Make It Count Read Online Free PDF Page A

getting out of there as quick as possible. Alec picked it up from where it had landed on a chair. He handed it to her as she rose from her seat. She didn’t look at him. “I’ll . . . uh . . . let you have the table—”
    “Kat—”
    “Oh my! I didn’t realize the time. My . . . meeting . . . person . . . didn’t show up I guess, so—”
    “Kat—”
    “Have fun with your . . . table . . . or whatever—”
    “Kat!” he shouted, earning him some pointed stares.
    She finally looked at him, cursing her brain ten thousand ways for needing a flipping tutor. For not easily being able to do what it seemed everyone else on campus could.
    He pointed to her seat. “So, statistics, right?”
    She rolled her jaw and kneaded her fingers into the strap of her bag. He was her last shot at passing this stupid class she needed as her math general education requirement. She couldn’t fail out of school, or she would be her parents’ assistant at their financial-planning company for the rest of her life, answering mundane stock questions and ordering the correct variety of flavored K-cups for the office break room.
    “Sit down, Kat.”
    Her body jerked at his words, wanting to run out of the library as fast as she could, but she gave in to gravity and collapsed ungracefully into her chair.
    Alec took a deep breath. “It’s no big deal. You need a tutor. I’m a tutor. And a good one. I actually like statistics.”
    Of course he did.
    “Kat, if you’re really uncomfortable, I’m sure you can find another—”
    “No!” she said a little loudly and then glanced around the library sheepishly.
    “No,” she said, quieter. “This is fine.” She opened her bag and pulled out her notebook and textbook. “So, let’s get this over with.”
    He blinked at her dog-eared statistics book “What happened to it? It looks like it’s been through a war.”
    She eyed the book as if it were a live rattlesnake. “I bought it used. But I tell you what, after this semester, I’m going all Office Space on it. It has no idea what war is.”
    He chuckled, but she glared at him.
    “Okay, so, it’s probably better to start at the beginning to get the concepts down. You wanna show me your notes?”
    She never showed her notes. Her planner might have been color coded, but her attempts at taking notes off a board or from a lecture were a whole other ball game. Because they were an extension of her brain. All jumbled, with words and symbols scribbled into the margins, half-finished thoughts floating off the page. She flipped open her notebook, shoved it at him and then leaned back in her chair, arms over her chest. A glance at the window showed a heavy downpour, and she seriously pondered whether she’d rather be in here with him or out there getting a cold shower.
    Part of her resentment stemmed from her secret desire to be in his chair—the tutor chair. Teach other students who struggled like she did. But that was impossible. How could she help anyone else when she couldn’t help herself?
    Alec cleared his throat. “Uh . . . so, what do you expect here? I’m just going to read your notes at you? I don’t think that’s very effective. You could at least look at me.”
    Kat whipped her head around to look at him. She knew she was being a turd on a stick, but didn’t he realize how much this sucked for her? “You’re the tutor, so . . . tutor.”
    He clenched and unclenched his fists, and his nostrils flared. She definitely didn’t notice how hot he looked all pissed off. “Look, princess, I’m not really sure what you expect here—”
    Did he just— “Did you call me ‘princess’?”
    He narrowed his eyes. “Uh, yeah, I did, because right now you’re acting a little entitled.”
    “Entitled?” she hissed.
    “Are you going to repeat everything I say?”
    “Are you going to call me ‘princess’ again?”
    “Okay, how about ‘brat’?”
    “Ugh!” She threw herself back in her chair and looked