A Different Side (University Park #4) (11 page)

“How about a beer?” He wasn’t giving up.

I shook my head. “I’m good, really.”

“Alright. I’m going to order me something to eat.” He hooked a thumb behind him toward the counter and scurried away to get in line with Cage and Kyle. I liked Quinton. He was a good guy, and not half bad on the field. We’d been playing together since our freshman year and understood each other’s weaknesses and strengths.

I turned toward Lexi, hoping she didn’t think I was rude for not introducing the guys to her. Part of me didn’t want them to know she was my tutor, and the other part wanted them to think she was with me. Something about that made me smile. I could only imagine what it would really be like to be with her. A guy could dream, right?

“Sorry about that, what were we talking about?”

Her eyes darted around for a second. “Are you from Fort Worth?”

“No.” I interlocked my fingers and rested them on the table. “I’m originally from New Orleans. We moved here after Hurricane Katrina and decided to stay. You?”

She picked at the food in her tray with a chip. “I’m from Dallas. I’ve lived in the metroplex my whole life. Alongside my sister and twin brother.”

My head jutted back. “You’re a twin?”

“Yes. We’re not identical, though.” She shoved the chip in her mouth.

“No, shit.” I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. “I have two younger brothers. One’s in high school and the other one is in middle school.”

“Three boys. Wow! I bet that kept your mom and dad busy.”

For whatever reason, her words slammed in to me like a brick wall. My family was so screwed up; probably nothing like hers. “Yeah, I guess.” I didn’t want to talk about it and doubted she’d want to hear my pathetic story. The front door opened and Macy walked in. She immediately made eye contact with me. “Oh, hell,” I muttered.

She had changed her dark hair with cherry streaks to bleach blonde. A stark contrast from the week before. I lowered my head and wished I had a cap to hide my face, but it was too late. She was making her way toward me.

Shit!

“Trying to hide from me, Raven?” Her voice was rough and heavy and I could only imagine why.

I rolled my eyes. “Marcie, I told you—”

“My name is not Marcie, its Macy.” Her eyes bore into me, as if ready to rip off my head. Why I called her Marcie was beyond me. I definitely couldn’t forget this girl’s name. She hiked up her leg and using her
eff me
heels, drove her foot right into my chest, pinning me to the chair.

What the hell was wrong with this chick?

Before I could push her foot off me, she straddled me. In front of Lexi.
Aw hell no.
She threw her arms around my neck and pulled me close to her. Her huge tits pressed against me and I tried not to look at them, but it was hard as hell because they were staring right at me.

I hated this girl.

Wrapping my hands around her arms, I tried prying them off me, but she only tightened her grip.

“You never called me last night.” She wiggled her ass and made a duck face, trying to entice me with her big, pouty lips. Lips that had been wrapped around too many guys’ dicks. Just the thought of it made me feel sick. It never had before, but all of a sudden, she looked like what I took out to the dumpster weekly.

“Macy, can’t you see I’m busy?” I continued to push her away.

“But you’re never too busy for this.” With her wickedly long black fingernail, she trailed a path down the center of my chest as she rubbed her crotch against my dick. As much as I didn’t want her to turn me on, she was. The girl was a freakin’ beast in bed. A scary beast.

I chuckled and shook my head. “You’re too much for
The Raven,
you know that.”

Her moan turned into a giggle as she pressed harder against me. She was totally getting off on me. “Call me later tonight?” She ran her tongue along her lips and I had to look away. Why the hell did I keep hookin’ up with this hoe?

I placed my hands around her waist and lifted her off me. “I don’t know. I have a paper to write.”

“Yeah, right.” Macy tossed her long hair over her shoulder and then crossed her arms. “Since when did you write your own papers?”

“Since a few weeks ago. Now, will you please leave us alone? We have work to do.” I waved her off. The last thing I wanted was for her to say something that would turn off Lexi.

But it was too late. Macy turned in Lexi’s direction, checking her out. Her eyes widened and a smile spread across her narrow face. I’d seen that look before — Macy was bisexual and when she saw a pretty girl, she went after her. “I’d be happy to join you two.”

