by Jenika Snow
“Nice ride.” He wasn’t just thinking about the car. He had an image of her riding him in reverse, his hands on her ass and the cheeks spread wide. Fuck, he was so turned on. After he said something about her ride he immediately noticed a scowl on her face, but she did mutter a thank you. Okay, well clearly her mode of transportation was a sore spot.
“Thanks for walking me to my car.” She smiled again, a genuine one, and Alex realized he really liked it. It wasn’t fake or forced. She wasn’t fake. There were too many girls that hung around the parties he went to that were fake as shit and only trying to get in his pants because he was the quarterback. He snorted at his thoughts, because it sounded dumb as hell for a girl to get in a guy’s pants. Wasn’t it usually the other way around?
“No problem.” Shoving his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, he asked himself what it was about this girl that got under his skin. Yeah, he had gotten turned on by other girls in the past, but this attraction he had to Mary was bordering on intense and fucking crazy. He liked the convenience of a one-night stand, and he sure as hell didn’t think about the chicks after they fucked. But looking at Mary, he knew she wasn’t like any of the girls he normally went after, which also meant she wasn’t easy. It wasn’t like she had some kind of damn tattoo on her forehead stating she was the “hard to get” kind of girl, but she did have this aura around her that screamed she was way too good for him.
Alex could admit that at this point in his life he enjoyed only a few things in life. When he wasn’t spending time with his parents and little sister Kiera, he was playing football, partying, or fucking. Of course there were always those occasional fights that got thrown in there, but that mixed things up a bit, and got rid of a lot of his aggression and energy he had deep inside of him.
He stood there like a douche-bag as she climbed in her car and drove away. He could only imagine what she thought about him, because he was probably thinking the exact same thing: what a fucking weird idiot.
When he was back in the house with the door shut behind him he saw Racer still leaning against the banister.
“What?” Alex all but growled, annoyed with himself and now Racer and his smug-ass smirk.
Racer shook his head and pushed away from the stairs.
“Nothing. I just want to say that if you think you’re going to get an easy piece of ass from Mary, you should just give up right now.”
“Fuck you, Racer.” Alex shook his head, knowing his roommate was right, but not wanting to hear it regardless.
“I ain’t trying to be a cockblock, but Mary is a good girl, and she really doesn’t need the likes of you or me.”
Although he considered Racer a good friend, Alex didn’t miss the subtle warning in his words. He cared about the girl, that was clear, and he also knew the reputation Alex had. He couldn’t get pissed at him for being interested in her.
“I can admit when a girl is too good for me, and she is too good for me.” With that said Alex walked past Racer and headed down the hall to his room where he proceeded to pass out.
Chapter Two
Alex was right. There were a lot of drunks out, but Mary didn’t really expect anything less. This was OSU territory, and it was a Saturday and only midnight. She had to really stay alert or there would be no question that she’d end up hitting an intoxicated pedestrian. Who would have thought she would have literally bumped into Alex Sheppard? They ran in totally different circles, were polar opposites in every way, yet she had stood so close to him they breathed the same air, and she could feel his body heat seeping right into her.
Oh, she had known who he was as soon as she looked into his hazel eyes, saw that they were more green than brown, and forced herself to not act like a hormonal teenager. Okay, so she may only be twenty-one, but being that close to him, smelling that spicy, expensive cologne he wore, and thinking about all the times she saw him but he had clearly not seen her, made her realize she needed to control herself. He was gorgeous and had a hard, muscular body that made her feel wholly feminine, but he was so not her type. For one thing he slept with far too many girls, probably didn’t know half their names, and she considered him a bad boy in the worst kind of way. Just thinking about the time she had seen him coming in from football practice in nothing but a pair of loose fitting shorts had her body heating all over again. He had been sweaty and slightly red from running or tackling perhaps, but his body was hard and defined, corded and tensed, and the tattoo that started on his left bicep and covered his entire back in swirling dark patterns had instantly made her wet.
Then some busty blonde had bounced up to him, her boobs barely restrained in her workout clothes, giggling and muttering things far too quiet for Mary to hear, and that had been the end of that. Alex had wrapped his arm around her waist, and the two of them had disappeared in the locker room. Of course he hadn’t even noticed Mary standing there watching him like a freak, and that was okay because she didn’t need a guy like Alex Sheppard in her life. He was too dangerous and experienced for her, and besides, there was no doubt he would break her heart, whether it was intentional or not. Mary could see herself falling for him easily.
Tutoring on the side had given Mary an opportunity to earn her own money and meet a plethora of interesting individuals. Despite her family being wealthy, Mary wanted to do things by herself, to support herself. She took out student loans to pay for her schooling, and bought her own food and other supplies she needed to survive. When she wasn’t tutoring she worked a few hours on the weekends at a coffee shop right off campus property. She was exhausted the majority of the time, but it was a hell of a lot better than depending on her parents to fund her way.
