“Butyou have to do something for me in return.”
“That so?” I kept my tone lazy,bored.
“You don’t actually need me to tutor you.”
“That’s not what your little report to the Academic Committee would say.”
Her jaw tightened — just enough to let me know I’d hit close to something she didn’t want touched. “You could pass without me.”
“I know.” I shrugged. “But then I’d miss out on your charming company.”
She didn’t bite. “If anyone asks, we meet here twice a week. You pass your class, I get to work on something I care about without having to look over my shoulder. You don’t ask questions about it, and I didn’t... hear anything I shouldn’t, and you didn’t stalk me after it.”
There it was — the flash of steel under all that polished composure. Dangerous in her own way.
“Stalk you?” I held her stare. “You followedme, remember?”
“Do we have a deal or not?”
I studied her, letting the silence stretch until she shifted her weight. “No. I don’t make deals.”
“Wh-what?” She tugged on the bottom of her ponytail. “Why am I here if you aren’t willing to make anoffer. You don’t want me digging where I’m not supposed to, and I don’t want you near my business. We both get what we want.”
“WhatIwant?” I held her stare. “I don’t make deals with people who think they can corner me.” I tilted my head slightly as I watched her react.
Her chin lifted, and her eyes didn’t leave mine. Looks like she had a spine. “This is my offer. We say it’s twice a week, but we cut it down to once a week. You do your... thing, and I’ll pretend to tutor you as scheduled.”
“Fine.”
Her mouth tipped in a small, satisfied smile. “Good. This meeting room is booked for me for your tutoring sessions. They like to randomly check we’re utilizing them so for the sake of appearances we will need to turn up, however briefly. Okay?”
I shrugged, no longer interested in the logistics. “Just one thing, Sav.”
She paused halfway to the door. “What?”
I let my smile turn slow, deliberate. “If you’re going to lie for me, you’d better get good at it.”
She didn’t flinch. “Right back at you, Ten.”
She walked out satisfied, like she’d won something, and I let her think it.
The dean's daughter, who'd heard enough to be dangerous — not because she understood it, but because she wasexactlythe kind of person who'd keep pulling at a thread until the whole thing unraveled. Smart. Careful. Principled in the way people were when they'd never had to choose between their principles and someone they loved.
I'd need her quiet, and I'd need her close. Making her complicit in the arrangement was the cleanest play — give her something to lose and she'd protect her secret the same way I protected mine.
I gathered my things and left.
The fact that I'd watched her mouth while she was laying out terms and imagining what she’d look like on her knees with her lips wrapped around my cock, was a problem for another day.
* * *
Imagine my surprise when I walked out of the athletic building after football practice on Tuesday morning and saw Savannah Cole waiting there. Yeah, didn’t see that coming.
“Sav?” I gave her a smile, conscious that others were looking over at us. “What a nice surprise.”
Her backpack looked like it was going to burst, and she was holding her laptop and one of her notebooks on top of it. A sharp wind would knock her over, I was sure.
“Here,” she said, handing me a single sheet of paper. “Reading list. You can handle it without me hovering.”
