by Amber Heart
He honestly didn’t think that there was anything anyone could say that would help him understand the subject. And he wasn’t anxious to start making a fool of himself again so soon after the meeting with Coach Davis and Professor Porter. He rubbed his hands over his face and leaned forward. It eased the pain in his neck slightly, but it didn’t do anything for his shoulder tension.
“Would you show up so that I can get this over with?” he muttered into his hands.
As if in response to his question he heard someone walk in, shuffling papers and speaking in a cheerful tone that grated on his raw nerves.
“Hi! Sorry that I’m running just a little late today! I’m your tutor, Claire--”
She broke off when she stepped behind the desk and in front of him, her eyes widening and her face going slightly pale.
“Chase?”
It took him a second to put it together, but when he did, he sat up straight in complete shock. Just his luck. His tutor was Logan’s ex-girlfriend, Claire Montgomery.
****
“What are you doing here?” he demanded, finally losing the last vestiges of his temper as looked at her.
This was the girl who had messed Logan up for the entire semester, who’d made him late to practices, who’d taken his attention when it needed to be on the game, the one who’d lied, cheated, and stolen. Who’d threatened suicide attempts just for attention. Who had done her best to ruin his teammate’s life. And he was supposed to spend God only knew how much time a week with her?
“I work here,” she said, sitting down and watching him carefully. “They didn’t tell you who you’d be meeting with, I guess? They didn’t tell me either.”
He snorted. “If they had, I wouldn’t have bothered to show up.”
Claire took a deep breath. “Look, I know this isn’t ideal. But your coach said that you really need help and--”
He crossed his arms, sitting up straight and staring her down. She looked so composed. In contrast to her clean and neat appearance, he was a sweaty, exhausted mess. And he didn’t know why it bugged him that she was seeing him this way. He wanted to do something to shake her up, to break that composure.
“How do I know that you even know what you’re doing?” he demanded.
“We’re all vetted by the university,” Claire said, pointing to a certification on the wall of her cubicle. “Also, I haven’t made less than an A in a math class in my entire time as a student. I got an award for it in high school.” She pointed to another certificate on the opposite wall.
“Well, good for you,” Chase muttered bitterly, feeling that the fact that he’d literally never made an A in a math class while she’d never made less than that was just the icing on the cake.
“I have your schedule here,” she went on, pulling it from the folder she’d put on the desk between them.
He looked it over. Then he looked again, completely shocked. He’d be spending almost as much time with her as he was going to spend on the field. It was going to be like a part time job.
“Are you kidding me?” he demanded.
Claire jumped slightly at his raised voice. “No--”
“This isn’t going to work,” he cut in, making sure that his voice was lower this time. She might be crazy, but it didn’t mean that he wanted to scare her.
She bit her lower lip and took a breath. “This is what Coach Davis wanted. He and Professor Porter are the ones who made the schedule, not me.”
Chase pushed the paper back across the desk. “I don’t care. This is crazy. I’ve got other classes and shit to do for them and football to worry about and I’m not about to spend this many hours a week with you.”
“If you’re not comfortable with me--” she began, her voice trembling slightly.
“I’m not. Not with everything I know about you.”
Her face went from pale to flushed. “Chase--”
He shoved the note from Professor Porter across the desk. “Why don’t you just sign this and get to work on finding me someone else? Maybe someone who can actually help me stay on the team, because I know that you don’t give a damn about it.”
Claire signed the paper without speaking, her face still bright pink. Then she slid it back across the desk without looking at him again. Chase shoved it into his pocket, grabbed his backpack, and stood up. He walked out without speaking again.
He walked past the reception desk, pleased that it was empty. There’d be no one to report that he’d left less than ten minutes into his tutoring session. Unless she did it herself. But he didn’t think she’d say anything. She’d signed the paper without argument.
As he stepped into the bright sunshine he wondered why did it have to be her. And why she had to look like that.
His pace slowed as he remembered her. She and Logan had broken up right after the start of the year, so Chase had only seen her a handful of times. And he’d been busy all of those times, trying to get to know his new team and get settled into the university. And he’d been so screwed up over Maria that he wouldn’t have noticed Miss America at that point.
But Claire...well, she wasn’t Miss America, but he sure as hell hadn’t remembered her looking like that. She was that kind of unusual pretty that probably made people stop and stare. Her long dark hair and pale skin made her look almost otherworldly, especially combined with her big dark eyes. And her body...she was tall for a girl, probably 5’9 or better and she was built lean and lithe, adding to her uncommon beauty.
And he’d been a complete dick to her. Chase turned on the quad, looking back at the student center as a flash of guilt tore through him. Had he seen a shine of tears in those dark brown eyes when he’d stood up? He was almost sure that he had now that he looked back on it. Should he go back? Say that he was sorry?
