“You okay, Tuck?”
I glance over my shoulder to wave off Drake. “Yeah, I’m good.”
Drake is curled up on the couch with Bex’s friend, Taylor. Preston is on the other side of the sectional with Bex in a permanent lip lock. Since when did I sign up to live with a bunch of pussies? Or should I say pussy-whipped assholes?
“You smell like a bar,” Preston says between kissing Bex. “At the Delta Sig house again?”
“For fuck’s sake, not now, Prez,” I counter, ignoring him to climb the stairs to my bedroom.
At the end of the hall, I stop in front of my bedroom and reach up to grab the doorframe, looking at Trent from the entrance. “What’s so important I had to come right home?”
He crosses his arms over his chest, an irritated expression on his face. “Where were you?”
Does it ever end?
“With Romeo and Professor.”
He rolls his eyes at me. “You hang out with those guys too much.”
“Whatever, Dad,” I groan. “Get off my ass.”
“Get in here and close the door. This is important.”
I shoot him a confused look and sit across from my brother on my bed.
“Jemma is pregnant,” he blurts out.
My eyes and mouth widen in shock. “You knocked her up? Get the fuck out of here. Dad’s gonna flip the fuck out.”
“There’s a possibility it could be yours. That’s why I’m telling you.”
No fucking way the baby’s mine.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Is that what she told you?”
“No, she says it’s mine, but the timeline fits either of us.”
“I used a condom.”
“So did I,” he admits. “I’ve never had sex with her without one.”
“Have you considered it’s not yours either then?”
He shakes his head. “It’s one of ours, Tuck. You know as well as I do that Jemma’s not like that.”
I do. She’s not a pass-around girl. We’ve been with plenty of those girls, and Jemma is a good girl.
I lean forward, my head spinning, and rest my elbows on my thighs, covering my mouth with my hands, speaking between my fingers. “I know… but it’s not mine. Are you sure you never fucked her without a condom?”
“No,” Trent says without hesitation, and then his demeanor changes as if he just realized something. “Wait, the first time we had sex, the condom slid off. But I didn’t come inside her. At least I don’t think I did.”
I laugh. “You fucked her that hard?”
He throws a pillow at my head, and I duck.
“Leave it to you to get your girl pregnant the first time you fuck her. What are you gonna do about it?”
He shrugs. “What can I do? If she wants to keep the baby, I have to talk to Dad.”
“I don’t want to be there for that conversation.”
He runs his fingers through his hair, tugging at the ends in frustration. “I wish this was all a dream. That Jemma didn’t just come here to tell me that she’s pregnant. I’m always careful.”
“Not careful enough,” I point out.
I have no idea what to say. I’m too drunk to have a meaningful conversation with anyone. Not like I have any kind of wisdom to impart on him anyway.
We sit in silence for a few moments before I say, “We should go get a drink. I think you could use one.” A drink is about all I’m capable of offering him right now.
“Or ten,” Trent jokes.
I slide off the mattress and stand in front of Trent, my hand extended to him. “C’mon, you need to get drunk.”
Do we celebrate the news? My dad won’t be happy. Trent doesn’t even look happy. He seems more in denial than anything. I’d probably drink myself into oblivion if the roles were reversed. We’re too young to have kids. And now, my brother is going to be a dad. Weird. I’m too drunk to process any of it.
Trent hooks his arm around my shoulders pulling me into a hug, and I hold him tight knowing he needs me. I can feel his body tremble as he sucks in a deep breath. He’s scared. I would be too. I’m afraid for him. I can’t even take care of myself without help, let alone another person.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sam
Eden leans back against the wall scanning the crowded park for a sign of The Queen. “She should have been here by now.” Biting the inside of her cheek, she stands on her tippy toes. “I thought she said two o’clock. She’s always on time.”
I follow her line of sight and shrug. There are too many people passing through Dilworth Park to bother looking for her. “I’m sure she’ll show. We always meet at the side entrance to City Hall.”
The Queen prefers to meet in public places, as do we, and this has been our meeting spot since the beginning of the semester.
“Yeah, but she wears a different disguise every time,” Eden groans. “It’s impossible to spot her in this crowd.”
I pat her on the shoulder to calm her down. “She’s never missed an appointment with us. Maybe she hit traffic. She knows where we’ll be. I wouldn’t sweat it.”
Eden relaxes at my side, rubbing her cold hands together for warmth. It’s freezing outside, the chill in the air leeching into my bones. Both of us feel some form of guilt for handing over information to The Queen. We still don’t know her name or why she wants to know things about the men’s ice hockey team. She’s the most elusive person I’ve ever met, but as long as the checks keep coming, and I’m in good standing with the University, I can’t complain.
Everyone on campus is now obsessed with her blog, Dethroned. They crave each piece of juicy gossip, some of which she learned from Eden and me. Now that I know Tucker better, I feel awful about working with her. But I was desperate for cash, and she has plenty of it. I was only trying to survive when I agreed to help her. Now, I feel like a piece of shit for even meeting with her.
