The Player's Protégé

by CJane Elliott

  Table of Contents

  Blurb

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  More from CJane Elliott

  About the Author

  By CJane Elliott

  Visit Dreamspinner Press

  Copyright

  The Player’s Protégé

  By CJane Elliott

  A Campus Connections Story

  When his friends bet cynical Jerry that he can’t turn sweet Arlo into a player, Jerry might win the bet but lose his heart.

  College senior Jerry Helstrom survived a gay childhood in Texas by being fierce and fabulous. At school he’s known as a player and has kept his heart so guarded that he’s forgotten he has one. When his friends bet him he can’t teach inexperienced Arlo Barnes to become a stud like him, Jerry takes on the challenge and quickly finds himself drawn to his enticing trainee.

  Arlo kicks butt as a Tae Kwon Do black belt, but his sexual game is lacking. He’s been dumped by his only boyfriend and needs help getting himself out there. Enter Jerry Helstrom, player extraordinaire and happy to provide Arlo with some hands-on coaching. Jerry encourages Arlo to ask for what he wants in sex and in life, something Arlo struggles with. The struggle deepens when Arlo discovers that what he truly wants is the seemingly unattainable Jerry Helstrom.

  Jerry can teach Arlo to play the field, but can Arlo teach Jerry to play for keeps?

  This one’s for all the smart, cynical, prickly people who insist on excellence in life. May you find the one who sees you, honors you, and loves your soul and heart.

  Acknowledgments

  BIG THANKS to Elizabeth North, Lynn West, Liz Fitzgerald, and the rest of the team at Dreamspinner for your endless support and professionalism. Special thanks to my cover artist, Adrian Nicholas, for the amazing covers you’ve done for this series. I love being part of the Dreamspinner community. Huge thanks to my extended family, friends, and writing tribe, who have carried me and my little family through the hardest time of our lives. I couldn’t have made it without you. And endless love to Michael and Nathan—I love you to the moon and back.

  Chapter One

  “THEY’RE KIND of nauseating, huh?” Tyrone jerked his head toward Eric and Will, entwined and making out on the dance floor.

  “Heartwarmingly vomit-inducing,” agreed Jerry. He picked up his martini and took another languid sip. Mmm. Blackie’s had lost its appeal now that the rest of the student body had discovered what used to be a mostly queer hangout, but the bartender did make good drinks.

  “You’re to blame, boo.”

  “Oh, indeed.” Jerry heaved a small sigh. “Sometimes I amaze even myself with my powers. But I do think those two would have somehow blundered their way into true love without my help.”

  Tyrone chuckled. “I think they already had. It took you to make Eric get it, though.”

  “So true. He never gets when people are into him. I told him I had to knock him in the head with a two-by-four before he noticed me.”

  “Y’all were pretty cute back in freshman year.” Ty put his hand over Jerry’s for a moment. “You ever regret breaking up with him?”

  Jerry let his gaze return to Eric—tall, gorgeous, and one of the sweetest men Jerry had ever known. Therein lay the rub. All that goodness got to be wearying. “Sometimes,” he admitted. “But only when I’m horny.”

  “Okay, boo. If you say so.”

  They finished their drinks as they watched the college students cavort and dance. The air was school’s-out celebratory, even though the year wasn’t up for another two months. But it was finally spring, the cherry blossoms were out, and folks seemed especially giddy. Tyrone’s voice intruded on Jerry’s enjoyment of the olive in the bottom of his martini glass.

  “There he is.”

  “Who?” He looked with no real interest at the guy Tyrone pointed to—some dude standing on the side of the dance floor looking hesitant to join the party. He was cute enough with his curly brown hair and broad shoulders, but he had no style to speak of. Jerry ran a critical eye over his ill-fitting jeans, university T-shirt, and basic sneakers. Meh. “Who’s he?”

  “Arlo Barnes. You know, Jake’s ex-boyfriend. They broke up a few months ago.”

  “I know Jake. Never seen him before. What’s the deal? Are you interested?”

