Chapter 1 #2
All the volunteer tutors are completely booked up for this semester. I was able to get on the waitlist and was offered a spot for a tutor for next semester, but that doesn’t help me right now.
I was told there was availability for hired tutors, but when she told me the price, my heart sank.
Who pays someone two grand a month just to help out with homework?
It’s insane! That’s more than I get paid at my job.
I’d have to use my whole paycheck for at least the next five months, and still wouldn’t have enough.
Then I’d be left with nothing for food or anything else, either.
And there's no way I can pick up extra shifts because I’m already stretched too thin.
So, I’m back to square one. I think my best bet might be joining a study group. It’s better than nothing, right?
“What’s got you so down?” Dean, one of my teammates, asks as I take a seat at the football table.
“Life,” I groan, leaning back in my seat. I close my eyes, letting everyone around me know I’m not in the mood to talk. Thankfully, they get the hint.
That is, until one of the cheerleaders, Nina, takes a seat across from me. “Are you sick?”
Opening my eyes, I don’t move my head when I look down at her. “No, why?”
She grins, her black hair pulled into a messy bun at the top of her head. She’s dressed in her cheer uniform. I never understood how they could wear them all day. Don’t they get cold? Ellie doesn’t, but Rain sometimes does.
“Because you're not smiling.”
I raise a brow, sitting up in my seat. “So? I don’t always smile.”
Rain snorts, sitting down next to Nina, Ellie joining her on her other side. “Ah, yeah, you do. Sometimes it scares me. You’re this big ray of sunshine. Like if I stare at you for too long, my eyes are going to burn out of my head.”
“Gee, thanks.” I snort, chuckling.
“Did you talk to the school about getting a tutor?” Ellie asks.
“Yeah.” I sigh heavily. “No luck.”
“Wait, you need a tutor?” Nina asks. “Why?”
“I’ve been pretty much just barely passing classes since I started here. And last year, I failed a few. Coach says that if I fail any classes this semester, I’m off the team.”
“What!” Nina’s gasps. “No! We need you, and this is your last year. You can’t be kicked off the team.”
“Not much I can do, really. I can’t afford to hire a tutor, and all the volunteers are booked up until the new year. My best bet is to spend every free moment studying and join a study group.” It’s not the end of the world. If I work hard, I can do it.
“What classes do you need the most help with?” Nina asks.
“Ah, I think my worst ones are calculus and finance. I’m shit with numbers.”
“Feel that,” Rain mutters, picking up a fry and eating it.
Nina chews on her bottom lip, staring at me like she’s thinking.
“Uh-oh.” Rain snickers. “I know that look.”
“What look?” Nina’s brows furrow.
“The look you get when you come up with an idea and you’re not sure if it’s going to go the way you want it to.” Ellie laughs. “What’s that wonderful brain of yours cooking up?”
Nina looks at me. “What if I told you I knew someone who could tutor you?”
Hope that I know I shouldn’t have sparks to life. “You do? Who?”
“My older brother. He’s part of the volunteer tutor program.”
“But I thought they were all booked up?” I question her.
“Technically, the volunteer tutors can have up to three students to work with, and Blake only has one.”
“Do you think he’ll take me on?” I hate the eagerness in my voice, but I’m kind of desperate.
She looks hesitant, and the spark of hope begins to dim. “I’ll ask him. He normally doesn’t like to take more than one student because of his own workload. But this is his last year, and he has fewer classes than normal, so I don’t think it would be too much of a problem.”
“I don’t want to put him out.”
“No, no. It’s probably no big deal. Let me talk to him, okay?”
“Okay.” I nod. “Thanks. This means a lot.”
“Of course! Can’t lose one of our best players. Also, what are friends for?”
I won’t allow myself to get my hopes up, Nina’s brother could say no. If this is his last year as well, I’m sure he doesn’t want to spend all his free time helping someone out for free.
There’s still a small flicker of hope I’m holding on to.
“It’s not the end of the world, Cooper,” I mutter to myself, trekking to the coffee shop to grab a coffee before I head home to knock out some schoolwork, and then hit the gym after. “You’re alive. Healthy. Thriving in most parts of life. Things could be worse.”
