#Nerd (Hashtag #1) by Cambria Hebert Read Free Book Online Page A

to get a pen out of my bag. I really didn’t want to get into some kind of argument with him. He was already garnering enough attention for doing nothing at all.
    Romeo had gone silent. He was staring at me, and my stomach did a little flip. “Did you just apologize?” He seemed surprised.
    “Umm…”
    “Girls never apologize.”
    I snorted. When I realized what I’d done, I slapped a hand over my mouth and nose. When I peeked up through my hair, I saw the broad grin stretched across Romeo’s face. He was laughing at me.
    I turned away. “Do you have a list of approved topics?”
    The paper appeared beneath my nose. I scanned it quickly and found a topic I was familiar with. “Do this one,” I said, pointing it out.
    I didn’t wait for him to reply. I pushed back my chair and stood. “Let’s get some reference books. Then we’ll start the outline.”
    I wandered down an aisle I knew had what we would need and didn’t bother to see if he was following. Truth was I probably would do his assignment if it got me out of here quicker.
    I spotted a row of books that looked to be useful and stared up at them, pondering the titles. Romeo moved up beside me with quiet grace. I figured that was a benefit of being so athletic. Most guys his size weren’t as graceful. He moved so close I could feel the heat radiating off his frame.
    His warmth was delicious, and I fought the urge to lean closer. Being a Florida girl made it really hard to get used to the seasonal changes here in Maryland. Every time I stepped outside my dorm and the crisp fall air met my skin, I was shocked. But standing here in this narrow, silent row with Romeo’s body heat threatening to wrap around me to keep out the chill, I wasn’t shocked.
    I was something else entirely.
    I cleared my throat and blindly reached for one of the books. At this point, any book would do. Of course, the books I wanted were above my head, mocking my short stature. The tips of my fingers brushed the front of the shelf and I rose up on my very tiptoes to try and get a little higher.
    In my desperation, I lost my balance and teetered over. I probably would have landed in a heap on the floor, but a solid arm wrapped around my waist and tugged me back. Romeo anchored me against his chest, holding me there while he reached up with his other arm and brought down a book.
    He didn’t let go.
    Leaving his arm wrapped around my middle, he lowered the book in front of my eyes. “Is this the one you wanted?”
    His voice was just above my ear, the question a mere whisper against my hair.
    I shivered.
    His arm tightened around me.
    My eyes tried to droop closed. He smelled good again today. Clean, deep, and my eyes popped back open.
    What the hell was I doing!
    I straightened and took the book. “Yes, thanks.”
    He dropped his arm but didn’t move back. I took a breath and pointed at another book on the high shelf. “Grab that one too.”
    He did and I moved off, down the aisle and around to the other side. He followed, but this time he didn’t crowd me.
    After we chose a few more books and articles, we settled back at the table and got to work. It was easy to forget about the effect he seemed to have on even me when we slipped into the assignment. Time flew by as we worked.
    Romeo was surprisingly intelligent, and he didn’t just sit there and make me give him all the answers. Before I knew it, we had an entire outline and his introduction. My back felt stiff from sitting on the unforgiving library chair, and I pushed back from the papers and stretched a little.
    The clock hanging above the exit had me blinking. We’d been sitting here for a little over two hours. Time was up.
    “If you follow the outline and write a couple sentences on each bullet point, your paper should be no problem to finish over the weekend,” I said.
    “Do you ever do anything other than study and homework?” he asked. His voice wasn’t condescending or even sarcastic, so I tried not to