#Nerd (Hashtag #1) (2 page)

Romeo

The sounds of the locker room were always the same. Laughter, catcalls, and men ribbing each other rose above the sound of the showers running in the back. The air was humid from the constant running water, and the scent of sweaty jerseys permeated the room.

Basically, it was home.

I was one of the last ones off the field tonight and most everyone else was already out of their uniform as I walked through the room toward my locker. A couple damp towels snapped me on the ass as I went by, and I promised revenge later.

Laughing, I swung open my locker door and turned just in time to see something fall out and land near my feet.

What the hell?

The sounds of the room faded to the background as I picked up the cream-colored envelope with a black wax seal on the back. My pulse picked up when I recognized the crest in the seal.

Inside was a matching cream-colored card, completely blank on the outside. I lifted the bottom to reveal the inside.

TONIGHT.

That’s all it said. No signature. No other writing. Just one word.

But I knew what it meant.

I grinned and gave a loud whoop. A couple of the guys echoed the sound. Beside me, my teammate and friend Braeden leaned in to look at the card.

“Aww, shit,” he said and slapped me on the back. “You’re in, dude.”

I held up my fist so we could pound it out. “Hells yeah,” I said.

“You know Alpha Omega is like the most exclusive frat on this campus,” he said, reaching into his locker to pull out a T-shirt.

Everybody knew that. It’s one of the reasons I wanted in so bad. I didn’t think it would happen, because last year—my freshman year—I didn’t get in. That had been a bitter pill to swallow because my father and grandfather had both been members.

I never did find out why they never let me in, but obviously, whatever it was didn’t matter now.

This was the opening I needed. From here I knew I could make it in.

“Congrats, man,” Braeden said, slamming his locker door closed.

“Anderson!” Coach yelled from the door of his office. “Get your pansy ass in here!”

The usual
oohs
and
awws
followed me as I walked into the office and Coach slammed the door. “There a problem, Coach?” I asked.

“Your grades suck, Anderson,” he said, blunt.

“It’s only the first month of the semester,” I argued, even though yeah, my grades sucked.

“Last year you were points away from getting kicked off the team.” He leveled me with a harsh stare. “I’ve already spoken to your professors. You’re already headed down the same path this semester.”

I sat in the chair near his desk. “It’s hard to find time to study with all the practicing I do,” I hedged. It wasn’t exactly a lie. I got up early to work out, then fueled up, went to classes, and then had football practice for several hours each day. And some days we had more than one practice.

“I hear you’re rushing Alpha Omega.”

How the hell did he find that out so fast? I’d only just gotten the note.

He looked as if he’d smelled a bad fart. “You’re my star player. I know exactly what you’re up to.”

“I—” I started to make some excuse, but he held up his hand and sighed.

“I get it, Anderson. School sucks. You’re here to play football and chase women.”

I grinned.

“I was your age once. But the hard truth is you can’t play if your grades don’t come up.”

That wiped the smile right off my face. “But, Coach.” I sat forward in my chair, ready to beg. Football was my life.

“Relax,” he intoned. “You’re still on the team. You’re still starting, and I intend to keep it that way.”

I didn’t like the sound of that.

“You now have a personal tutor. You’ll meet in the library every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for two hours after practice.”

“Two hours!” Holy shit, that was brutal.

“I mean it, Anderson. The team needs you. You’re the best player we have, and the dean wants a championship this year.”

I wanted a championship too. It would draw in the NFL scouts. The NFL was my endgame. Hell, it was my
only
game.

“Fine,” I muttered. This was going to suck.

“You start tonight,” Coach added, then pointed at his door for me to get out.

The locker room was emptying out when I opened up my locker again. Braeden sat there with his duffle at his feet, waiting for me. “What’d Coach say?” he asked.

“I have to get a tutor,” I muttered.

Braeden laughed. “Have fun with that,” he said and stood. His laughter drifted behind him as he left.

Fun? Yeah right. Not bloody likely.

By the time I was showered and changed, everyone else was gone. I threw all my gear into my locker and grabbed my backpack, heading for the library. I was starving, and as I walked, I scarfed down a protein bar.

The library wasn’t a place I visited very often, and when I stepped inside, I realized Coach hadn’t even told me the name of my tutor. I looked around for someone who looked like they might be meeting someone else, and my eyes landed on a hot chick sitting near the back. Her blond hair brushed the low cut collar of her top. When she saw me looking, she leaned over a little more and gave me the perfect view of her cleavage.

Nice.

Maybe she was my tutor. Maybe two hours in the library wouldn’t be that bad. I was just about to head over there and ask her if she was waiting for me when I heard some commotion behind me.

A cup of pens and pencils had fallen off a nearby table and some girl was rushing around to pick them up. I couldn’t even see her face because of the mess of dark hair falling around it. She didn’t look very big and was dressed in a baggy sweater that made checking out her body impossible. The way she scrambled around and kept her head down told me she probably spent a lot of time in this place.

I glanced back at the girl with the awesome tits, and she smiled. But when my feet moved, it wasn’t in her direction. Instead, I found myself towering over the pencil girl.

