by Carly White
Claus shrugged like he didn’t care, but he did. Carl knew he did and though it was clear what side he was supposed to be on, there was no way for him to deny the pity he felt for the young boy. If he had been in the same situation, Carl didn’t suppose he would do any better with it.
“I’m serious Claus. Get your grades up and come to play on Thursday. We need you to be present so we can make a real go of the championship. Everyone wants a ring, but we need our enforcer.”
“I will try coach.”
“Sorry I said something to Mrs. Wilkinson, but I knew that she would get the message to you. She always was a softy.”
“How is she?”
Carl stopped and sighed as he sat down again. “Do you really want to know?”
Claus shook his head. “She is good Claus. Ashley is moving on and you need to do that same. I know it is hard now, but one day, it will just be another part of your past. Soon you will be a big time star Claus and you deserve it. I love my daughter, but she is not worth losing the dream because of her and her decisions.”
It was the closest he had or ever would come to admitting her guilt in what she did, but it was enough Claus stood up and though he was feeling emotional, he didn’t show it. He had learned to hold it all in, channel it to something else.
“Thanks for the talk coach. I will be ready to play Thursday.”
“And less time in the penalty box?”
“I will only fight if I am provoked.”
“I guess I will take what I can get.”
Claus left feeling slightly better, but there was still a lot of work to be done. He had not been making the best decisions and even though he was mad at the coach, he knew that what he said was true. Acting out wasn’t going to change anything or make it any better. He had to get it together and make it work.
Chapter 3
As Claus made his way to the Student Services office, he ran into Denise. He groaned inwardly as she spotted him and called out from across the street. She was excited to see him and practically jumped into his arms when she made her way to him. “I have been looking everywhere for you Claus.”
“Well I am kind of busy Denise. Did you need something?”
She leaned in and whispered some naughty things she would like to do to him in his ear. Claus shivered, but had to remind himself that he had more important things to think of. “I can’t Denise. I have to make up some work and I need some help.”
“What class?”
Claus smiled at her, like she would ever be able to help. “Business Law.”
She smiled back and kissed him again. “I have a cousin that goes to Jefferson that can help you. She won’t charge you like they do in the SS building.”
Claus wasn’t trying to be mean, but if her cousin was anything like her, it wouldn’t do any good. “I don’t think that your cousin is going to be able to help, she doesn’t even go here.”
“No, but she is pre-law and she owes me a favor. So it will be fine.”
He liked the idea of free, having spent all of his stipend on too many parties and not enough put back for a rainy day. Claus didn’t want to have to ask his parents for any more money, so he took her up on her offer. Denise came in handy sometimes. The only downside would be that he would have to keep her around for a little while longer. “I will see you later Denise. Give me a call when you have heard from her. I need to go study because I have a month’s worth of work to do.”
She pouted. “I was hoping that we would get to spend some time together. Last night you were too tired and I was hoping…”
Her hands had gpne to his hard chest to trace the lines, but he grabbed her hand and stopped her movement. It was easy to get sidetracked from her touch. She was just so good at it. “Not tonight. Let me get this class fixed up first and you call your cousin and then I will make you cum into you pass out.”
She shivered and smiled up at him. He had done it before. It was the whole reason Denise stayed. While he may have thought her ignorant, she was not blind. He used her for his pleasure and she stayed, not because she was in love with him, but because Claus gave her more pleasure than anyone else ever had. There was no way that she was ready to walk away from that, knowing that the sex would never get any better than him.
“Fine, but I don’t know what her schedule is like. She is doubling up on classes lately to graduate sooner. She is one of those go-getter types, so I am sure she will find a way to fit you in.”
“She sounds lovely.” Claus could already see her in his mind, mousy, dumpy and no doubt glasses that she looked down her nose at everyone else with. “Just give me a call when you have talked to her. I am going to go work out and try to get my mind right before I start studying.”
Denise went to her tiptoes and kissed him on his lips. He grabbed her up and pulled her against him for just a moment before releasing her with a sound coming from her telling him of her disappointment. “Are you sure you don’t have time for a quickie? My house is just around the block.”
He wanted to for a moment, but then he would be ruined for the rest of the day and he was going to have to eventually let her know that he was not that into her. She never spoke of love, but she looked at him in a way that told him she cared more than he did. Once the balance was off, it never lasted. If only he could keep it together long enough to get some free help from her cousin, it was all he could ask for. Claus was nothing if not practical, even though he sometimes lost his cool and did something stupid.
It didn’t take long for Denise to come through for him. He was still working out when she rang him back. The cousin was busy, but could squeeze him in that day if he could get over to her place in the next half an hour. Claus didn’t like to be on someone else’s time, but he would do what he must. He was hoping that she would be easy to talk into helping him with the actual work. Ugly chicks were easier to convince and from the way Denise described Anai, she wasn’t going to be a stunner.
