Twenty-eight minutes later, Amber sat in the middle of an empty classroom, arms crossed on top of her large textbook, waiting. With nothing else to do after being ditched by Hunter and Nathan, Amber had made her way here, hoping to get through the first chapter or so of her book. But even that had eluded her. Now, face down, head against her arms and eyes closed, she was using the book as a pillow instead.

Thinking.

Dissecting the happenings of the twenty-four hours or so.

As of late, it was getting harder and harder to concentrate on anything else. Just because Amber had to play hero when she should have ignored the pack of females. Ignored the sleeping form and walked right on by.

But she didn’t.

And now, she found her world entirely steered by his presence and his alone—ever since Hunter Eton came into her life. It didn’t sound like much, but to Amber, whose twenty years of life had been pre-planned, quiet, and on track, he was akin to a bulldozer that just kept coming.

Only Amber hadn’t figured it out yet where she wanted him to stop.

She took a deep breath and exhaled, realizing her heart rate was climbing at the mere mention of his name alone. Amber’s heart normalized after a few minutes of steadfast breathing exercise, but her thoughts continued to circle around Hunter.

The course of true love never did run smooth.

True love? Amber lamented. What true love? Even to an outsider like Hunter, it was apparent there was no love between her and Liam. Was Hunter telling her to be patient? Was that why he had issues with her brushing Liam off so quickly?

Amber’s brow knitted slightly. This was why she didn’t have friends. They all assumed they knew what was best for her.

If Liam hadn’t shown up, none of this would have happened. They would have just gone on their merry way, and there’d be no advice or quotes to fry the brain. And who knew when Amber would have introduced the two?

Probably never.

As for friends? It wasn’t like Amber had a lot of them to start with. The only person she considered would be Brittany, and she was female. Were there differences between male and female companions, other than males flirted more? She’d have to ask Brittany later how to handle them if she wanted to develop this friendship. It was apparent that Hunter came equipped with his own friends who would stick around.

And for reasons unknown, Amber wanted this friendship with him. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a male friend for once? A guy who could help her understand Liam and perhaps even come to love him?

Amber choked. Who was she kidding? Why, if Liam began acting like Hunter, she’d have a heart attack! Amber couldn’t imagine Liam chasing after any girl, much less dedicating his entire life to one.

“Aaaddd, this is the reason you wanted to get here earlier,” the familiar sound floated to Amber’s ears, disrupting her thoughts.

It was Nathan, who was probably talking to Hunter.

Rather than greet them, however, Amber remained in place, pretending to be asleep. Curious to see what they would do next.

Nathan and Hunter paused by the door to the room. It was a colossal class configured similar to Monday’s setup, with booths for seats and tables layered from top to bottom. In the middle of it, Amber’s dark head rested against her arms, decompressing.

“Oh look, she’s dozing—” Nathan began, but one peek at Hunter, and he closed his mouth. He trailed in quietly after Hunter, where they paused at the start of the aisle.

Hunter observed the dormant figure from afar while Nathan pushed forward, past Hunter, whispering. “I’ll see if she’s really sleeping.”

I’m not, Amber thought, hearing footsteps approach. She couldn’t tell how far or close they were, and since she’d already faked it this far, she might as well see it to the end.

Nathan stopped beside Amber before leaning in, murmuring. “Bosslady?”

Amber used all her willpower to remain still as a statue, despite the urge to correct Nathan. She was not Bosslady and will never be, even if a small part of her thrilled at the prospect.

“Bosslady…” Nathan’s sing-song, quiet tone echoed right above her. “Oh, Booossslladdddyyy… are you awake?”

Figuring he’d seen enough, Hunter advanced in between the seats and tables towards them.

“Guess she’s sleeping.” Nathan straightened and edged out of the section of open space just as Hunter approached. He squeezed back in around on the other side of the table, with Hunter now between him and Amber.