When she saw me, her entire body stilled. I watched as she took in my legs and tilted her head all the way back to stare up at my face.

Tangles of dark hair hid most of her features and covered her shoulders. I wondered if she’d combed it at all this week. Her skin was pale and she was wearing a pair of black-framed glasses that could have been my grandma’s. Her face was clearly makeup free and her pink lips didn’t shimmer with any kind of gloss.

“You need a hand?” I asked. All she was missing was some of that white tape in the center of her glasses.

Her cheeks turned bright pink and sound erupted from between her lips. Poor girl. She was so incredibly awkward. I couldn’t help but laugh at the look on her face. It was almost like she’d never had a conversation with anyone before.

We reached for the pencil by my feet at the same time. Our fingers bumped together, and she jerked back like she’d been shot. She fell backwards onto her butt, and the pencils she’d been gathering spread across the floor again.

Geez, this girl was a disaster.

I picked up everything I could find and straightened to dump them all in the cup. I thought about bending down to help her up, but judging by her reaction when we’d accidentally touched, I figured it wasn’t a good idea. Besides, I had a hot tutor waiting for me.

“Wait.” Her voice was small when she called out behind me. Something about it speared my chest, and I turned.

“I’m your tutor,” she said.

What? No.
There was no way in hell Coach would hire this meek little…
nerd
to tutor me.

Oh yes, he would,
a voice in the back of my head taunted.

“See,” the girl demanded and shoved a crumpled paper at me. It was my schedule and the courses I needed help with. At the top was my name.

“What’d this paper ever do to you?” I teased her.

She scowled. I guess nerds didn’t like to joke around. This was going to be worse than I thought. “Thanks a helluva lot, Coach,” I muttered.

I glanced back at the girl. She was short, didn’t even come to my shoulder. Her hair hid most of her, and what it didn’t, the god-awful sweater she was wearing did. It hung all the way to her knees and was brown, making it look like a sack. She pushed up the glasses on her nose again, her slight fingers poking out from her too-long sleeves.

I guess it could be worse.

She could smell.

“All right, then, Teach,” I said, resolved to my tutoring future, and pointed for her to lead me to her table. “Let’s get this over with.”

If being tutored by her was what I had to do to stay on the team, then that’s exactly what I was going to do.

Rimmel

Romeo had the attention span of a slice of bread.

Which is none at all.

Every time I started to explain something, it’s like not only his eyes glazed over, but his entire body. At one point, I wondered if it were possible for him to be asleep with his eyes open.

And God, he smelled good.

It was a clean scent, like soap, the kind of soap that probably costs five dollars a bar. It was a thick scent, but it wasn’t heavy. Every time he fidgeted in the chair, a cloud of it would waft over me and I would inhale just a little deeper.

The way the ends of his damp hair curled up around the collar of his jacket made it hard to keep my eyes trained on the paper. Clearly, he had just showered. He probably didn’t always smell this good. Most guys were stinky… weren’t they?

Truth was I had no idea. This was the closest I had gotten to a guy since high school, and even then that was limited mostly to the guys who sat around me in class and Nick, my childhood friend.

Nick never smelled like this.

Focus, Rimmel.
I scolded myself. I couldn’t very well criticize him for his lack of attention when I was sitting over here sniffing the air.

“Hey,” I said, tapping my pencil on the notebook in front of us. “You’re supposed to be paying attention.”

Romeo was doing some kind of trick or something with the pen in his right hand, somehow passing it through all his fingers. Back and forth, back and forth.

I snatched it and slapped it on the table. “I think that little trick is using up all your concentration.”

He laughed, his straight white teeth flashing at me. “Sorry.” His tone was sheepish and he leaned forward, placing both his elbows on the table, and looked at the notebook. “I’m listening.”

When he moved, his arm brushed against mine, and I jerked back, feeling my cheeks heat. He gave me an odd look, but I ignored him and focused back on the paper.

“Okay, so for this assignment…” I began.

He interrupted, sliding his chair back from the table. “Hang on a second,” he said, not really looking to see if I was indeed going to hang on.

Romeo started across the room where the girl who fell out of her chair earlier was standing at the exit, her bag slung over her shoulder. She was twirling the end of her long blond hair around her finger and smiling at him coyly.

I rolled my eyes and pushed up my glasses.

Romeo stopped in front of her and slid both hands into the front pockets of his jeans. The action pulled the material tighter across his butt—which was very toned.

I glanced away, embarrassed.

I heard the girl laughing and then a deeper chuckle followed. I sneaked a glance back in their direction in time to see them both walking away, his hand on the small of her back, guiding her around the corner.

Annoyance slammed into me. I thought that girl was leaving. Where were they going anyway? He was supposed to be over here learning!

I thought about packing up my stuff and leaving right then. I could leave him a note on the table with one word on it
:
Lose
r
.

I snorted slightly because the idea was totally amusing. Even so, I wouldn’t do it. He’d get mad and tell his coach. The coach would call the dean, and then my funny revenge note would get me in trouble.

No thank you.

But I wasn’t just going to sit here like a goof and wait.

I’d do my homework. I’d get it all done and then maybe I could stop by the shelter after tutoring for just a few minutes before they locked up for the night. Just the idea of that short visit made this day seem a little less crappy.