  Tyrone laughed. “Not hardly. He’s a little white bread for this black boy. That’s the point. He’s only ever been with Jake. We’ve been talking, and he said he wants to get out there and see what he’s been missing. But he doesn’t know where to start.”

  “So?” Jerry signaled the waiter for another drink. “Hasn’t he heard of Grindr?”

  “So, you’re going to help him. You know, like be his mentor.”

  “Me?” Jerry peered at Arlo, who looked like a wide-eyed innocent in a den of wolves. “Oh, no. I don’t think so.”

  “Yep. Because it’s my turn for a favor. Remember? You said if I helped you get with Ted, you’d do something for me in return. I told Ted you were interested, and y’all hooked up. So I held up my part of the bargain. Not that you and Ted lasted or anything.”

  “Don’t remind me. But why do you want me to take on Arlo? What’s in it for you? I thought you’d want me to help you with your pathetic love life, now that you and Calvin have been over for months.” Jerry accepted his second martini from the waiter.

  “Imma ignore that comment about my love life. This is all for Arlo. I’m feeling… what’s that word? Magnanimous.”

  “You sure you aren’t interested in Arlo for yourself?”

  “Naw. Like I said, he’s too white bread. I like someone with a little spice to them. Arlo is a real sweetheart, though. He’s chill and kinda humble. Like he doesn’t get how cute he is.”

  “I could say the same thing about you.”

  “Me?”

  “You don’t get how… hmm, cute is not the word for you. Delectable. That’s it.”

  “Stop.” Tyrone chuckled.

  Jerry shrugged. “Just sayin’. So, where were we?”

  “Arlo. He’s a great guy and deserves a break after what Jake put him through—cheated on him at the end instead of saying he wanted an open relationship.”

  “Tragic. But I still don’t see why you want to rope me into his sorry situation.”

  Tyrone’s smile lit up his face. “Because you’re da man, Jerry. At least where being a gay sex stallion is concerned.”

  Jerry nearly spit out his drink. “What did you just call me?”

  “You know what. Sex stallion. Own it.”

  The retort on the tip of Jerry’s tongue died in the face of Eric and Will as they arrived at their table, sweaty and still nauseating with the PDA. “Well, hello, lovebirds. Tyrone was just calling me a sex stallion.”

  “Sounds about right.” Eric winked at him and then kissed Will’s cheek. Will beamed. How cute. Jerry was glad for them. In theory.

  “Was that a general observation or somethin’ deeper?” Will drawled.

  Tyrone cracked up. “Oh it was deep, all right.”

  Eric snorted. “Your point is…? Get it? Point?”

  Jerry put his face in his hand. “You’re a bunch of preteens.”

  “My point is, I was prevailing on Jerry’s better nature to take on a project. In fact, here he comes n
ow. He’s Jake’s ex, y’all.” Tyrone hailed Arlo, who approached their table with a shy smile. “Hey, Arlo.”

  “Hi.” Up close Arlo’s attractiveness soared. Yes, he was kind of gawky. But he had lovely brown eyes and that perfect skin that Jerry coveted and could never quite achieve. His jaw was square, and his hands were big, and Jerry’s thoughts strayed to what it would be like to be pinned down by them.

  “These are some of my friends—Will, Eric, and Jerry.”

  “Yeah, hey, man. How’re you doing?” Will raised his hand.

  “Good, Will.”

  Eric looked between them, eyes bright with interest. “You all know each other?”

  “Yeah, we’ve been in econ classes together.”

  “Cool. I’m Eric, Will’s other half.”

  “Half of what?” Jerry muttered. He pasted on a smile. “Jerry. Obviously.”

  Eric rolled his eyes, which Jerry chose to ignore.

  Tyrone put a hand on Arlo’s arm. “Come to Alekos with us, boo. We’re going out for some late-night breakfast.”

  Jerry cocked an eyebrow. “We are?”

  “That sounds awesome,” Eric said. “I’m starving.”

  “As usual,” Will commented drily and then laughed when Eric squeezed him.

  “Okay,” Arlo said. “I’ll have to follow whoever’s driving. I’ve never been there.”