“Seriously, though, Boss,” Nathan began in a hushed voice as he ruffled through his backpack and retrieved his laptop. “With so many friends, you just had to pick this one.”

There was something odd about how he stressed the word friends, but Amber couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. Nor would she ask.

“Not only that,” Nathan continued. “She’s already engaged! What would her fiancé say if he saw you two?”

Amber wanted so badly to indicate they were beyond that point now. The only thing stopping her was that she was presumed to be asleep. It also didn’t help that Hunter kept the information to himself as well.

“My old man called again and asked about the heir to Pro Securities. He wanted to confirm the rumors of him attending this campus. What am I to report?” Nathan changed topics.

“Inform him however you see fit,” Hunter finally spoke. “It’s not my problem.”

What?! Amber’s hand’s jerked, the only show of surprise. Were they also interested in the heir? But why?

“He’s threatening to send me back to work,” Nathan shuddered. “We agreed not until after I finish college!”

Of course! That’s why Nathan’s name was so familiar!

“Your father’s Vice President of Pro Securities!” Amber exclaimed, suddenly straightening. She pivoted, facing both Nathan and Hunter before she could stop herself. “That’s where I’ve heard of you before!”

There was a moment of silence as Nathan blinked at her, mouth dropping into an O.

It was Hunter who spoke, seemingly undisturbed by her outburst. “If you wanted to know, you should have just asked.”

Crap, Amber locked eyes with Hunter and realized her mistake. Not that it would have mattered with the way Hunter was scrutinizing her. He knew exactly what she’d been up to since he’d done the same to her once, not so long ago.

“Eh? Weren’t you sleeping?” Nathan gave her a confused look.

Busted!

“I—I just woke up,” Amber pretended to rub her eyes. “When did you two get here?”

“A while now,” Hunter answered, a ghost of a smile playing at his lips. “I hope we didn’t wake you?”

“Not at all,” Amber muttered, annoyed at Hunter for thwarting her every attempt to change the subject. While Nathan took her explanation to heart, Hunter knew better, the laughter in his eyes evident.

A noisy, musical ringtone coming from Nathan interrupted them. At the same time, the door to the classroom swung open, and the three faced a student, who propped the door before glaring at them. Amber responded with an apologetic smile, but the undergraduate spun away, opting for a seat at the head of the place. She turned her attention back to the guys to discover Nathan already on his phone.

“How hard is it to locate the place? It’s on the second floor. No, no, it’s the east building! Not the west!” There was a pause before Nathan smacked the slab in front of him. “I told you not to mix the two buildings!” He glanced at Hunter before rolling his eyes. Next to Hunter, Amber regarded him with a confused expression.

“It’s another friend of the group,” Nathan answered. “He’s in this class as well.” Before Amber could ask, Nathan continued speaking, but not to her. “I’m chatting with Bosslady, yo! Yeah… yeah… nope. They’re just friends… Exactly!”

Amber focused on Hunter. “Aren’t you at least curious about what they are saying?”

“Nope. And you shouldn’t listen to those guys, either. They always sprout nonsense.”

“Does that include you as well?” Amber questioned, unable to help herself. “You are their leader. Does that mean you sprout more nonsense?”

“You’re missing all the excitement,” Nathan whispered into his phone without realizing there were eyes on him. “Bosslady is questioning Bossman… No...no, I will not record it!”

“Nathan,” Hunter gave the order without turning around. “Cut it.”

“Uh oh, he’s mad now. Later!” Nathan terminated the call without waiting for the other person to respond. “Don’t mind me. Just ignore me.” He turned to his desk and started shuffling papers back and forth. “Pretend I’m not even here.”

Hunter waited until Amber’s eyes were on him again. “About tomorrow’s breakfast—”

“Yes, yes,” Amber intervened. “Don’t worry—I’ll be there.”

Hunter hesitated, relatively amused. It almost felt like he didn’t want to continue but pressed on. “While I’m happy to hear you say that, I am going to have to take a rain check.”