I shrug one shoulder. “No, play along and I’ll make sure we part on good terms. I’ll play it that you dumped me and I’m heartbroken over it. No one will mess with you for that.” I reach over and grab her hand. “Come on, Savy, work with me here. Being my girlfriend gives you all the protection you need and it really helps me out. Come over to my place tomorrow afternoon and help me with my assignments. Here, give me your phone and I’ll put in my number. I’ll drop you a pin for my place.”
She almost seems to shrink in defeat as she hands her phone over. I punch in my details and hand it back. “So tomorrow, two o’clock. My place.”
Without saying a word, she makes a tiny nod and slides out of my car. I let out a deep breath and knock my head back on the headrest. I know I should feel bad about basically trapping this girl in my plan. I was the one who kissed her in front of her stepsister and stepmother, paving the road for all this and she’s not wrong about having a target on her back now either. The chicks who hang around the team in hopes of snagging a player can be vicious bitches and honestly, some of the guys aren’t much better but I’ll do what I can to shield her as much as possible.
I grab my phone as it chimes…again…and swipe away the fourth text message from my dad ordering me to call him. I’m not interested in going over the game play by play so he can tell me all the mistakes I made. I roll my neck on my shoulders, dump my phone into the cup holder, and put the car in drive.
Sure, Savy seems like a nice girl and all but she’s going to have to suck it up and deal because I need her help with school and as a buffer from all the crazy bitches who keep throwing themselves at me. If she ends up hurt by it, well, she’ll just have to chalk it up as a life lesson.
SAVY
Itossed and turned for most of the night, getting next to no sleep from the combination of anxiety over the situation I’ve found myself in, Vanessa being way too close for comfort, and my body being wound up from coming so close to the goal line with Tate, only to be left hanging. I finally did some self-care in the early hours of the morning just to get some relief but it was a muted release that didn’t give me the satisfaction my body is craving.
I roll out of bed at dawn and head to my kitchen to do what always calms me down. I bake. Whenever I was anxious as a child, Martha would take me into the massive chef’s kitchen in my father’s house and teach me how to bake all kinds of delicious treats to make me feel better.
By the time my cell chimes with a text from Tate, I’ve got muffins, cookies, and tarts cooling on every available surface in my small studio apartment and I’m feeling somewhat more centered. I snatch up my phone, smearing it with flour when I swipe open the message. It’s a pin to his place and a reminder to be there at two. That gives me two hours to get ready and pack up all the baked goods. I’ll take a few boxes to the club tonight for the staff, drop a few off to my neighbors and whatever’s left, take with me for study snacks.
With my kitchen put back to rights, I hit the shower and stand staring into my closet afterwards, trying to find something that doesn’t scream Amy the super geek. After standing there for twenty minutes and coming up blank I grab one of my standard go-to outfits and say screw it. A fake girlfriend doesn’t need to change any more than a real one. Besides, I like being comfortable and the oversized cardigans are cozy.
I consider leaving my hair down but it always ends up in my face and annoying me so I wrap it up in a tight bun just like every day. I don’t need to be anything but me and if Tatum Valor doesn’t like it, he can find himself a new fake girlfriend. With my glasses firmly in place, I snag my satchel filled with notes and copies of novels from the last few assignments Tate’s behind on. I slide in my laptop, add in a box of baked goods, and order an Uber.
The car pulls up in front of a midsized house not too far from campus and I wonder why he doesn’t live in one of the frat houses like most of the more popular guys on campus. I ring the doorbell again as I wait and think about texting him to let him know I’m here when the door is yanked open and my soul flies from my body in terror. My face flames hard, my mouth drops open in shock, and I can literally feel my eyes bugging out of my head as Asher fucking James, aka bar boyfriend, glares at me.
“What? What do you want?” he barks.
Words, words, say some fucking words, Savy!But instead, a slow, high-pitched squeak comes out making my tomato face go even redder. Thank all that’s holy, Tate shows up behind him and reaches around him to grab my wrist. He drags me in past Asher like this isn’t a bomb that will detonate and destroy me if Asher somehow recognizes me.
“Hey, you made it! That’s Ash, he lives here too.” Tate tells me, pulling me deeper into the house but my head is still turned to stare at the man I’ve had nightly fantasies about for two years. Ash rolls his eyes and glares at my gawking causing me to snap my head around and stumble after Tate. This is so, so bad. I can’t be here with him. If I had known Asher James lived with Tate, I would have taken the slut hit and whatever else Vanessa could throw my way.
“Hey, Amy! Good to see you again!”
Jude’s voice distracts me from my internal meltdown and I look over to see Jude and Beckett on the couch with game controllers being worked over by flying thumbs.
“It’s Savy, not Amy,” I tell him and I can’t even put any anger into my tone as I’m now just resigned to having guys call me by the wrong name but he surprises me with a wink.
“Oh, I know, babe, but watching you and Tate make out last night unlocked a geek kink for me so I’mma just gonna call you Amy.”
I…I have no words for that so I turn away and settle at the dining table that Tate led me to, pulling out my books and notes. I try and block out that there are four devastatingly hot men in the room with me as I go over what Tate has done so far on the assignment. We work together on where he needs to go with his essay and I give him some direction to make it stronger and then I start on some of my work while he makes progress. I’m lost in my work when a big body leans over way too close to me. He smells like soap and some type of citrus and I can’t help but breathe it in.
“What’s this? Did you bring us snacks, Amy?”
I turn my head and come very close to Jude’s face, only inches away from mine, as he reaches for the box of baked goods I brought. His eyes are a light golden brown that pair perfectly with his chin-length messy white-blond hair. I swallow hard and give him a slow nod. He snags the box from where it sits across from me and I swear when he pulls back, he sniffs my hair bun.
Tate mumbles beside me, “Fuck off, Jude. We’re working.”
I turn my eyes back to my computer but seconds later Jude lets out an almost orgasmic moan that has my eyes flying back to him.
“Fuck me, this is amazing,” he moans through a mouth full of butter tart.
It’s nice to see someone enjoy one of my creations so I give him a small smile but it drops away when he yanks the chair out beside me and drops down into it. His arm goes around my shoulders and he pulls my upper body close to his so that our noses are almost touching. I can’t stop my eyes from dropping to his mouth when he licks the crumbs from them.
“Amy, baby doll, I think you should let me put my peener into your peener pocket.”
It takes me a beat to process what he just said and then I’m shoving him back away from me with a scowl. The dick just laughs and grabs another tart.
“Man, will you stop playing with her? We’re trying to get work done.” Tate grumbles as he reaches across and steals a tart for himself.
After that, Beckett and Ash snag treats for themselves before Jude grabs the box and runs away with the rest so he doesn’t have to share. I keep my head down, focusing on my keyboard. I know Jude’s just teasing and fooling around but I don’t know how to fit in with that kind of vibe. I never had friends or siblings to learn how to have fun with. Even after Celeste married my dad, Vanessa wasn’t interested in being my friend so I just try and stay out of it so I don’t say the wrong thing.