I had to bite back a laugh. “No, I don’t think so.”

Macy leaned against the table, giving us a clear shot of her cleavage. “Oh, come on. You know how much I love threesomes.”

I wanted to slap the girl. Seriously slap her back to wherever the hell she was from. It was my fault. I should’ve never hooked up with her and her friends.

I laughed, trying to play off her comment. Maybe Lexi would think she was playing around with us. “Well, I don’t know about that. I kind of like having Lexi all to myself.” I shot Lexi a wink, trying to get her to play along with me. Then again, was I really joking? Because I’d sure love to have Lexi all to myself. All of a sudden, I got hard again.

Shit.

“No fair.” Macy batted her eyelashes at me and gave a little shake, still determined to entice me. It almost worked. I fought those inner voices that kept telling me I was a hoe, just like Macy, and Lexi would never consider being with me.

“Sorry, I’m not up for sharing.” I held up my hands in the air.

Macy made bigger duck lips and then sighed.

“Tell you what, why don’t you go play with yourself first. That way, when I call you, you’ll be nice and wet for me, okay?” I smacked her on the ass and she moaned. I wanted to punch myself — again. What the hell was wrong with me? Why did I say that? It was like the words just blurted out on their own. I had to start thinking before I spoke. Otherwise, I’d keep finding myself in these messed up situations.

“Anything for you, baby.” Macy ran her finger down the side of my arm, catching the tail end of my tattoo. My skin broke out in chills and I shuddered. I hated that Macy had that effect on me. I didn’t say anything, just watched as she casually walked away.

“Sorry about that.”

Lexi held up her hands. “It’s okay.” The expression on her face indicated that of shock and a little embarrassment. Was she embarrassed for me or just curious about what Macy said and offered? I wanted to ask her, but was too damn embarrassed. I’d made a fool out of myself and I was sure it wasn’t for the last time.

Would I ever get this right?

∑

Chapter 7

Every human walks around with a certain kind of sadness.

They may not wear it on their sleeves, but it’s there if you look deep.

~Taraji P. Henson

We walked to the library in silence. I honestly didn’t know what to say. Not only was I incredibly ashamed, but I was also the biggest jackass. Why in the hell would I tell Macy to go touch herself? And in front of Lexi? Someone needed to punch me. I shook my head. Josh was right. I knew absolutely nothing about how to build a relationship with a girl. How to get them in bed? No problem. How to be friends with them? Epic failure.

We entered the library and I did a quick scan, making sure Beth wasn’t anywhere around. Last thing I needed was another girl causing problems. Lexi would surely bail on me. Students crammed the first floor, leaving no available tables. Silently, I cheered. I really wanted to sit somewhere secluded with Lexi — away from everything.

“Do you want to try upstairs? The writing center has a meeting room.”

I shrugged. “Okay.” Even though I knew a better place.

I followed her up the stairs, checking behind me to make sure no one I knew saw us. We entered the writing center and Vampire Chick immediately pinned me with her,
I’ll rip your balls out,
warning stare. Poindexter was still working with the hot blonde.

Shit.

“I can ask them when they’ll be finished.” Lexi turned to me, keeping the door slightly ajar.

“Nah, I’ll find us a place.” I took off, searching for a table. There was no way in hell I was going in there with that girl. I thought back for a moment, wondering if I’d hooked up with her, but her face didn’t look familiar. Maybe she knew someone I’d been with or something.

I stopped when I didn’t see Lexi behind me. I turned around and motioned for her to follow. She adjusted her purse and then walked toward me. I led the way to the back of the library where several small desks were located. It wasn’t the best set up, but it would do.

“I never realized there were desks in this corner,” Lexi whispered, leaning into me. Peaches and honey surrounded me and my knees buckled. All I could think about was lowering my mouth to hers and finding out whether she was as sweet as she smelled.

“I know where all the private places are on this campus,” I teased, enticing her just a little.