Her family came from old money, or so her mother liked to call it, and because of that there had always been a stuffy, aristocratic vibe to them and the way they had lived. But then again Mary was adopted, had been with the Trellis family since she was two years old, but had never felt like she really fit in. Her parents, Stephen and Marsha Trellis, had showed her affection when the situation called for it, but Mary never felt the love a daughter felt when around her parents. Her mother and father had always treated her like she was part of their family, but there was no denying Mary was nothing like them. She had felt that way ever since she could remember. Then there was her older sister, Margo, who was the most self-centered person Mary had ever come across.
When they were younger Margo liked to snub Mary, making her feel more like a thorn in her side than her sister. Maybe it was also the fact Mary looked nothing like her family. Where she had dark hair and blue eyes, all of the Trellises had blond hair and green eyes. If looking in the mirror every day hadn’t solidified the fact she was so out of place, hearing Margo’s twelve year old voice tell her she was clearly not a “Golden Trellis” had made it abundantly clear that she would never fit in. Of course, her mother had told her every night that she loved her, and that she was part of their family whenever Mary brought it up. Maybe it was just the years of her questioning her self-worth, Margo’s hurtful words, of the murmurs behind cupped hands whenever she went to a social function that had her feeling that way? The years had gone by though. Margo no longer said those things to her, but there would always be a part of Mary that never felt like she belonged.
She took a left, and then a right until the small single story house she shared with her roommate came into view. She pulled into the driveway right beside Darcy’s faded blue Corolla. Turning off the car and sitting there for a moment. Mary let the sound of the engine cooling fill the interior. The BMW had been a high school graduation gift from her parents, and although she hadn’t really wanted it, and knew them giving it to her had been more due to the fact they wanted to look good, Mary also knew she needed transportation. So, she had smiled and thanked them, but hated every minute driving around in the thing. It made her feel like a fake and fraud, and she wasn’t quite sure why that was. So, Mary made sure to send them payments for the car and insurance, and ignored their complaints when t
hey received her check. It made her feel better knowing she could stand on her own two feet, because there would be a time when her parents wouldn’t be here, and if she was dependent on them where would she be then? Margo took everything their parents gave her, and Mary knew when the time came when her sister was alone, she would drown.
Mary grabbed her purse off the passenger seat, got out of the car, and headed toward the front door. There weren’t any lights on, but then again it was midnight. She normally didn’t tutor this late, but Adam was having a difficult time understanding the dynamics of economics. Mary had a feeling he hadn’t been paying attention either, not when his eyes had been trained on her breasts instead of the textbook.
Oh well, if he didn’t want to focus on what he was paying her for that wasn’t her problem. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, and immediately was assaulted by the loud, sexually explicit sounds of Darcy having sex. Mary rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen for water. Leaning against the counter and bringing the glass to her lips, she turned her head to the side and listened with astonishment as the sound of a headboard banging against the wall resounded in the silence. After only a few seconds of that racket all was quiet again. Mary finished her water, and just as she was about to head to her room a very naked Darcy and her current guest for the evening, Dane she thought his name was, came walking into the kitchen. The lights were still off, but there was enough of a glow from Darcy’s bedroom light that Mary saw everything.
Darcy stopped when she saw Mary standing there, which in turn had the guy slamming into her back.
“Shit, Mary.” Darcy placed a hand over her heart. “You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing creeping around in the dark? Did you just get in?” The nude couple didn’t seem to be the least bit self-conscious over their body parts just hanging out in the open since they moved further into the kitchen. Dane opened the fridge and bent at the waist. Talk about an unattractive picture, even if he did have a nice body. She quickly averted her eyes and looked back at Darcy. Her roommate had started walking over to the fridge, and Mary decided now was a good time to get the hell out of there.
“Just got home from tutoring, and I’m beat. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yeah, all right.”
She quickly headed down the hall to her room, and when the door was firmly shut behind her she breathed out. God, she so needed her own place, but of course she couldn’t afford that on her own, and even if Darcy had a lot of sex, she was good company. There were far too many times she had either walked in on a lot of flesh jiggling around as Darcy screwed her boyfriend of the week, or heard the sound of their almost animalistic sex, or seen enough wieners in her house to give her nightmares. She supposed it was just one of the hazards of having a roommate that liked to get it on … a lot.
Getting undressed and changing into a t-shirt, Mary climbed in bed and closed her eyes. She was tired, but of course the blissful peace of sleep didn’t come right away. Instead the image of Alex Sheppard slammed into her brain. Even now she could swear she smelled Alex. It was a darkly intense aroma that had her heart racing and her toes curling. She was insane, certifiably so, because there was no way anything would ever come between them. Well, maybe a one-night stand, but that wasn’t Mary’s style, and anything long term certainly wasn’t Alex’s calling card.
Oh, who was she kidding to even play with an idea like that? Forcing everything that was Alex out of her head, she made herself relax and finally felt herself drift to sleep.
****
“Sheppard, I want to talk to you.” Coach Marx called out from across the field. Alex tipped his chin in acknowledgment and walked over to the bench to grab one of the towels sitting in a stack on the metal seat. He took off his jersey and equipment and wiped the sweat from his face and chest. Then he tossed the small strip of cloth over his shoulder and headed to where Coach stood talking with a few of his teammates.
