Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Finn Hayes is what girls my age would call “stupid hot.” He’s handsome, has brown eyes that remind me of warm chocolate chip cookies, and a tall, muscular build that makes marble sculptures jealous.
Green flag, right?
Wrong.
He’s also broody, closed off, and so complex that it feels like I need a decoder to crack him.
He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met and fights like he came out of the womb swinging, taking down both my ex-boyfriend and an ex-UFC fighter with ease.
But the underground society at our college known as Double C has nothing on him in the secrets department, and it’s that mysterious edge that keeps me coming back for more.
This is more than the story of how Finn and I fell in love.
This is proof that love has a learning curve. Sometimes you succeed, and sometimes…it destroys you.
Author Note: Learning Curve is a New Adult Romance standalone that is book one in the Dickson University Series. This highly-addictive series will follow the grown-up Billionaire Bad Boy kids and long-lost Winslow siblings as they navigate college life and relationships. Buckle up for all the college drama, romance, spice, angst, and humor. You do not need to have read the Billionaire Bad Boys Series or Winslow Brothers Collection to read Learning Curve. It is a complete standalone.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Friday, May 16th
Lexi
Sometimes, when you have a genius IQ of 146 in a sea of average 100s, you start to think you can’t be wrong.
You know better, you know more, you have the data to back yourself up, and the possibility of falling victim to unsound theorization is so low, it’s barely a possibility.
But then there are moments that define us—little slivers of time that change the way we think about ourselves and our existence. It happens in science, too, of course, when some small piece of information shifts the course of your experiment entirely when you least expect it. But when it happens in life, the swift and all-encompassing fist to the gut is even more debilitating.
Because, as it turns out, geniuses can be wrong. I can be wrong. So wrong, in fact, I nearly crash and burn altogether.
“Hey, Lex, I have a question,” my little brother Wes Jr. says, his tone way too innocent for the certified smartass I know him to be. I listen, but I don’t look up yet. I can’t.
I’m in the middle of running a test on an AI-coded app I’ve developed for my second doctoral dissertation. My first PhD, in Mathematics, completed a year and a half ago, is an accomplishment to be proud of, but it also isn’t enough to prepare me for what I want to do in the world of technology.
So here I am at the dinner table with my favorite food getting cold, knee-deep in my second PhD, this time in Computer Science. The spaghetti on my plate sits untouched, but my test run is almost complete—sixty seconds to go, if I can just finish without interruption.
My little brother is undeterred by the fact that I’m clearly busy, plowing ahead to drop the bomb.
“Will you have a funeral one day…or will we just have to visit your rotting corpse in the lab?”
My gaze jerks to his, a mischievous curve to his lips setting the tone, and my breath catches in my chest. His words should be inconsequential—to many people, they would be—but to me, they are earthshaking.
Because of my complex, neurodivergent chemical makeup, being caught off guard is almost akin to an extinction-level event. I’m a planner. A thinker. A certified head case of attention to detail confirmed by a neurologist and seven highly efficient screenings by the state of New York from the age of four onward.
When people speak, I expect to have an idea of what they’re going to say, but nowhere on my radar did I see this incoming missile of attack.
“Seriously, Lex,” my little brother adds. “Hazmat suits are expensive and hard to get. Just want to know if I need to start figuring out the dark web to get my hands on one.”
“Wes,” my mom chastises through a half sigh and a half laugh, while my stepdad fights the urge to burst into his own laughter.
My brother’s bravado is bolstered by their amusement, so he stares, waiting for a response.
I roll my eyes, pause the test run on the app, set my phone on the table beside my plate, and pick up my fork again. “My doctoral dissertation on advancing technology with artificial intelligence-based code is due at the end of this summer. It’s normal to be preoccupied with it,” I argue sensibly, fighting the sting in my chest.
“Yeah. Maybe if you hadn’t already finished your dissertation over two months ago—before your final semester even starts,” Wes objects on a snort. “Now you’re just obsessing.”
“Wes, stop picking on Lexi,” my stepdad says, attempting his best stern dad face. You’d think that being a billionaire and the owner of the New York Mavericks, one of the most successful professional football teams in the country, would make him a master at laying down the law—and maybe it does in business—but when it comes to my brother and me, Wes Lancaster Sr. is no firmer than microwave-softened butter.
When my mom met him, I was just a little girl, and from the start, he treated me like I was his own. My biological father, Nick Raines, wasn’t around back then, so for a long time, Wes wasn’t just like a dad to me—he was my dad.
Even now, at the age of twenty-five—with a biological father who is in the picture—I still address him as Dad.
“Yeah, Wes,” my mom chimes in. “I’m sure there are quite a few things Lexi could find to tease you about.”
“No way. I’m pure perfection,” my little brother comments haughtily, like only a teenage boy can. “And I’m not picking on her, just inserting a few strands of reality into her perfect DNA.” He looks over at me. “I know you like the lab, Lex, but there’s more out there. I promise.”
My smile is smug. “The thirteen-year-old expert on life. Trust me, Wes, I have more going on than coding and apps.”