When she approached me at the beginning of the fall semester, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. It was my chance to not only get even with Tucker for the past but also to make paying the bills a little easier. People like Tucker and his friends don’t understand what it’s like to be broke. Most of the kids at Strick U want for nothing. If the roles were reversed, I have no doubt Tucker would do the same. Still, that doesn’t relieve me of my guilt or shame over helping someone as sadistic as The Queen.
Ten minutes later, a girl with blonde hair cropped under her chin approaches Eden and me. Last time she wore a long, red wig. Today, she reminds me of Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman without the hooker costume. She’s wearing dark blue jeans which hug her thin legs and a cranberry colored tunic under an open leather jacket.
“Sorry, I’m late,” she says in a hushed tone. “I had to take care of a few last-minute details.”
Eden forces a smile. “No problem.”
She’s slightly terrified of The Queen. We both are. She’s capable of things neither of us had imagined. We both feel trapped and are afraid she will dig up dirt on us for her blog. I have nothing to hide apart from the fact my father is a degenerate loser. But Eden has a few skeletons in her closet she’d rather keep hidden from the world.
“Have anything new for me?” The Queen presses her lips together, smearing her red lipstick.
She has flawless skin, and from what I can tell, she has light colored eyes under her tinted sunglasses. I still don’t understand why she has so much hatred for Tucker and his teammates. Did they do something awful to her? It’s apparent she has money. From the designer bag on her arm to the look of her clothes, she screams wealth.
And she pays well. Small bits of information go a long way with her. She never fully exposes their secrets either which confuses the hell out of me. If she wanted to ruin their lives, why doesn’t she reveal names and places? Instead, she always spares the girls involved in every incident. Maybe it’s her way of showing compassion.
“I’m tutoring Tucker Kane,” I admit, my teeth chattering from the cold. “He hasn’t done anythi
ng other than hit on me, though.”
The Queen nods, and then her gaze lands on Eden. “How about you? Anything new?”
Eden shakes her head. “No, not this month. Ever since Romeo broke up with me, I haven’t been able to get close to the Delta Sig guys.”
“They’re of no use to me anyway.” She sighs, pinning me down with one look. “You have the perfect opportunity to get closer to them. Take Tucker up on his advances. See how much he’ll tell you.”
My stomach twists into a knot at the thought. I don’t want to hurt him. At first, I wanted to destroy him for disposing of me like trash, but now I can’t do it. I don’t have it in me anymore.
I flash a closed-mouth smile. “I’ll do my best.”
The Queen grins, shoving her hands into her jacket. “Try not to get too close… if you know what I mean. Those guys will eat you up and spit you out before they move on to the next girl. Don’t let Tucker do that to you. I learned my lesson the hard way.”
So, she’s an ex? Or at the very least a woman scorned by one of the guys on the team. Interesting.
“I know what I’m doing,” I promise, though I’m not so sure I do.
The more time I spend with Tucker, the more I like him. He makes it impossible not to feel something for him even if it is only lust.
“Until next time,” The Queen says with a wave, and then she disappears, swallowed up by the throng of people.
“She freaks me out,” Eden says. “Are you sure you can go through with this?”
I cock my head at her. “Like I have a choice.”
She sucks in a deep breath and blows it out, her breath like a mist in the cold air. “You like Tucker, don’t you?”
“Yes, but what can I do? This is a means of survival. Without her money, I’m screwed.”
She shoots me a wary look. “I’m not so sure you can separate business from pleasure anymore.”
I wave off her concern. “I can, and I will. Trust me.”
Eden smiles, this time a real one, but her smile fades when both of our cell phones ding with a new notification. She reaches into her pocket, but I ignore it. I don’t care who’s being dethroned by The Queen today. Staring down at her phone, Eden’s eyes widen in shock.
“What is it?”
“You need to see this.” She shares her phone, holding it out for me to read the latest post.
Dethroned
February Edition
It’s that time of the month again. I know you all missed me. But you know who’s not having her time of the month? The sorostitute the Kane twins knocked up.
Oh, baby, the twins are having a baby! But which one is the daddy? Not even a paternity test will tell…
Tucker and Trent, you have been dethroned. Again.
XO,
The Queen
I cringe at the words on the screen, reading the post several times before my skin burns with anger. She damn well knew when she asked me to get closer to Tucker that he might be the father of this girl’s child.
How am I supposed to look at him with a straight face? I can’t do this.
“It’s probably Trent’s.” Eden hooks her arm through mine as we walk through the park toward the train station. “He’s been hooking up with Jordan’s sister for the last few months.”
“But Tucker was with her, too,” I point out.
“Look at it this way, you only have to keep up this charade until the end of the semester. After graduation, you won’t even remember Tucker Kane.”
I doubt that. Tucker is unforgettable.
“Yeah,” I mutter. “I guess you’re right. What’s a few more months, right?”
She smiles and tightens her grip on my arm, pulling me closer to the street. “That’s the spirit. It will all be over in no time. As long as we do what she asks of us, we have nothing to worry about.”
