Co-Ed(39)

Cold shower it was.





Chapter Twenty-Seven


Shawn

I smiled through practice. It might have had to do with my movie night and with the way it had ended, my mouth pressed against his.

“Wow, someone’s happy today,” Alexa said, once we hit the showers. “You look ready to float right on out of here.”

“Yeah?” I played dumb.

She crossed her arms. “Spill. I haven’t talked to you since you and your new tutor—” Her eyebrows shot up. “Is he hot?”

“Yeah.” My face heated a bit. “He’s also kind of Knox.”

“KNOX TATE FROM ACROSS THE SUITE?” She apparently just had to yell.

I covered her mouth with my hand. “Could you not scream it?”

“Sorry.” She looked around the emptying locker room and gave me a huge grin. “So, what’s he like?”

“What do you mean? He’s a great tutor.”

“I mean, what’s he like, the other… side of him.”

“The grumpy side?”

Alexa threw up her hands. “You know what I mean!”

I did. But I wanted something for me. Something that wasn’t going to be tweeted about or talked about around campus. “He’s really great.”

“Oh, that’s super,” she said sarcastically then laughed. “Little tramp.”

“Hey, now! It’s just studying.” And a few stolen kisses… some boob-grabbing… It hurt to keep myself from smiling too big at her.

“Sure it is.” She laughed. “We should go out this weekend. Sorry I was gone last weekend, but I’ll make it up to you. Maybe you can bring your suitemates, and I can try to get one of them to make me forget my troubles.”

Jealousy crept into my body.

And it wasn’t just the thought of her and Knox; it was the thought of her and all of them. Like I somehow had a right to three guys instead of one. The others were my friends, yet they were somehow more to me, even though it was Knox I liked.

“Yeah…” I found myself saying slowly. “…I’ll ask.”

“You’re the best!” She twirled then whipped me with her towel. “Now go shower. You smell like a Knox Tate wet dream.”

“Ha-ha, very funny.” I rolled my eyes while secretly wondering if it was true, if there really was more between us, or if he was just doing what he did.

Made women think they had a chance.

Then got their rocks off and left.

The thought lingered in the back of my mind the rest of the day.





Chapter Twenty-Eight


Knox

She’d come to me.

To. Me.

And asked me to be her sober buddy.

Like we hadn’t crossed some stupid invisible line three days ago! I was so pissed I couldn’t see straight, and when I didn’t answer right away, she’d backed off and said she could always make sure Leo and Finn were free, which had made me start yelling for no reason.

She had stared me down as if I’d grown seven heads and barked, “My human,” while tossing her over my shoulder and stomping into my imaginary cave.

“We’ll all go,” I’d said.

Famous last words.

Because babysitting two athletes with bodies like that?

Let’s just say I’d rather be in prison.

And would probably end up there soon if the guys didn’t stop hitting on the girls.

I made sure to give her a glass of water with each drink and babysat her alcohol like she’d never been to a party before.

The girls were two drinks in, dancing with Leo and Finn in the middle of the dance floor, when I felt it. The devil, or maybe just his female minion. She snaked her hands around my chest. I’d recognize those pink talons anywhere.

“What do you want, Jess?”

“Dance with me,” she purred. I could smell the gin on her breath and visualize her come-hither glance that many a man had fallen prey to.

“Nah, I’m good.”

“I know…” She squeezed my ass.

I clenched my teeth.

This. This is why I hated my job.

They thought they had the right.

Because I’d made them feel good.

I’d made them think they were invincible.

Ninety percent of the time it was perfect.

Jessica was the other ten percent that I wished didn’t know our services existed.

“It’s late,” I said in a bored voice. “You should go home.”

“It’s midnight.”

“Exactly.” I shrugged out of her arms and made a beeline toward the middle of the dance floor, jerked my head back so Leo could see who I was talking about, and swapped him.

He could deal with Jessica; he always talked her down from her crazy better than I ever could.

And Shawn? Well, Shawn was dancing in a tiny skirt.

It wasn’t a hard choice.

Well, it was hard.

But the choice wasn’t.

I pulled her ass against me and started dancing.

She moved in sync with me then stopped and slowly turned in my arms. Her palms went flat against my chest as her face lit up. “You dance?”

“I know, I’m white. It’s almost wrong.”