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“No,” she says, looking down at the pavement. “Although that was tempting.”
I wait for more, but she’s silent, still looking down like if she tries hard enough, she can burn a hole into the asphalt. My stomach does a flip. Something is off; the rapport I thought we were building disappears like smoke in the night.
“Bex?”
She finally looks up at me, her teeth digging into her lower lip.
“I’ll tutor you,” she says. “But only if you agree to pretend to date me.”
Chapter 11
Bex
The instant the words leave my lips, I blush. I can feel it all the way to the tips of my ears. There’s asking for help—for a deal—and then there’s humiliating yourself.
But my wrists are aching where Darryl grabbed them. He won’t leave me alone unless he knows, or at least thinks he knows, that I belong to someone else. Breaking things off with him politely hasn’t worked. Getting direct hasn’t worked. I know him well enough to know the only thing that will keep him away is if he gets it through his caveman-brain that I’m with another man.
It’s embarrassing. But he’s a distraction that needs to go away, and this is the best way I can think to get that to happen.
Now I just need James to agree to help.
“Callahan?” I say. “Did you hear me?”
“I heard you.” He looks at me until I’m forced to meet his gaze. “Why?”
“Because he won’t leave me alone.”
His voice is sharp as he says, “Won’t leave you alone how?”
“It’s fine—”
“Like hell it’s fine.” The grip on his beer tightens. “Has he been harassing you?”
My face feels like it’s on fire. “Not... really. He’s just not listening to me. He keeps ignoring what I’m saying, and even what I tried to show him when I... when we...”
His lip darts out to lick his lip. “Yeah.”
“If he sees I’m with someone else, he’ll back off. I know him. It sucks, but it’s true. And you need a tutor, so I thought we could work something out.”
For a terrifying second, I think he’s about to walk away. He’s working his jaw like he wants to bolt. “He’s my teammate.”
My stomach sinks. Of course, he wouldn’t want to ruin his relationship with a teammate, even if it’s Darryl. “He said you talked through things.”
“And this would take a match to it.”
I shake my head. “You’re right. I’m sorry, it was stupid. I’ll see you around.”
I turn, taking a deep breath as I throw my shoulders back. I can manage walking away with dignity, even though I just laid myself bare in front of the guy and he shut me down. But before I get two steps, I feel his hand encircle my sore, bruised wrist, tugging me backward.
I can’t help it. I flinch.
His gaze is dark as he looks down at where he’s touching me. “Bex—”
I shake my head, lips pressed tightly together. Like hell am I admitting aloud that I let Darryl hurt me.
“Fuck it. I don’t like the guy anyway.” He drops his hand, shoving both into his pockets. “You really don’t mind tutoring me?”
I can tell he wants to press. To ask more about Darryl. But I jump on the topic change gratefully. “This is a deal, right? Quid pro quo. You take me on a few dates he’ll hear about, and I’ll make sure you pass this class.”