I hope. Because I’m afraid of what will happen once we’ve outlived our purpose. So, I better make sure I do what I need to do to survive, or I could be next.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tucker
I feel her icy gaze on me, the tension in the air thick. For the last week, everyone on campus has stared at me with judgmental eyes. Sam is no exception. We’ve spoken very little since the latest edition of Dethroned was released. Every time I attempt to explain, Sam cuts me off. She doesn’t care what I have to say.
After I finish with the practice test, I slide it across the table in front of Sam. Her eyes shift to the paper and then meet mine for a second before she steals them away. One look into Sam’s eyes causes my skin to prick with tiny bumps.
She lifts the paper and scans my answers, smirking as she reads.
“Can we talk, Sam?” I reach across the table, hoping she’ll meet me halfway.
She stares down at my hand like I have a disease. “Sure. We can talk about how you didn’t bother to read the material. Even with my help… you’re hopeless, Tucker.” Her cold tone sends a chill down my spine. “You have to take the time to study on your own.”
“I did study,” I admit. It’s the truth.
“Not hard enough, obviously.” She marks the paper with a ton of red ink and shoves it back at me. “You failed, which means you will fail the exam.”
I grab her wrist before she can pull her hand back, and this time she doesn’t fight me. When our eyes meet, she blows out the breath of air she was holding. “You’re mad at me for the wrong reason, and you know it.”
Her eyebrows rise in confusion. “What are you talking about, Tucker?”
“I’m assuming you’ve read Dethroned.” Her expression remains stoic which tells me she did. “Trent is the father, not me.”
“How do you know for sure? You were with her, weren’t you?” Sam pulls away and folds her hands on her lap. “The kid could be yours.”
“I know for a fact it’s not,” I assure her. “I’m not gonna lie to you and tell you I didn’t like Jemma because I did. But Trent’s in love with her. So, I backed off.”
She shakes her head in disapproval. “You both went after the same girl for what reason? For fun? To humiliate her?”
My mouth twists in anger. “Is that really what you think of me? That I’m some pervert who targets women for fun?”
She shrugs. “I have no idea what I think of you. You don’t have the best track record when it comes to respecting women.”
“I love women,” I shoot back.
She chuckles. “And there it is… the same thing all womanizers say about women.”
“I’m not a womanizer,” I growl.
She leans forward, her voice a whisper in the quiet library. “Is that so? Then how come you did the same thing to me that you’ve done to every woman you’ve ever been with? How come you can’t commit to anyone for more than one night?”
“I’m committed to you,” I challenge.
She snorts. “The only reason you’re here right now is to save your ass. This has nothing to do with me and everything to do with you. Because everything is always about you, Tucker. Men like you think the world revolves around you. Do you have any idea what it’s like for the rest of us who live in the real world? Do you even know a thing about me other than I can help you pass this class?”
Her words paralyze me. I’ve never had a woman speak to me this way. The reality of her confession hits me hard, leaving a deep pain in my chest.
“I like you, Samantha, but you’re making it hard for me to get to know you.”
“Because you haven’t tried to know me,” she counters.
“I took you to see the Harry Potter movies.”
“Under false pretenses,” she says, her tone icy. “You lied about being a fan.”
I tug at the ends of my hair in frustration and sigh. “I’m trying, Sam. You’re not completely wrong about me. I don’t do commitments with women. I never even thought about anything more than one night… until you.”
“You had the chance three years ago, Tucker.” She balls her hands into fists on the
table and leans forward. “The only reason you feel differently toward me now is because you need my help.”
“That’s not true.” I dig my elbows into the table meeting her halfway. Our mouths are so close I can feel her breath on my lips. “After you stood me up for tutoring, and I had to find out who you are the hard way, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I still can’t. Maybe I would’ve passed the practice test if you’d stop taking up so much space in my head.” I wink, and she giggles softly.
I brush my lips against hers, and her mouth opens for me, permitting me access. We stay this way for a few seconds, our breathing erratic, the anticipation of the kiss too much to bear.
“I want to believe you, Tucker,” Sam whispers. “Words mean nothing without actions. So, show me.”
Before she can utter another word, my lips crash against hers, my tongue sweeping into her mouth colliding with hers. Her kisses are tentative as if she’s fighting an internal struggle with herself to be with me. Part of her hates me for the past. But not right now, not in this moment. She wants me to show her I have changed, or that I can change for her.
I thread my fingers through her hair to deepen the kiss. She moans in my mouth as she rakes her nails down my neck. And then our moment passes with someone clearing their throat loudly next to our table.
“Break it up,” a woman says, annoyed. “No touching in the library.”
I was so consumed by Sam I didn’t even notice footsteps behind me. Before I look up, I already know I will find the librarian glaring at us.
Just my luck.
After I grab a chicken wrap from the buffet line in the cafeteria, I head over to the table by the window where my teammates are waiting for me.
“About time you showed up,” Drake says with a smirk. “Were you trading sexual favors for grades again?”
My friends and their girlfriends laugh at my expense.
Teaching Tucker (Face-Off Legacy Book 3) Page 11