“Damn, Sheppard, even hung over like a motherfucker you played like a beast.” Harley, one of the linebackers and a mean asshole on the field, slapped Alex on the back and made his way with the other players to the locker room.
“You wanted to talk to me?” He stopped in front of Coach Marx and breathed out roughly, trying to calm his respirations from the grueling exercises.
“You came to practice hung over again.” It wasn’t a question. Coach didn’t want any of the players to drink, because he said it polluted their bodies and made them sluggish on the field the next day, but he couldn’t stop them from having a good time, and they just had to deal with the shitty feeling the next day. Alex knew in order to succeed in this sport, this career, he needed to kept to a strict regime and diet, but the truth was that as much as Alex loved playing football it obviously wasn’t in his heart if he couldn’t just stop the fucking partying and focus.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Alex didn’t offer any more of an explanation. He respected the hell out of Coach Marx, but even nauseous like a bitch after drinking all night he kicked ass on the field. “I mean, we still played good today.” It hadn’t just been Alex that was hung over. There had been a handful of other players that had dragged their sorry asses out of bed and busted their balls in practice.
Coach ran his hand over his buzzed dark hair. Alex knew something was wrong for him to look almost hesitant. “Listen, I’ve seen that you’re slacking in your studies, and have fallen under the grade point average that is required for you to play with the team.”
Shit.
Alex knew he was slacking in some of his classes, but the last time he checked he was passing them all, at least he thought he was. Clearly he had been wrong. Although this was his fourth and final year at OSU before he could graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Therapy, he had only been thinking about exactly that: this was his final year. He hadn’t even realized he had been fucking up so much that he was now at risk of getting kicked off of the team. “Shit.”
“Listen, this is totally out of my hands. You know the rules the university requires for all players, and the fact you need to keep your grade point average at an optimal level in order to stay on the team.” Coach started pacing in front of him. “Alex, I have to put you on probation until you bring your average up.”
Anger built deep inside of Alex even though this was totally his doing.
“Are you fucking serious?” His voice was raised, but Coach didn’t even blink at his outburst. “You want to put me on probation?” Alex was now the one pacing. Football had been his life for as long as he could remember, and in one fucking semester he had fucked it all up. Yeah, he had read the rules which he had to follow if he wanted to stay on the team, but fuck he hadn’t actually thought this would happen. “How the fuck did this happen?” It was an empty question, more for himself than anything else, but he said it regardless.
“Alex, this isn’t anyone’s doing but yours. You know how strict the University is about this, and it pains me to have to suspend you seeing as you’re one hell of a player, but my hands are tied on this. All I can say is get your average up at midterms, and then when that happens I’ll throw you back in the games. Go talk to the academic advisor and see what you need to do, and maybe get someone to tutor your ass so you can get your grade point average up.” Coach slapped him on the back and walked away, cutting off any further conversation, and not bothering to hide his disappointment. Fuck, he was disappointed in himself.
Well, motherfucking shit.
****
“What time are you coming in?” Mary held her cell phone between her shoulder and ear and adjusted her shoulder bag. She kept her exasperated sigh to herself at hearing Margo’s clipped words. Her sister’s normally snotty attitude was to the nth degree with her upcoming wedding.
“Margo, that’s like a month away.” Her sister didn’t bother hiding her frustrated sigh.
“Listen, I am trying to plan when the bridesmaids are coming, and I need you tell me if you’ll be here any earlier. It isn’t like yo
u have anything else to do that weekend, or any weekend for that matter.” Bitch. “Mom’s having dinner Friday night, so I know you’ll be there, but are you coming up any earlier?”
Mary gritted her teeth, biting back a smart-assed retort. Just one more month of Bridezilla and all of this will be done.
“Why don’t you just tell me when you want me there and I’ll work my schedule around you.” Mary made sure to add a bite to the last part, because frankly she was sick of this high and mighty act that Margo put on. It was like the world would stop rotating if things didn’t go her way, and at twenty-three her older sister should have grown up a little bit.
“I need you at Mom’s no later than nine in the morning on the sixteenth, all right?”
“Yeah.” Margo rattled off a few more things, but by then Mary wasn’t paying attention. “I’m at work, so I got to go.” She hung up before Margo could add another ten things she wanted Mary to do before the wedding and picked up her pace. With her house just a few blocks from the coffee shop she worked at, Mary usually opted to just walk, but only if the weather permitted. As soon as she walked into Just One More Cup, the trendy yet retro styled coffee shop, the scent of coffee beans and freshly baked goods filled her nose. It was going on eight in the morning, and already the interior was packed with college students. The few tables that they had were already filled with people, their books splayed out in front of them, and what was most likely already their second cup of coffee in front of them.
Polly, a newer barista who had only started about two weeks ago, looked frazzled as she wrote down every customer’s order. Mary smiled and headed toward the counter. Polly let out a relieved sigh and stepped aside so Mary could take her place.
