6. Calista #2
“None of it good, I presume.”
“Not unless being a hardass is a good quality to have.”
I centered a glare at Lincoln. “Would you like to elaborate? I thought I’d been pretty generous up until now.”
Lincoln didn’t respond. Instead, he moved forward and nudged Drew in the head with his glove. “Okay, you’re not helping.”
Drew returned to his full height, which was unexpectedly taller than Lincoln, laughing at his own devices.
“Look, if you aren’t going to take this seriously, I might as well tell Professor Hamilton that the deal is off. I’m not going to get that reference letter if he doesn’t see results, and right now, it doesn’t look like we’re going to get any.”
Lincoln remained stone-faced. It was hard to tell what he was thinking when he looked so pissed off all the time.
“I’ve told you before,” Lincoln said. “This tutoring thing isn’t going to work out for me. I’ve got too much on my plate as it is.”
I analyzed him for a moment. The set line of his jaw told me he seriously thought that he would be able to continue doing what he wanted without my help.
I raised a sharp brow. “With boxing? Serious question: how are you planning on competing once you’re off the roster? Because, from my understanding, you won’t be on the team for much longer unless you pick your grades up.”
Lincoln’s jaw ticked. “I’ll figure it out.”
“Great,” I said, annoyed that he was just going to blow me off like that. “Then we don’t have to waste each other's time anymore.”
I began walking in the direction that Dante had disappeared in. There was a door with the words Coach’s Office printed on the window in white vinyl.
“Where are you going?” Drew asked, pointing to the other side of the gym. “The exit is that way.”
“I’m just going to pop in and let Coach Whitmore know that Lincoln will no longer be receiving tutoring. He’s going to need a heads up to find a replacement for the upcoming boxing match on Friday.”
Lincoln was out of the ring and in front of me in a matter of seconds.
“You don’t have to do that,” Lincoln said. His voice was calm, but his actions told me otherwise. He reached out as if to grab my arm, but he never made contact. His hand fell by his side as he stared me down.
I noticed it during our first tutoring session, but Lincoln’s build was impressive. A body you could rely on. Six feet of solid muscle that I was able to appreciate now that his chest was bare. I didn’t dare show it, but I was slightly discouraged to place more pressure on him.
Forcing my voice to stay level, I said, “If he doesn’t find out now, he’ll find out in a couple of hours once Professor Hamilton gets ahold of him.”
Lincoln continued to stand there, appearing to contemplate what I had just told him.
Did he think that I was just going to give up?
Lie down and take it? I don’t know what his original plan was to avoid tutoring and still continue boxing.
But it was then that he realized it wasn’t going to happen.
With me standing a mere few meters from his coach’s office, he knew I would stick to my guns.
“And there’s nothing I can say to make you play along?”
I shook my head. “Unless I want to make myself look like an idiot in front of the professor I am trying to impress.”
“Technically, I’d be the one who looks like an idiot.”
I offered a pitying smile. That wasn’t going to work for me. If we were going to make some sort of deal, it had to work in my favor, too.
Lincoln seemed to understand this. “Fine.”
I bit back the feeling of triumph filling my belly. Keeping my expression blank, I echoed him. “Fine?”
“I’ll accept your help. I’ll take this tutoring thing more seriously.” I could visibly see him swallowing his pride.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I straightened my spine. “So you won’t come to study sessions late anymore?”
He shook his head.
“And you won’t blow me off to practice beating someone’s brains out?”
He shook his head again.
“And you’ll do everything I say?”
Lincoln stilled, measuring me with a worried stare. “Within reason.”
I smiled at that. It was as if he was afraid I might have him walk around campus while reciting all the muscles that made up a human arm through a megaphone. “Fair enough. ”
As long as Lincoln was completely on board, that reference letter was back on the table.
“Since you missed today, meet me tomorrow. Eleven o’clock sharp.”
“I can’t make it before four,” Lincoln said.
“Thursdays are my late nights,” I explained. It wasn’t my favorite thing in the world, either. Note to self: don’t schedule labs and practicum on the same day. I tilted my head at him. “Why, what is it this time?”
Lincoln drew in a heavy breath through his nose. “Nothing. I’ll be there.”
“Great,” I said, moving away from the ajar door of his coach’s office. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Drew was leaning against the ropes, his bare arms dangling over the top. There was an amused twinkle in his green eyes as he watched me walk back towards the gym entrance.
“It was nice meeting you, Cali.”
I didn’t bother looking back at them. “I wish I could say the feeling was mutual.”