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No, I snapped at myself internally. The only clenching this asshole is responsible for, is that of your fist.
“You and I, we’re best friends from now on,” Beckett announced.
I snorted. “I don’t think I got the memo.”
“It’s being hand delivered,” he said. “We’re going to be the sort of teammates that Coach Murry dreams of. And we’re gonna take the team to victory on Friday.”
“Nice of you to have it all planned out,” I said, standing up. It wasn’t enough to look down on him from where I sat. “But I think I’ll politely ask you to leave now.”
“Why? Busy?” There was a ghost of a grin crossing his face.
I narrowed my eyes, not exactly sure what he was suggesting. “I’m just more comfortable when you’re not in my room.”
Beckett sucked his teeth. “You wound me.”
“You annoy me,” I replied, losing my composure with every passing second.
“Knock it off, Jones,” he said, more snappy now. He lifted his muscled arms and folded his hands behind his head. The short-sleeved T-shirt pulled over his swollen biceps and I stared, giving myself a moment to collect my thoughts. “I was kindly reminded that I have a duty to the team.”
“Sounds a lot like a you problem,” I said, but the spite was leaving my voice faster than I could speak.
“And a you problem,” Beckett said. “You’re here on scholarship.”
Air left my lungs and no amount of effort could get me to inhale again. “They can’t just take it away,” I whispered.
“True,” Beckett said. “You can sit out the rest of the year. But what then? Drop out after three years? Go home with your tail between the cheeks? Why should they renew it?”
My face flushed with a sudden wave of heat. Everything that was at stake had already crossed my mind. “I won’t sit out the year,” I said.
Beckett was swift for a solid, bulky guy. His arms flew through the air and he pushed himself up on his feet before I could process it. “Glad to hear it,” he said with the same fake politeness he used on everyone he’d ever met. Well, except me, most of the time. It was the simple case of Beckett never needing anything from me, thus never bothering to fake it. “Good luck pulling that off while this is going on.” He wagged his index finger between us. “Coach Murry will surely change his mind when he hears your compelling arguments.”
That smile was vicious. He wore it to annoy me; and in that, he was absolutely successful. He was also, technically right. There was no way I could persuade Coach Murry to let me play without some proof that Beckett and I won’t distract the rest of the team. I couldn’t state how much I hated this. But when Beckett spun away from me, something inexplicable burst through me. “Wait,” I rasped, grabbing his shoulder before he could leave.
As he turned to me again, millions of emotions flickered over his face, as if he was looking for one to settle on. Fright of what I was doing, anger that I dared touch him, smugness that I asked him to stay. But he settled on bored curiosity, eyes lazily scanning my face.
“How would we do it?” I asked, cursing myself internally that my future depended on being close to this prick. “It’s not that easy to fake a friendship.”
Beckett ran the tip of his tongue over his teeth, then sucked in a breath of air. “We make rules we can follow.” His voice dropped lower as he said those words. “It’s just for appearances.”
“For a week, sure,” I said carefully. “But what’s stopping Coach Murry from getting rid of us the week after? Or next year? We can’t just…like each other.” The word was hard to force over my teeth. It carried too much naked truth.
Beckett’s eyes glistened for a moment like he caught onto my insecurity around it. “I’m not sure if you noticed, but I’m a very likable person.”
I rolled my eyes as I stepped back. “This isn’t gonna work.”
“Don’t be such a spoilsport,” Beckett said, taking a step toward me and closing the distance between us. He stood incredibly close; so close that I couldn’t move without revealing that the proximity was driving me nuts. “I’m not proposing you fall head over heels for me, though stranger things have happened.”
I hoped to God I wasn’t blushing, but the heat in my face made my brain spin.
“Just…keep your mouth shut around the other guys. You can do that, can’t you?” His voice dropped lower as he spoke. The commanding note grew stronger and my will was caving in. Beckett shifted his weight from one leg to the other, shoulders swinging a fraction. His head was tilting, as he was just tall enough that he looked down on me. “Tell me,” he continued, biting his lip as he thought for a beat. “What about me triggers you the most?”
I scoffed, but it carried no edge. Life had been easier half an hour ago when the only thing I wanted to do was shove the fucker out of my way and stick to what I knew; hating him with a passion. “What good would that do to know?”
Beckett gave a casual shrug. “If it’s reasonable, I might be able to dial it down around you.”
“You’re cocky,” I said, voice weaker than I’d wanted it to be. “You’re full of yourself. You expect everyone to like you just because you’re you. Like your trust fund gives you the right to boss everyone around. You’re loud. You’re obnoxious. You think everyone’s waiting for you to wink at them and they’d drop their pants for you. You treat me as less cos I’m here on a scholarship. You…” My voice cut off when I realized everything I said made Beckett’s wicked grin broaden. He stared into my eyes with a deadly curiosity, raising one, black eyebrow and creasing his other brow under the stray lock of blond hair. “What?”
He shook his head and pursed his lips, letting the silence hang between us for a heartbeat or two. “You’re being unreasonable then.”