The shop is pretty busy for a Tuesday. Today is the only day of the week that I have morning classes.
It’s nice because I get the rest of the day to relax before heading to the gym with some buddies from the team.
It also sucks because I hate mornings. The biggest downside to playing football is that most of our practices are in the morning before classes.
On the days I have afternoon classes, I head home and go back to bed for a few hours.
I move with the line as each customer gives their order and pays. Looking up at the menu board, I consider what new drink I’m going to try today.
“Can I get a medium chocolate mint latte?” the guy in front of me asks, pulling my attention away from the menu.
Oh, that sounds good. I look back at the board, but I don’t see it up there. Huh.
Still, the girl behind the counter rings him up, so I guess it is an option.
“Your total is $6.49.”
The guy reaches into his pocket. I watch as his body stiffens, then his hand starts to search frantically. He checks his other one and curses. “Fuck.” He sighs heavily. “Ah, you know what, never mind,” he mutters, moving to turn away.
“Can you make that two of whatever he ordered?” I step in, smiling at the young lady as I grab my debit card. “I got this.”
She nods, ringing up another drink. I tap and pay, then move to the side.
“Why did you do that?” the guy asks.
My eyes flick over to him. This time I can see the front of him, and fuck me, he’s cute.
He’s a little shorter than me, hands shoved into the pockets of the oversized navy hoodie he’s wearing. It’s got to be at least three times too big, but somehow he looks good in it.
His black, wavy hair looks messy, but the sexy kind of messy, with bangs hanging over his black-rimmed glasses, hiding his right eye.
His visible eye is a bright blue that steals my breath away.
“Are you okay?” His brows furrow. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Sorry,” I chuckle. “Why did I do what?” I redirect to his first question.
“Pay for my drink.” His voice is low. He sounds almost annoyed, but with a hint of curiosity.
“Why not?” My lips kick up into a playful smile. He’s even cuter when he’s grumpy.
“You don’t even know me.”
“I don’t.” I shrug, agreeing with him. “Let’s call it my good deed of the day.”
“I don’t need your charity,” he growls. “I’m perfectly fine paying for my own drink. I just forgot my wallet in my car.”
“I’m sure you did, but seeing that you obviously wanted the drink now, or you wouldn’t be here, why wait?
Just accept my kindness and don’t think too much into it.
” I wink at the same time the barista calls out our order, placing the drinks on the counter in front of us.
I pick mine up and take a sip. “Fuck, that’s good,” I groan.
“Well, I gotta get going, but enjoy.” I raise my cup.
“You can get the next one if it bothers you so much.”
I leave the cute guy glaring daggers at me, my mood a little more chipper now, and head towards the door.
“It doesn’t bother me,” he calls back.
Pushing the door open, I look at him over my shoulder and grin. “Whatever you say, Latte Boy.”
***
I have no idea why, but for the rest of the day, I have a pep in my step. I can’t get the guy from the coffee shop out of my head.
He’s not the kind of guy I normally go for. I like a big guy who can toss me around, and take as good as he can give.
But there’s something that keeps my mind circling back to him.
He didn’t thank me, and I didn’t expect him to. Maybe I was overstepping by paying, but I don’t regret it.
Everyone has bad days, and maybe he was having one too.
Or, maybe that’s just who he is. A broody little thing.
“I know that face,” Dean chuckles, snapping me from my inner thoughts.
“Do I have a face too?” I wonder, thinking about Rain saying the same thing to Nina at lunch.
“What?” Poor Dean looks confused. “Yeah. We all have faces. Are you on drugs?”
“No.” I snort. “Never mind. What do you mean, you know that face? What are you talking about?”
“The one you make when you're thinking about a guy.”
My brows jump in amusement. “Oh, yeah?” I chuckle. “And what would that look like?”
“You get a faraway look in your eyes, and you don’t pay attention to anything around you. Sometimes, the corner of your lip starts to curl into a smile.”
“Shit.” I snort. “How much time do you spend looking at my face, Dean? Is there something you wanna tell me?”
“Oh, fuck off.” He laughs, flipping me off. He gets off the exercise bike and wipes sweat from his face with a towel. “We’re best friends, man. I know what you get like when you’re into someone. It’s been a while. I haven’t seen you with anyone since before training camp. So, who is he?”