No. That was crazy. She was probably a consummately skilled liar. She’d certainly convinced Logan to stay with her through countless cheating episodes and other bullshit. At the end of the day, no matter how bad he felt, Chase knew Logan and he didn’t know her. He was pretty sure that he could trust his teammate over Claire Montgomery.
Chapter 3
Claire sat in her cubicle, simply staring at the chair the wide receiver had vacated so abruptly. She remembered him from the beginning of the year, but he hadn’t been anything like she’d thought he’d be. When he’d transferred in, there had been a lot of talk because of his amazing stats. There had been an interview for the student news and she’d read it with interest. He’d been well spoken, verging on slightly shy in the interview. Sort of charming in a way, actually. In other words, nothing like the guy who’d just walked out on her.
Of course, with all the time he’d spent with Logan, she would have been completely shocked if he had liked her. At this point, she would have been amazed if he’d been civil. Which he certainly hadn’t been. Her hands were still trembling and her signature had looked awful. It had been all she could do not to shake visibly in front of him.
“This is nothing new, Claire,” she muttered to herself. A breakdown here in the student center was the last thing she wanted. “Shake it off.”
But with people treating her this way on a daily basis, it was getting harder and harder to do. When her throat tightened and tears threatened, she pushed herself up and headed down the hall to the office. She couldn’t fix most of it, but at least she could take care of one thing. Chase Franklin wouldn’t be her problem after this. She knocked on the supervisor’s door briskly.
“Come in,” Alice called.
“Hi.” Claire moved a stack of files out of one of the chairs and dropped down into it. Alice liked it when her employees got right to the point, so she kept it simple. “I was wondering if I could trade my new student.”
Alice glanced up from her computer and blinked a few times. Then it clicked. “Oh, the football guy?”
Claire felt a smile tug at her lips. Alice was a lot of things, but football fan wasn’t one of them. She might be the only person on campus who didn’t know abou
t the drama surrounding Claire and Logan. Which was probably why Alice was the only person who still liked her.
“Yeah, I’m thinking that my schedule might be getting kind of full, especially with how much help he needs.” When Alice didn’t look swayed by that information, Claire went on. She could afford to be a little honest, but not too much. “And I don’t think he was too impressed with me. He might prefer someone different. Maybe Tony?”
Alice leaned back. “He’s failing trig, right?”
“Yes,” Claire said slowly, afraid that she could see where this was going. “But--”
“But nothing. Tony’s not nearly as good at trig as you are. And apparently this guy is important to the team. He’s the catcher or something.”
This time Claire did smile. “He’s the wide receiver.”
“Look, all I know about the guy is that he’s terrible at math,” Alice said bluntly. “And you’re the best we’ve got. His coach called personally or I’d try to get you off the hook. The best I can do for you right now is take someone else off of your schedule to try to open it up a little.”
Claire nodded, her throat tightening once more as she realized that she was stuck with Chase for the foreseeable future. “Okay, that sounds fine,” she said. She had to get out of there before she lost it. “See you later, Alice.”
Alice had already turned back to her computer, probably looking through Claire’s schedule. “See you,” she said absently.
Claire grabbed her bag and headed out the door, hurrying for her townhouse rental as fast as she could. At least the football player had been her last appointment. She could spend some time catching up on her other assignments with her free time. Or she could cry. She knew which one sounded better at this point.
Her phone rang when she was halfway across the quad. She glanced at the display and contemplated not answering, but it really had been a while since they’d spoken. She tried to inject some life into her voice as she answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Hey there, big sister!”
Kailey’s cheerful voice filled her ear and she felt herself relax just slightly. “Hey there, little sister.”
“What are you doing?” her sister asked.
Claire could hear music playing in the background and knew that 17 year old Kailey was probably sprawled across her bed in the room that she and Claire had shared back home, watching lyric videos on YouTube. It was a nice comfortable mental image and it gave Claire an intense longing for home. Maybe she could transfer back after this semester. Then she could just live at home again. Where she felt safe.
“Claire?”
She took a quick breath, dragging herself back to the conversation. She scrambled around in her mind, trying to remember what Kailey had asked.
“Um, not much,” she said. “I have a new person to tutor.”
“Anybody good?”
“He’s on the football team.” When Kailey went quiet, Claire bit her lip. She wished she hadn’t said anything, but she was still so rattled.
“Is that okay?” Kailey asked softly.
“Of course it is,” Claire said firmly. “Why wouldn’t it be?” She didn’t give Kailey time to answer before she rushed on, desperate to change a subject that she never should have introduced. “Now, enough about me. Tell me what you’ve been up to.”
