Of course, Melanie didn’t hear about it. Though she liked basketball, and occasionally, if she spent time with her brother, she was forced to watch football, that didn’t mean she cared about it enough to really pay attention to the sports world. Whenever she got the chance to watch TV, all she did was watch her soaps or the food channel.
“They ripped Allen and Noah to shreds, and this was around the time Noah was graduating from High School. Noah had been apart of the Roaring Lions, one of the best teams in Massachusetts. Everyone had been certain he was going straight to the Aces because of how good he was, but then the reports came out, and that was all she wrote. Many people doubt him now, and think the only reason he’s gotten this far is because of his father.”
Melanie frowned. "But I thought you said he was a good player."
"Doesn't matter. I've seen him play before, and he's more than good. But he'll have way more to prove to the world because of what his father did. He could have easily gone pro right after high school, but he chose to come here. I think he wants to prove his own skills to everyone. But when you think about it, it doesn't matter how hard he works. They’ll never acknowledge him. You even have some of the pro players saying bad things about him, and how they don't want him on their team."
After hearing that, it made her words before of him being a rich white boy with a golden ticket seem callous. She cringed. She hated when she was wrong; though she was still positive that, in this situation, she was right. Just because Noah was going through this hockey situation didn't mean he had an excuse not to take his classes seriously. But now, she could at least understand where some of his frustration and anxiety was coming from. With the pressure of trying to live up to his father's name, along with her words on top of it, it probably pushed him over the edge. Still, this wasn’t going to be enough to nudge her in the direction of tutoring him again.
“You can be stubborn all you want,” Abigail said, pinching her cheek, and Melanie rolled her eyes. Abigail knew her too well. “But, you will lose a friend if I’m not at that first game.”
Well, maybe that was a good enough reason to tutor him again. Besides, Melanie did not want to live with her again.
CHAPTER
10
NOAH
“S
O, HOW ARE THE STUDY SESSIONS GOING?”
When Coach Benson cornered Noah after practice, telling him to come speak to him in his office, Noah had a feeling it had something to do with tutoring. But if Noah had known for certain, he would have definitely found an excuse to avoid this discussion. After Coach Benson stuck out his neck for him to get him the tutoring sessions, now standing in front of him, Noah felt like an ass for ruining it. It was the only way to pass the course, and now it was all over just as quickly as it started.
That night, once he had cooled down, going back home to sleep off his anger, when he woke up, his rage now gone, Noah realized exactly what he had done. Professor Bryant had asked for one thing, and he had fucked that up. And the crazy thing about it, from the few study sessions they had, he was actually learning something and retaining the information.
“They’re going okay,” Noah said slowly, observing Benson’s expression to see what he was thinking. If Coach Benson was asking how the sessions were going, either he knew they were over, and he was planning to tear him a new one for fucking this up, or he didn’t know, and he just wanted to make sure everything was going well. Noah hoped it was the latter because then that meant there was a possibility he could still salvage this situation before it was completely over.
“Is Melanie teaching you a lot?” Coach Benson asked with a grin, and Noah found himself frowning. Melanie? Since when did Coach Benson start referring to her on a first-name basis. Even with them having the same profession, Professor Bryant came off as one of those people who would even want her co-workers to refer to her by her title.
“Yeah, it’s cool. She’s starting from the beginning, so the studying might take longer than expected.”
“Don’t give her a hard time, Noah. I had to do a lot of begging on your behalf. Melanie is a nice woman.”
“Wait,” Noah said, chuckling in disbelief. Noah had known his coach long enough to see when he was interested in a woman, and clearly, from the way his eyes sparkled whenever he mentioned his professor’s name, he was smitten. “Do you like her?”
“That’s grown-folk business, son.” Which meant he liked her. Noah sighed as he plopped down in the chair in front of Coach Benson’s desk.
“This is coming from someone who knows women. You shouldn’t bother with a hard-ass like her.”
Melanie Bryant had a stick shoved so far up her ass that she probably wouldn’t give the coach or any other man for that matter the time of day. Women like her were the ones who spent their lives alone. Besides, the thought of having to see his professor more than necessary even unnerved him, especially when he might have to lie about tutoring like he was doing right now.
"You're young, Noah. You know nothing about women. You might have all these little girls wrapped around your finger, but women are different. Melanie is different. Someone like her is hard to find."
Noah rolled his eyes as he slumped in his seat, getting himself prepared for another one of Coach Benson's speeches. Sometimes, he thought the man became a coach to teach life lessons than actual plays on the ice. The man liked to hear himself talk.
"Do you know that she graduated high school when she was sixteen? Do you know that she has a book out that's on Oprah's best-seller list? Do you know that she's the best in her field?"
"Really?" Noah asked slightly gob smacked. Professor Bryant seemed like a woman who had accomplished a lot. The type of arrogance she had didn't come from anywhere, but he didn't realize she was successful to this extent.
"Watch one of her Ted Talks. It's online. She's a brilliant, accomplished woman. I'm sure you'll be able to learn a lot from her."
"Wow, coach. You really like her," Noah said, surprised. Noah had seen the way Coach Benson would check out some of the player's moms, or when they went on trips to other states to play against different teams, the type of women he would pick up, and Professor Bryant wasn't one of those type of women. She was strong and independent in a way that someone with an ego like Coach Benson wouldn't be able to handle.
“That’s why you need to prove my word to her. Show her what I’ve taught you. You've got to be a representation of me.” Coach Benson pointed his large finger at Noah threateningly. “Don’t make me look stupid. She really didn’t want to do this because she’s a busy woman, but she granted this favor for me.”
“Okay, okay,” Noah said, waving him off, an uncomfortable feeling forming in his chest. He really had to fix this before Professor Bryant spoke to him. Coach Benson was serious.
