Chapter 1
Vivian gets to know Rodrigo Yates mainly because she never heard the name "Rodrigo" before their class together.
A nasty case of the flu knocks her out for the second week of Biological Psychology, and when she comes back, the only person whose name she remembers is Rodrigo, a name that stuck in her head because it was completely new to her.
Her undergrad didn't have many international students.
She takes the seat next to his and leans toward him.
"Excuse me...
Rodrigo?
I'm Vivian.
I missed a few days.
Could I borrow your notes for last week's classes?"
Rodrigo glances up, light bouncing off his glasses.
"Yes, sure," he says.
"I type up my notes...
I can email them?"
She writes out her email address on a slip of paper, because the professor's coming in and she doesn't want to keep talking long enough to spell out "vivi.echevarria" to her classmate.
Rodrigo accepts the scrap and smiles at it, glancing up at her.
"That's my sister's name too."
Vivian's phone chimes when she gets the email.
She looks over the notes he sent her: they're very detailed, complete with links to references and blockquotes from primary sources, put together in ways that make memorable connections between the lectures and the reading.
"These are amazing!
Thank you!" she emails back.
After class, "Thanks again for the notes," Vivian says to Rodrigo.
"They're really helpful.
Are you still taking them?
I didn't see you typing." Rodrigo wouldn't be the first grad student to take incredibly detailed notes for the first couple of weeks and then slack off for the rest of the semester.
"I record the lectures," Rodrigo tells her, gesturing with his phone.
"And then I listen again later and take notes on that and the reading, both.
That's how I study best." He has an accent that comes and goes, lilting some words and phrases while others sound authentically slurred and Drasnian.
"You should post them somewhere.
They're so useful with all those annotations you made."
"I wouldn't know how," says Rodrigo.
"I try not to spend a lot of time online, I get too caught up in things."
"Yeah.
Never read the comments," says Vivian, hypocritically.
"I have a friend who's good with Wordpress.
And she's taking this class next semester, so I bet she'd be happy to put these up for you just to get her hands on them."
"Um.
Okay, maybe?
All right," says Rodrigo, a little flustered.
He's really cute.
Vivian is a returning student, at 31, and most of the students on campus look so young to her, pretty but unfinished.
Rodrigo looks young too, with high slender cheekbones and strong brows that set off his wide dark eyes, not quite hidden behind his glasses.
But even with his spiky bedhead hairstyle and casual sporty outfits, he seems a little more mature.
He wears a wedding band on one hand and an actual watch on the other wrist, both making him look more solid and adult than the other students.
It's in his posture and body language, too: beyond his surface shyness, he just comes off as more settled and sure than the rest.
"I'll have my friend email you, okay?" Vivian smiles encouragingly.
Rodrigo nods with a tiny smile in return.
Very cute.
As predicted, Xyla is eager to whip up a Wordpress site in order to get her hands on a head start for a notoriously demanding class.
Vivian posts the link to the notes on the class forum, which hardly anyone visits, until the first test is looming.
Then everyone seems to have printouts of Rodrigo's notes.
"We should do a study group," Leo says.
"Rodrigo, would you lead it?"
"I don't know if I-- everything I'd have to say is written down," says Rodrigo.
"Leading the group just means reading over the notes, really," Vivian explains.
"You know, for people who learn better from hearing things than reading them."
Rodrigo considers that, and squares his shoulders.
"Then.
Okay.
I can do that."
The study group goes so well that it becomes a weekly thing, with Vivian and Leo leading it on the days when Rodrigo doesn't make it or rolls in late.
But soon it's obvious that Rodrigo is the main attraction for a lot of the attendees, who all seem to find reasons to check their hair or apply lip gloss just before Rodrigo's due to show up.
Vivian can't really blame them.
She's completely off romance since her divorce, but even she can see the appeal.
Rodrigo is soft-spoken at first, and easily embarrassed, which is kind of adorable; but his underlying confidence shows itself once he's comfortable.
Before long, when the group gets off-track, he levels a demanding look at them and raises his voice just slightly, and everyone straightens up and listens.
And then there's the time he shows up in clingy track pants and a snug t-shirt-- "I had to reschedule a few things this week, I'm going to the gym right after this," he explains, either misinterpreting or politely ignoring the open staring at his sculpted shoulders and objectively perfect ass.
It's no surprise that the study group is also quickly becoming the Rodrigo Yates fan club and would-be dating pool.
Which would be fine, but Vivian could swear that's a wedding band on Rodrigo's finger.
And she really doesn't want drama to screw up the study group.
She's still trying to keep going with her old job part-time, and it doesn't leave a lot of opportunities to socialize in person, so the study group is kind of all she's got going right now.
And it's a good bunch, even if they spend half the time gazing dreamily at Rodrigo.
She doesn't want any of them to get serious about Rodrigo and get hurt if it's never going to happen.