  Ever heard of GPS? Jerry checked the acid remark before he uttered it. It wouldn’t do to squash the poor boy completely, even if Jerry had no intention of becoming his mentor.

  “Awesome.” Tyrone set down his drink. “I’ll go with you and show you the way. There’s something I wanna talk to you about.”

  “Tyrone,” Jerry said warningly. “I haven’t agreed—er, that matter we were discussing is not settled.”

  Tyrone blew a kiss at Jerry and walked off with Arlo. “See y’all there.”

  Jerry clenched his fist and then clenched the other when he realized he’d need to catch a ride with the lovebirds, given he’d guzzled two martinis in quick succession.

  Oh joy, oh rapture.

  JERRY WAS not amused. They were crammed into the only remaining booth at Alekos because the place was hopping despite it being after midnight, and their food orders were taking forever to arrive.

  Tyrone had maneuvered things so Arlo sat between Jerry and him, while Eric and Will occupied the other side, the better to make goo-goo eyes at each other. Charming.

  Arlo sat mostly silent while Tyrone worked overtime to manufacture some conversation among them, and Jerry had no intention of helping out. Any time he so much as looked Arlo’s way, the kid blushed. Tyrone must have told him his plan. Jerry stared at the rest of the fools crowding the coffee shop and then at his nails—he really needed a manicure—while Arlo stole shy glances at him. In a fit more of pique than of charity, Jerry finally addressed an actual question to him.

  “So, what’s your major?”

  That was enough to turn Arlo several shades of red. “Umm, business.”

  God, how boring. Jerry barely managed to keep himself from saying it out loud. “Oh? How interesting,” he drawled and returned his attention to his fingernails.

  “It… it’s because our family has a farm. And it’s gonna be mine to manage one of these days. I figured I could learn some more-modern business techniques than my dad’s used for the last forty years.”

  A farm boy? My Lord. “I suppose.” Jerry uttered a small yawn and then turned to scan the room for any sign of their waiter.

  “Where’s your farm?” Tyrone sounded way more intrigued than Jerry.

  “Lancaster.”

  “Ooo, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Amish country, huh?”

  That drew Eric’s interest from across the table. “Lancaster is cool. We went there on a high school field trip once. The Amish are kind of amazing. Do you know any of them, like personally?”

  “Not really. They keep to themselves.”

  “What kind of farm do you have?” asked Will.

  “A dairy farm.”

  “Cows and all that?” Jerry cooed meanly. “Fascinating.”

  Both Eric and Tyrone frowned at him, and even chill Will raised an eyebrow. Okay, Jerry knew he was pushing it in the rudeness department.

  “I like it.” When Arlo turned eyes on him that were clear and untroubled, Jerry felt a teensy bit ashamed for being a shit. Maybe what Jerry had taken for shyness was really just self-possession. Still, that should prove to Tyrone that the mentorship idea was so not happening. Arlo would never want to listen to Jerry after tonight.

  Their food arrived, thank God, and they busied themselves with eating and slurping down coffee, on Jerry’s part to treat his tipsiness and try to regain his cool, which had been severely tried by his irritation at having to give a fuck about this Arlo person.

  A little later, Arlo said, “I gotta go.”

  “Aw, so soon?” Tyrone asked.

  “Yes, well, I have a Tae Kwon Do class in the morning.”

  “You take Tae Kwon Do? Cool.” Eric raised his coffee cup at him.

  Arlo cleared his throat. “I teach it,” he said modestly. “This class is for age eight and under, and they’re going to run circles around me tomorrow.”

  Will, who had a much keener interest in sports than the rest, leaned forward. “You teach it? That’s rad, man. What belt are you?”

  “I’m a third-degree black belt.” Ignoring the impressed whistles around the table, Arlo turned to Jerry and said, “Excuse me.”

  Jerry tore his attention away from checking out Arlo’s body with new respect. “What?”

  “Can I get out?”

  “Oh. Sure.” Jerry stood to let Arlo out of the booth. He was pretty damn impressed by Arlo’s revelation, but he kept his face neutral as Arlo stepped out beside him. “Nice to meet you.”

