AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Are you Aster?” When she nodded, I shook my head in annoyance and immediately looked over at Ralph’s desk. Surprise. Surprise. He wasn’t there. “I should have known,” I mumbled under my breath.
“What was that?”
“Your name.”
“What about it?”
“Aster? Ass-ter, I should have known this was all a cruel joke.”
She looked at me; her face burning redder than her hair as she took a step back. I could hear the sniggers around the room from the students who were watching us.
Good. These girls needed to learn a lesson. I wasn’t here to get my dick sucked by any of them. I was here to get to the NFL and keep my sister’s transfer in place.
When someone coughed, she looked in their direction, and I could see the shock in her eyes. There was a tiny moment that I felt a little sorry for Aster, but it wasn’t enough to stop my tirade.
“Um, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Not letting my haughty attitude deter her, she recovered quickly, with her shoulders square and her chin held high. “I think you’re a little confused. I’m Aster Paige. Your new tutor.”
Girl was determined, that was for sure.
I looked around the room. Everyone was watching now, and there were too many people snickering at her misfortunate for her not to notice.
I sighed. “Well, Aster,” I drawled out her name because it kind of sounded nice. “I need to make one thing clear before we start.” My eyes drew down her outfit, and I wanted to spend a little more time looking, but knowing that I needed to make a point, I didn’t. “It doesn’t matter how hot you dress, or how plump you make your lips. I’m not interested in studying ‘biology’ with you so you can increase your clout in this place. I’m not interested in giving you my number and I’m not interested in finding out that you paid someone else to do your homework. This is the last time I’m going to let you, or any of your other jersey chasing friends, speak to me.”
She stepped back in surprise, nearly dropping her textbook in the process, but somehow, she saved herself.
Her mouth quivered, and she dropped her gaze to the floor. “I, uh.”
Good, I’d stunned her in surprise.
I was calming down after getting it all out, and it was then I noticed people laughing. Okay, I can admit, I probably could have kept some of those thoughts to myself, or laid it out a little more politely, but not speaking had gotten me here in the first place, and if living with Aiden Matthews had taught me anything, it was that having a little bit of a bite could come in handy in certain situations.
Aster took in a deep breath and clutched her textbooks tightly to her chest. I expected her to turn around and walk out without another word, but then she did something wholly unexpected.
She bit her bottom lip before holding her chin up and squaring her shoulders in defiance.
“Tanner.” Even my name sounded sexy coming out of her mouth. “You might think that every girl in the school wants to meet you.” Her eyes drifted over my features as her lips lifted in a wry smile. “What with that square jaw and stupid little man bun on the top of your head, but I’ll have you know, I had no idea who you were until you came up to me smoking hot and ready to blast.”
I let out a sardonic chuckle because I couldn’t believe that she was going to double down on this. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d never been rejected before and that was the real reason she was trying to save face now. “I’m sure you don’t.” I dragged my eyes to the poster on the library door, and she followed my gaze.
Low and behold, my face was right there with my name under it. I wasn’t usually the kind of guy that would throw my status around. In fact, I much preferred to work in silence, but the fever that was surrounding me was getting too much.
I was going to break if I didn’t grow a backbone.
Her eyes flittered between the poster and my face as though she was just putting it all together. Yeah, I could confirm she definitely wasn’t a drama major.
“You know what? When Ralph practically begged me to work with you, he promised me you were nothing like the other pig-headed athletes in this school, but I guess he was wrong. You’re just as self-absorbed and arrogant as the rest of them.”
I huffed out a laugh because she couldn’t seriously be comparing me to the likes of Aiden. I hadn’t slept with anyone since joining here because I was too focused on keeping my grades up. Girls were the last thing on my mind. Until I saw her, of course. “And you’re just like all the other jersey chasers at the school. Desperate for a meal ticket.”
Okay, I admit it. That was harsh. I went a little too far, but she called me arrogant and self-centered, and I was already annoyed.
“You know what? You can figure out your own shit.” She didn’t bother giving me another look. Instead, she turned on her heels, making that little skirt of hers flip almost as fast as her finger flipping me off as she walked away with more sass than those old Victoria’s Secret models. “Screw you, Asshole,” She griped as she pushed the library door open and left.
I jumped when the door slammed shut.
Silence.
I swallowed, staring at the door for a few minutes, expecting her to come back to yell at me again.
