He puts his thumb on my collarbone and uses that to push me against the wall. I bat it away but not before a patch of warmth erupts on my skin, spreading out in a ripple of tingles.
“That sounds lovely, but I have a slightly different agenda. How would you like a little backup the next time you try to explain how his slut of a girlfriend got an STI while they were meant to be together?”
I blink, staring into his eyes, giving too much away but so shocked at how well he’s read the situation that I scramble to hide it.
“And what do you get?”
“Apart from the massive satisfaction of putting that prick in his place if he tries to go off on one? Just payment.”
“Payment.” My voice comes out flat.
“Yes. A state usually achieved with cash or credit cards or a bank transfer.” His fingers dance up to touch me again, this time settling an inch apart from each other along my collarbone. “Or a credit to your OnlyFans account.”
“I don’t have—” I cut myself off too late to stop his mocking laughter.
“I know you don’t.” Seb gets closer, crowding me, dropping his head to whisper near my ear, “Do you want to know how I know? Do you want to know how many hopeful hours I spent looking?”
“How much?”
“A few hundred right now, thousands later. I need a credit card today, then I’ll let you know the rest as it comes due. I’ve got a few contracts coming along the pipeline, so a lawyer wouldn’t go astray.”
My mouth drops open. “You expect me to pay for a lawyer?” I shake my head.
His eyes narrow as they stare at me. “What’s the matter, Princess? Is that a little bit out of your league?”
“For your assistance, yes. I could grab muscle from other places for a much lower price.” As a demonstration of the fee I’d be willing to pay another, I lick my lips slowly, getting the moisture from my tongue into every line, every crevice, curling it up at the end in a pointed demonstration of my experienced mouth.
Perhaps a mistake because his gaze narrows further, zeroing in on the display, hunger in his eyes.
Suddenly unsure, I wipe my lips with the back of my hand, trying to break the contact but he just shakes his head. “Fuck me,” he whispers in such a small voice I don’t know if he knows he’s saying it aloud.
Then at a normal volume, he asks, “We got a deal?”
My face screws up like a used wrapper. “No, we don’t have a deal. If you can’t afford to attend school, then fuck off back where you came from, poor boy.” I push him back, then walk past him, knocking his shoulder, my heart crammed so far up my throat I can’t swallow.
It’s a relief to drop, sitting on my bed. A further relief when Seb doesn’t move, only his eyes tracking my progress.
“I won’t tell anyone, anything,” he says, his voice strained like I finally landed a blow somewhere it hurt. “For as long as we’re both attending here, I won’t come at you.”
“Right.” I give a harsh laugh straight out of my mother’s handbook. “Until you’re past whatever hiccup is going on, whereupon you’ll renegotiate without my input again.” I purposely reference his words from last night, and see the guilty recognition cross his face. “Do you really think I’m stupid enough to trust you to keep your word?”
“They’re dropping me back a year.” When I frown in surprise, he leaps to take advantage, gabbling, “Coach doesn’t want to work with players who’ll be gone after a season. We won’t be sharing classes, won’t be hanging out with the same friends.”
“We’re not hanging out with the same friends now.”
He smirks, raising my ire again. “Have you told Rowena that?”
“Leave her out of this.”
Seb makes a frustrated growl. “Can’t you just…?”
He rubs his hair backwards seemingly for the excuse of smoothing it down again. His face twists as though in pain. There’s an urgency underneath his actions that talks volumes about how much he needs that money.
It’s obvious I have the upper hand here but I’m unsure how to work the advantage or even if I should. His distress makes me uneasy.
He drops his arm, holding his palm up in supplication. “Lend it to me, then? I’ll pay you back once my sponsorship comes through. Don’t you want a truce?”
More than anything.