“Oh...not much.” Kailey’s voice took on the smallest hint of a sing song quality.
Claire slowed down slightly, her eyes narrowing. “Okay, who is she?”
Kailey cleared her throat. “Nobody. I mean, just a girl. We aren’t serious or anything.”
“Whatever. Spill it! Where’d you meet? And what’s her name?”
“Brianna. And she works at the yogurt place. She’s so pretty, Claire.”
“Does this mean I can get free yogurt next time I come home?”
Kailey laughed. “Maybe. I’ll see how much influence I have. And maybe you can meet her when you come home for break. You are still planning on doing that, right?”
“Um...” Claire hadn’t been, actually. It was easy enough to make her parents and sister believe that she was doing okay as long as they communicated through calls, texts, and emails, but if they saw her, they’d know within seconds that something was wrong. Despite the idea she’d had of transferring home, she didn’t want to go back until she knew what she was going to do. And she didn’t want to raise questions or worries.
“Because I’m super excited to see my big sister again,” Kailey said when Claire didn’t speak again.
Claire’s shoulders slumped, but she forced her tone to be cheerful. “I’m excited to see you again too, kiddo.”
As they said their goodbyes, Claire pushed the key into the lock of the small townhouse she shared with three other girls. Girls who used to like her. Thank God it was empty now.
She headed for the kitchen, opening the fridge and digging out a can of french onion dip. She grabbed a bag of chips and a bottle of soda and bolted to her room when she heard voices just outside the door. She locked her bedroom door behind her and then dropped down to her bed. The view from the unmade bed was not inspiring.
Her desk was a cluttered mess of assignments that needed to be done. She hadn’t done laundry in two weeks, and the dirty clothes had overflowed the hamper several days ago. Her trash can was overflowing as well, filled with chip bags and soda bottles and other things she could eat without needing to cook. The kitchen tended to be hostile territory lately. She’d basically been living in this room since everything had gone wrong with Logan.
And it was more than just her room. It was her whole personality. Chase hadn’t done any work but she’d signed his card anyway. She never would have let him get away that six months ago. She hadn’t been such a pushover in the past. Or such a slob.
She frowned at the pile of stuff beside her on the bed. Maybe she’d feel like getting her English grade up if she didn’t live in a pig sty. She put the bag of chips down and started to get up. Maybe she could work past her lack of motivation with sheer determination. Her cell phone buzzed and she checked her texts. They poured in, one after the other.
“You think that you got lucky with another football player, don’t you?”
“Do you actually think he’d want you?”
“Everyone on the team knows that you’re a whore.”
“Don’t even try it with him, he already knows what kind of girl you are.”
Her whole body felt numb. She couldn't look away from the flood of vitriol. It seemed like the texts would never stop, accusation after accusation poured in as she watched in dread.
She was jolted out of her frozen fear when the calls began to come in. Claire threw the phone when Logan’s name flashed onto the display. It landed on the rug by her bed where missed call after missed call and voicemail after voicemail stacked up.
She pulled the covers over her head and as the tears she could no longer hold back slid down her cheeks and soaked her pillow, she closed her eyes, willing Logan to stop calling. Half an hour later, he finally did.
Chapter 4
The next day, Chase eyed his desk critically. It probably wasn't going to get much neater. All he had on the surface of his desk was his laptop, currently closed to prevent distractions, his math book, a notebook and two pencils, a huge eraser because he was a realist, and a calculator. He had even moved the Stetson his uncle had given him onto the bed. He’d heard it was bad luck to put a hat on a bed, but he figured that his luck couldn’t get any worse anyway so he’d taken the chance.
“Okay,” he said, looking at the perfectly organized desk and squaring his shoulders. “If you can run that play then you can do trig. You don't need Sydney, you don't need a hot tutor. You just need to get your shit together.”
Chase forcibly dragged his thoughts away from his memory of Claire. Then he pulled his chair out, cracked his neck, and flipped his book open. He could do this. It was just math. One stupid subject was not going to ruin his chances at hi
s dream career, damn it.
“Can I talk to you?”
He turned to see Logan standing in the doorway. “I’m kinda in the middle of something right now.”
Logan stepped into the room and closed the door anyway. Chase sighed and put his pencil down. Logan might be a great guy, but he didn’t apparently didn’t listen well.
“Are you working on your trig?”
Chase nodded, looking back at the notebook. “I really have to do this, man.”
“Claire isn’t helping you out?”
Chase looked up at the edge in the quarterback’s voice. Logan’s posture was tense and he didn’t look happy. Chase hadn’t mentioned anything about the tutoring session, but apparently news traveled really fast around here.