“Of course you do,” she said. The expression on her face confused me. I didn’t know if she was serious or curious. Time would tell.

I grabbed a nearby chair for her and set it next to mine, positioning it close, but not too close. I sat and took out my laptop, iPad mini, and the blog post I had started writing for the assignment from my backpack.

“That’s what I’ve written so far.” I handed her the paper.

“Okay.” She scanned over it and my stomach tensed. Was it good enough? Had I done okay or screwed up?

“Are these your ideas for your paper?” The tone in her voice hinted toward satisfaction rather than disappointment. Maybe I was getting this after all.

I rested my chin in the palm of my hand and swayed closer to her. “So far.”

She kept her eyes directly on the paper. “The assignment is about
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
by Stephen Crane?”

“Yep. I have to write a few paragraphs about it,” I said in a low voice, as I peered over her shoulder.

“Well, that’s easy.”

“If you’ve read it,” I confessed.

“What?” She spun her head around and we were face to face.

Mere inches separated my lips from hers. I took a hard swallow when her lips started trembling in anticipation for mine. My tongue slid out, ready to entwine with hers. I rolled it across my lips, making it nice and wet. I wanted to kiss her so freakin’ bad. Never had I wanted to kiss a girl this much, but I refused to make the first move. I had to know she was ready to fall in
The Raven’s trap
. If I kissed her and she slapped me for it — game over.

No tutoring.

No friendship.

No chance.

I’d steer clear from that play. I held my position, waiting for her to make the move. Damn, she was sexy. I could think of all the ways I’d worship her body if she let me. Her eyes zeroed in on my lips and I knew I had her. Or, at least…I thought I did. She reeled back quickly.

Damn.

“So, you didn’t read it?”

I shook my head, totally disappointed. I knew I should’ve read the book, but I was also stupid to think she would kiss me.

She pressed her lips together, telling me she’d never allow me to experience them. And I wanted to cry.

“Can I give you some advice?”

“Sure.” Nothing else could disappoint me now.

“Assignments are much easier if you read the material.” She smiled, picked up my iPad, and handed it to me. “I believe you can download it for free from Amazon.”

“But I don’t have time to read it.” I took the tablet from her hand. Reading comics was ten times better than old fiction stories. I was smart enough not to tell her that, though. That would definitely offend her since she was an English major. They were all into the classics, and raved about them.

Hell, not me.

She leaned over and looked at my laptop. It took all my strength not to pull her into my lap. With that skirt on, it would’ve been easy access. I snickered internally at the thoughts ravaging my mind.

“It’s fifteen minutes until seven and it’s a short story. I suggest you get started.” She winked at me and my heart stopped for a second. “Can I give you another secret to successful writing?”

I took a deep breath, restarting my heart. “What’s that?” I rolled my shoulders a few times. That had never happened before. How did Lexi have such an effect on me, when I hadn’t even kissed or had sex with her?

“The more you read, the better you become at writing.” Sincerity rang loudly and I remembered why she was there with me.

To help me.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

A relationship with this girl was next to impossible. I had to get over it and stop fantasizing about her. Lexi Thompson was probably the most unattainable PHU student I had encountered.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s what the other tutor told me.” I turned on my tablet and tapped the Amazon app. I typed in the title of the book and it immediately came up.

“Well, it’s true.” She reached into her purse and took out a tablet with a purple PHU cover. I had signed several of those — apparently they were popular with girls. Would Lexi ask me to sign hers?

“What are you going to do?” I leaned against the wall, getting comfortable while I waited for the book to download.

“I have my own stuff to read for class. Don’t worry about me, you just read that story and then we’ll work on writing that blog. I promise, once you read it, you’ll be able to write about it.”

Lexi was easy to like and it made it that much harder for me.

“Promise?” I smiled.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and I wanted to caress the delicate spot right over her pulse. “Yes. Now, get started.”

I turned my head and focused on the screen. If I didn’t, I knew I might lose all control and show Lexi all the hiding spots in the library — whether Beth was there or not.