt tucked into a skirt.

"Pace yourself, Abbi, you're looking a bit overeager. We have twelve weeks to finish this."

"I'm not great at pacing myself. When I know what I want I go for it. All in."

I'm floundering in unknown territory. All in? I've only just met her.

"What exactly is it that you think you want?" Her suspicious expression never falters.

"Come to dinner, we can talk about it."

I can't even answer her because even I don't know. Is this what instant lust feels like? It can't be because I don't want to have sex with her. I want to stare at her, to talk to her, to get to know every seemingly unimportant detail.

"Here," she grabs her phone from the desk, "give me your number, we can meet up next week?"

Fumbling for my phone, I hand it to her. "I'll take your information too."

She narrows her eyes but takes the phone. If I don't get her number I'll have to wait until she reaches out to me to speak to her.

"We'll be in touch," she steps away from the desk, moving to walk past me. I have to restrain myself from following her, from trying to talk to her.

I have her phone number, so that will have to do for now.

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