***
Fifteen minutes later he was pulling up to a townhouse on the other side of town, the door opening in front of him and as he swallowed hard, he realized that he was so wrong. She wasn’t ugly and he almost blushed to himself that he had thought she would be dumpy.
Anai moved back to let him in, her clear blue eyes matching the Nordic traits in her hair and cheekbones. There was a faint resemblance to Denise, but not much. Anai was tall and slim. She smiled up at him, but didn’t have near as far to look. “Claus?”
“Yes, you must be Anai. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”
“Anything for Denise. She must really like you if she was calling in a favor for you. Have you two been dating long?”
Claus didn’t want her thinking they were, but she certainly couldn’t tell Anai that he was using her cousin for sex. He just kind of gave her a noncommittal answer and she nodded. “Ah, so the dumb jock of few words. How cliché. So what can I help you with?”
He did not like the snark, but he didn’t blame her. He finally realized that he was staring at her like an idiot. What else was she supposed to think? So he told her what he needed and how far behind he was. She stopped listening after a time and got up to get something to drink. They were at her table and he looked around the neat place and saw that she did have a cat. At least that part of his theory had been true.
“Do you live here by yourself?”
She nodded and walked back in with something for him. When he took a drink, he grimaced. It was just tea and he had been hoping for something stronger. Claus was out of his element with the blonde bombshell.
“Do you have something stronger?”
“I do, but not for you and not tonight. You have to get some work done and getting wasted isn’t going to help. By the look of you, it would seem that a good night sleep is well in order.”
He didn’t like her assumption, but then he remembered what it would be like to ask for the money. He could deal with a little smart-mouth if he didn’t have to ask for money for a tutor.
After he agreed and just went with it, the evening went by quickly and though she was no nicer to him than when it started, he was finding that he liked her honest answers and even the hint of sarcasm made it easier to digest. She was like Jeff in the way that she didn’t lie to him or sugar-coat anything. Anai just told him how it was.
With her help and several hours of work, Claus had completed almost half of the month before and was ready to turn it in. He couldn’t believe how quickly it had all came to him. Anai had phonetic tricks to remember all of the case law involved and it helped him to see that it wasn’t so hard to remember. When she finally told him it was time to stop for the evening, he was still sitting there, wanting to stay for a little longer.
“Well I guess you aren’t such a dumb jock after all.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“It’s as close to a compliment as you are going to get. Do you think you can handle the rest of it on your own or do you still need help to finish what’s left over?”
He could do it on his own. In the beginning he could have, but her help had been invaluable and he had the strange want to see her again. It wasn’t like with most women, where they started to get on his nerves and he only liked them as long as they were kept busy. With Anai it was different. He wanted to be around her, talk to her, get to know her and the less she gave, the more he wanted. Claus had always thought that he wanted a quiet woman, one who knew her place, but now he knew that it wasn’t that way at all. He wanted a woman that he could look to as an equal.
“I was hoping that you had some free time to help me again Anai. You make everything so much easier to understand.” It didn’t hurt that when he was right, she smiled back at him in a way that made it hard to breathe. Pleasing her was enough of a reason to try and Claus hadn’t had that in a long time.
“Let me see what I have going on next week.”
“What about this week?”
“Too busy, but I think I have a couple of hours Tuesday.”
“What about this weekend?”
“Well I have a date Saturday and a family thing Sunday. I will let you know if I can do it any sooner, but it looks like Tuesday.”
“Okay, great, I will see you then.”
“Okay.” She was giving him that strange look again and he was sure that he was smiling like an idiot again. Why did he feel so out of sorts with her around? He leaned in, about to kiss her before he remembered himself.
“I’ll see you Tuesday. If you find yourself without plans Saturday, you should give me a call. I would love to see you again.”
He walked out with a lightness that he hadn’t felt in a long time. When Denise called later, he ignored the call and instead went home. It was the first time he had gone without a drink in months and he slept better than he had since then. Anai was changing him and she didn’t even know it, didn’t even mean to.
Chapter 4
“I called you a bunch of times last night Claus. Why didn’t you call me back?”
He had barely opened his eyes before the calls had started again. It was becoming clear to him that he had to somehow end things with Denise, but in such a way that Anai wouldn’t hate him for it. It was tricky when it came to family, having learned his lesson with a pair of sisters when he was in high school. Claus just had to give her a reason not to want to be with him or someone else to gravitate towards. His mind went to his friend Jeff.
“I’m sorry. I was up most of the night studying with your cousin. I was just too tired to do anything last night. We could get together after class. Jeff wanted to get some lunch. You remember him, don’t you?”
There was a silence on the other end of the phone. “Yeah I remember him.”
She didn’t seem to fond to hear that he would be there and Claus wanted to know why she felt that way. Jeff was a good looking man and never seemed to have trouble getting the ladies. He didn’t keep them very long, but the man was known for his wily ways and the way women seemed to want to do anything he asked of them.
“You don’t like Jeff?”
“No, I do, he was nice every time I met him. I was just hoping that we would have some time alone. You made promises Claus that I want you to keep.”
