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A zing of electricity coursed through my body when I realized she wasn’t coming back because it worked. It was the first time I pushed back on all the attention, and it actually worked. She left, and everyone was staring at me like I was the biggest asshole on earth. I got it. In their eyes, I was the calm, focused player on the team. The Ying to Aiden’s Yang. The quarterback that was going to take over from him next year and reassure the team and fans that we could continue winning. I was supposed to leave the drama behind, but here I was, creating it.
No more than two seconds later did those same library doors slam open, only this time Ralph was there. With a pinched face, it was the first time I’d seen him in anything other than a jovial mood. When he saw me, he yelled, “Tanner.”
I was taken aback by how deep and throaty his growl was.
“What the fuck did you just do?” He pushed me in the shoulders, and when I stumbled, he backed away, probably surprised at his own strength. He shouldn’t be. I was caught off guard.
But his reaction only served to tick me off even more. “What the fuck didIdo? I think the question should be, what the fuck did you do? Aster? Ass-ter? Real nice. I should have gotten the joke yesterday, but I was the one stupid enough to believe that you’d actually help me. Instead, I’m back to where I was yesterday, pushing off jersey chasers. I’m sick of this, Ralph. I’ve asked for your help, and you promised me some dude named Aster, not an OnlyFans wannabe.”
Ralph shook his head, laughing. “Oh man. You don’t even know what you just did.”
“What are you talking about?” The blood was pounding through my veins now, because I was suddenly unsure of my actions.
“I already told you.” He threw his thumb over his shoulder. “That girl that just walked out. The one with the perky ass and tits to match.” I nodded. “She is the best tutor this school has to offer.”
I watched his face, expecting it to crack into a smile because he was joking, but when it didn’t, I felt my stomach pit out. “No.”
“Trust me. That girl has brought the grades up for more students who were sinking faster than the Titanic than any other person on this campus. She’s the best at what she does, and it took me a hell of a lot of convincing to get her to take you on.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
When I looked around the room, I realized the faces of the students weren’t one of shock, but of pity. They all knew, didn’t they?
Did I screw this whole thing up?
“Are you serious? She was my ticket to a better grade?” I raised my hand and pointed at the door as though she might still be out there, listening in and ready to take on my apology.
He nodded. “Yeah, she’s pretty much the only tutor here guaranteed to get you back on the team by the summer.”
I dropped my hand.
My pulse stopped.
I was almost certain I had died for two seconds.
“Aster wasn’t a jersey chaser like Rachel. She doesn’t follow any of the sports teams.”
Did he really need to rub salt into the wound?
I stared at the door, now willing the hot girl with the spicy attitude to come back, but knowing full well that I went so nuclear on her ass, there was no way that was going to happen.
The longer I stood there in silence, the more it sunk in. I just ticked off the best tutor at Covey U and screwed over my only chances of playing football next year.
“Fuck!” I yelled so loud the words reverberated back to me in the circular library. I heard a librarian shush me, but I was too lost in my own annoyance to apologize.
“Yeah, fuck. Whatever you said to her pissed her off enough that as she was leaving, she told me she wanted to see you fail, and she’s only ever said that about one other person who she really hates.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
How the hell did I fuck this up so badly?
Ralph slapped me on the shoulder and shook his head as he stared at the door. “I can’t believe you did that. After all the shit you called me out on. It’s kind of funny when you think about it.”
I turned my head sharply in his direction, narrowing my eyes as I thought about all the different ways I was going to kill him. “You could have told me she looked like that.”
He raised his hands in defense. “Hey, you can’t blame me for that outburst. After the whole Rachel incident, I had no idea you were into girls like that.”