“No one.” I stop peddling, a little out of breath, and take a drink of my water.
He gives me a look that says he doesn’t believe me. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? How do you not know who you’re thinking about? Really, you can tell me, are you on drugs?”
It’s my turn to flip him off. “What I mean is, I don’t know his name. Just some cute guy I bumped into at the coffee shop earlier. He forgot his wallet, and I paid for his drink.”
Dean grins. “I bet he was sooo thankful. Did he pull you into the back and suck your dick as a payment?”
“What the fuck?” I snort. “No! God. Why do you always have sex on your mind?"
“Why don’t you?” He raises a brow. “I swear sometimes you're like a monk.”
He’s not wrong. When I first came to SVU, I wasn’t into the whole dating scene.
I was too focused on school and football.
By my second year, I started to ease up on that mindset.
Nothing beats a good orgasm to relieve the stress that working out doesn’t.
Even then, it was very rare. I’m not big into casual sex.
I like having a connection with the person I’m being intimate with.
It makes things even more exciting and intense.
However, because I have little to no free time, a boyfriend hasn’t been something I wanted. It wouldn’t have been fair to the person if we hardly had time to spend together because of my crazy schedule.
To be honest, the most exciting thing about graduating is finally having free time to have a social life outside the few parties I go to.
To have someone I can spend time with, cuddle with, spoil, and take care of. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that I’m lonely.
I’ve been watching my best friends getting into relationships, being happy, finding love, and I want that.
I know it will happen. I just need to wait for the right person.
Maybe latte boy is the one?
Nah. That would be ludicrous. I don’t even know the guy’s name. It was a three-minute encounter, and this is a big campus. I probably won’t ever see him again.
“Just haven’t found someone I’ve connected with enough to turn it into something more.”
“Laaaame.” He tosses his sweaty towel at me. “Don’t need a connection to make a connection, if you know what I mean.” He waggles his brows, shoving his pointer finger into the circle he makes with his other hand.
“You’re a pig.” I grin, getting off the bike.
“That might be true, but the ladies don’t seem to mind.” He flexes his arm and kisses his bicep.
“I’m out.” I shake my head, grab my things, and head toward the exit. “Before your big head explodes.”
“The only head that's going to explode is the one I use later tonight when I’m balls deep in–” He gets cut off as the door shuts behind me.
I love Dean. He’s a good guy, but sometimes the way he talks about hooking up and sex bothers me. I’m all for living your life however you want, as long as it’s not hurting anyone else. The sad girls he leaves behind because they think he wants more than sex is honestly a little heartbreaking.
Don’t love bomb a person! Just be honest and tell them what your intentions are. It’s better to be upfront than end up in a messy situation.
When I get home, I shower and change into a pair of sleep pants. Climbing into bed, I scroll a bit to wind down.
I’m in the middle of watching a video of a cat riding a skateboard when my phone dings, letting me know I’ve received a text.
The moment I see Nina’s name, a rush of nerves flutters through me. I bolt up to a seated position and click on her name.
Nina: Good news! He said he would do it!
Meet him tomorrow evening at six at the library.
He said if you’re late, he’s leaving, so make sure to be there on time.
Sorry about him in advance, he can be a little bit prickly.
He just takes his job very seriously and wants the people he works with to do the same.
A smile, so wide it hurts, spreads across my face. “Fuck yes.”
Me: Thank you so much! If I wasn’t gay, I’d totally marry you right now.
Nina: Don’t tempt me, big guy. Why are all the good guys gay?
Nina: You know what, don’t answer that. Just good luck and have fun!
She texts me her brother's number in case I need to get in touch with him for any reason. I quickly add it to my phone, listing him as Blake.
I’ve never met Blake before, so I have no idea what he looks like. Whatever, that's tomorrow's problem.
Right now, I’m going to sleep and get a good night’s rest so my mind is clear for tomorrow.
I’m glad I didn’t immediately go into panic mode.
Let’s just hope Blake doesn’t see me as a hopeless loser and is willing to take time to work with me. I sure as hell plan on giving it my all. I can’t let this chance go to waste.