He chuckled. “How can I not. It may not be this evening, but soon Denise. Besides, Jeff just had a bad break-up, his girlfriend cheated and I know that you would want to help cheer him up.”
Claus left it at that and when he hung up, he sighed to himself. Now he just had to tell Jeff that he was saddened by a break up and for him to take her off of his hands. If she fell for his friend, that would leave him in the clear to go after the cousin. He doubted it would be easy, but he had to try or regret not trying the rest of his days. Women like Anai didn’t come around that often and he wasn’t going to miss the chance to have something more.
***
“Anai. I don’t know what to say, but you are always so busy and it just happened.”
She was looking over at him with disbelief and then down at the hands in her lap. Anai was dressed up for the evening, excited that Jeremy had called out of the blue to go out. They were both so busy that him finding an evening off was very unusual. But now she was realizing that it wasn’t a date at all they were on. He had taken her to a public place so she wouldn’t cause a scene when he broke up with her. It wasn’t like her to make a scene anyways. Her inside was breaking, but she just looked at him with a fake smile and sad eyes.
“So what just happened?”
“I’ve met someone else.”
“Who?” As soon as she asked, she knew that she didn’t want to know. It was just something that was asked when a person found out there lover was with someone else. Anai’s eyes closed as he told her. She hadn’t needed to know that it was one of the girls that was interning at his father’s company. She didn’t need to know her name or how long it had been going on, but the words were coming out like word vomit and she didn’t seem tp have a choice. He was almost like he wanted to tell her for his own sense of guilt to be gone.
“Well you could have just told me this at the apartment or over the phone. You didn’t have to take me in public so I wouldn’t start crying and carrying on.”
“It wasn’t because of that. You just looked so beautiful in that dress. You know how I love you in red Anai.”
She finally met his gaze again, unable to control her artic depths as much as she controlled her face. “That is why I wore it. I thought it was nice that you called, since you were the one always busy. But I won’t argue with you Jeremy, it’s not my style. I will wish you well.”
Anai stood up and picked up her clutch. She had been called the ice queen before, her lack of emotion hard to master, but in that moment she left to not lose it, not cause a scene. Things had been going well with him. The two of them were so well matched. Both from good families and interested in law, it had seemed like the perfect situation. But now she knew how wrong she was and her little world was crashing down around her.
As she walked away, she held her head high, but like everything else, it was just a front to get her back to her townhouse so she could cry. It was always the same and though she would have thought he was the one for her, it appeared he wasn’t. They had been going out for about a year and though they were long past the lovey dovey stage of the relationship, the worst part was that she had thought everything was going okay. They were both busy, but had found time to be together. Though that time didn’t seem to be enough and he had found his affections with someone else.
Anai didn’t know who to talk to about it, but she found herself calling Denise. She had just gotten out of a bad relationship and when she found out that they were going out, Anai decided to tag along. She was already dressed and it seemed a better option than sitting around and moping by herself at her place.
Denise told her that she would swing by and pick her up. There was going to be other people there, but Denise didn’t tell her who. Anai didn’t care, as long as it wasn’t Jeremy or the faceless int
ern that had taken her place.
When she picked her up and Anai saw a couple men in the back, it was hard not to notice that one of the jocks was the one she had seen a couple of days before. His dark eyes met hers for a moment and then she introduced herself to the dark-haired one sitting next to him. If Anai didn’t know any better, she would have thought that it was a double date, one that she hadn’t known about.
“So where are we going?”
Denise shrugged and looked back at Claus. It was clear who ran everything and she waited for him to answer her. “Where ever you ladies want to go. I owe Denise a night out, so you guys can choose.”
“Goody.” Denise’s eyes caught his in the rearview mirror and she wasn’t going to say what she wanted to do. She wanted what was promised, orgasms till she passed out, but there were other people with them and it couldn’t happen right then. “I was hoping to get a bite to eat, maybe some dancing.”
Anai agreed. She was dressed for something to happen and though she was surprised that Claus was going along with it, Anai liked the idea of dancing with him. He wasn’t to be hers, she knew that, but there was something to be said about a man that took what he wanted. Claus was the complete opposite of Jeremy and even though he was there with her cousin, it was Claus that got her attention as Denise drove to the restaurant.
Chapter 5
“I thought you were busy?”
“I thought I was too, but plans change.”
“Are you free for Saturday now?”
She looked over at her friend dancing with Jeff. “I thought you were with my cousin?”
“Well she seems to have a fancy for Jeff now. Who am I to stand in their way?”
“You don’t seem so upset about it.”
“When life closes a door, it opens a window.”
“Ah and in this metaphor, who is the window?”
He looked at her for a moment and then she finally looked away slightly pink cheeked. Anai was on her third drink and she tried to blame the warmth spreading over her to the alcohol, but it wasn’t the alcohol but the man doing it. Denise had been dancing with Jeff for several songs now and as she forgot about them, the two left sitting at the table got to make eyes at each other.