  “You too.” Arlo let his eyes rest on Jerry. They were kind, which pissed Jerry off.

  Stop being so nice. I’m still not gonna mentor you. It’s ridiculous you should have any trouble at all attracting guys.

  After Arlo left, Tyrone blew out an exasperated breath. “Why’d ya have to be so mean, boo?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Eric laughed. “Jerry’s mean to everyone at first. Right, Will?”

  “I never noticed,” Will drawled.

  “You wouldn’t.” Eric leaned in for a kiss. “But believe me, he had you down as a boring sports jock.”

  “Hot, though,” Jerry murmured. “That won you points right away. And the fact that you were driving Eric crazy was entertaining.”

  “For you.” Eric glared at Jerry.

  Will put his hand over Eric’s. “Yeah. Eric was driving me crazy too. Blue balls city, man.”

  “Oh my.” Jerry put his chin in his hands and widened his eyes. “I always wondered how y’all managed to beat off with the other one right there. Do tell.”

  Tyrone held up his hand. “Guys, guys, can we have this conversation another time? Y’all need to help me talk Jerry into mentoring Arlo.”

  “Mentoring him in what?” Eric raised laughing eyes to Jerry. “Although I can think of several areas.”

  I miss you. It came out of nowhere. He and Eric had been thick as thieves all through college. Once they sorted out that they weren’t meant to be boyfriends, they’d remained best friends and shared countless late-night conversations in this very restaurant. Most of them this year had been about Eric’s seemingly hopeless crush on Will. But all of that had come to a halt now that Eric and Will were lovers. Not that Will would mind if Eric and Jerry continued their habit of hanging out in Alekos. At least Jerry didn’t think he would. But Will and Eric were currently wrapped up in their own romantic world.

  Jerry shook his head and focused in on what Tyrone was saying.

  “… and since Jake dumped him on his ass after cheating on him, Arlo’s been moping around. We were talking, and he was telling me that he needed some advice about getting out there
. Jake was the only guy he’s ever dated, and he needs help in figuring out the hookup scene.”

  “That guy? Wants to dive into Grindr?” Eric shook his head. “I can’t see it.”

  “Well, that’s what he tells me,” said Tyrone. “And who better to teach him but our Jerry here? Gay stud extraordinaire.”

  “You called me a stallion before. Make up your mind.”

  Will smirked. “Given the look on your face, Jerry, I’d say the odds of you performing this service are nil to none.”

  “Ah, but Jerry owes me, and I’m calling in the favor. Right, boo?”

  “Owes you for what?” Eric asked.

  “For hooking him up with Ted. Too bad they were together for, like, two seconds.”

  Jerry huffed. “I never meant it to be a thing. Although our little affair did have its moments. But still, the answer is no. Think of something else for me to do.”

  “Yeah, Tyrone. No fair assigning Jerry an impossible task.”

  Jerry narrowed his eyes at Eric. “Impossible? I never said that.”

  “Well, I’m saying it. That guy Arlo? You’ll never turn him into a player. He’s a one-man type. I can spot it a mile away.” Eric hugged Will. “This guy’s the same.”

  “True.” Will gave Eric a slow smile. “I’m not complainin’.”

  “You all are truly over the top. But you’re wrong, Eric. I’m sure I could transform Arlo into a player if I put my mind to it.”

  “Wanna bet?”

  Eric’s clear disbelief goaded Jerry into rashness. “Sure. What do you want to bet me?”

  Tyrone clapped his hands. “I knew you’d do it.”

  “Hmm.” Eric tapped his fingers on the table with a thoughtful air. “If you turn Arlo into a player, I’ll do your laundry for a week.”

  “Please. You’d mix the fabrics, turn my whites pink, and shrink my favorite shirt.” Inspiration struck. “How about, if I win, you tear yourself away from Will there and commit to regular late-night Alekos runs with me? Plus one cage dance at Club Risque?”

  “Okay. And if I win, you do my and Will’s laundry for a week, plus make us cool costumes for Pride.”