Quickly, I pulled out my notebooks and texts. I had an open-book quiz the professor in my history class gave us, so I decided to start with it. After that, I could check out a couple reference books for an English paper I had due in two weeks.

I was halfway done with the quiz when I glanced at Romeo’s books and notebook beside me. His chair was still empty and he had yet to return. I glanced up, blowing some stray hair out of my vision.

What in the world was he doing? We were in a library for crying out loud.

I pushed away from my books and notes to walk around the corner, where Romeo and the girl headed. The row disappeared into the back of the library, deep among the shelves. I trailed through the racks slowly, partially looking for him and eyeing the books at the same time. The deeper into the shelves I went, the more the air was permeated with the scent of old books—a cross between paper and dust.

I liked the fragrance. It smelled liked comfort to me. There was something soothing about being surrounded by books. It also reminded me of my mom and of the fairytales she used to read me when I was a little girl.

I didn’t read fairytales anymore.

I read non-fiction.

A deep, throaty gasp pulled my attention back to the present and halted my steps. I cocked my head to the side and listened, but it didn’t happen again. It came from the right, so I turned the corner to step into another row of books. Clearly, this section of the library wasn’t visited very often.

Even the lighting back here was dimmer than everywhere else in the place.

I heard another low moan followed by a lighter, more feminine sound. My stomach tightened. Those kind of noises didn’t come from reading. Well, at least nothing I ever read made me do that.

I knew I should turn around and go back the way I came, but I didn’t.

The moans came from just on the other side of the aisle I was in. Slowly and carefully, I reached up and pulled a really thick book off the shelf in front of me, right at eye level. My fingers tightened painfully around the spine of the hardback when my eyes landed on them.

It was definitely Romeo and the girl.

He was leaning up against a rack, facing me, but I knew he wouldn’t see me because his head was tilted back and his eyes were closed. One of his hands was splayed out along the shelf beside him. And his other hand…

It was tangled in the blonde’s hair, at the back of her head. She was on her knees before him, and by the rocking motion of her head and the way his hand gripped her scalp, I knew exactly what she was doing.

The bottom fell out of my stomach, and I bit back a gasp.

Oh my gosh! Romeo was totally getting a blow job in the library!

What if someone saw? What if someone heard? Wouldn’t they be embarrassed?

Unable to look away, I peered a little closer. His jaw muscles were clenched tight and his eyes remained closed. His hips jutted out away from the shelf, giving the girl all the access she needed.

She blocked the most intimate part of him, thank goodness, but I could see the ends of his belt and the open portion of his jeans around her.

My face heated as I brazenly watched them. I’d never given anyone a blow job before. He sure looked like he was enjoying it. And the girl, she seemed like she liked it too because she kept making these soft purring sounds.

Romeo groaned and muttered, “Faster…”

The girl did what he wanted and her head started bobbing much faster than before. Romeo brought his other hand to the back of her head and thrust his hips closer. I jerked back, feeling like a complete pervert for watching.

I shoved the book back onto the shelf and turned to flee. I must have miscalculated where the book belonged because I heard it fall to the floor behind me with a thump. I didn’t stop. I kept going.

“What was that?” The girl gasped.

“Nothing.” Romeo’s voice was hoarse. “Don’t stop.”

I barreled out of the rows of books and into the main room of the library like I was being chased by a demon. My heart was beating furiously when I sat down in my chair and stared down at the unfinished work.

I couldn’t make out any of the words. My vision was blurry and I was completely flustered and embarrassed. I took a deep breath.

What kind of guy shows up for his first night of tutoring and then disappears in the back for a blow job?

I couldn’t stay here. I couldn’t tutor him. I’d just have to pray I didn’t get in trouble with the dean.

I packed up my stuff as fast as I could, not taking the time to organize it neatly in order of subject. When that was done, I zipped up the bag and bolted out of the chair. I got maybe three steps when I slammed into something hard and bounced back.

“Whoaa,” Romeo said, reaching out to steady me. His hands were so big they completely covered my shoulders.

Just moments ago, they were holding some girls face to his…
his crotch.

“Where you off to in such a hurry?” he asked.

I jerked away from him and stepped back. “I’m leaving,” I said and lifted my chin.

Why did God have to make all the good-looking guys complete asses?

He frowned, a little crease appearing on his forehead. “We’re done?”

Irritation made me forget about what I just saw. I laughed, sounding like a moose getting hit by a car. “You made it pretty clear you aren’t really into studying.”

He brought his thumb up and swiped at his full lower lip. I wondered if that girl got to kiss him too.

“Hey, I’m sorry.” He actually sounded sincere. “I was just…” He glanced at me, and I raised my eyebrows, waiting for his explanation.

He sighed. “I didn’t ask for a tutor. It was sort of pushed on me.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, the movement making the strap of my book bag fall down my arm, and the bottom of the bag hit me in the leg. I ignored it. “Well, I didn’t sign up for this either.”

His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “Seriously?”

“You think I don’t have better things to do than sit around this place?”

His face turned sheepish. “Well, no.”

I growled a little because his answer was idiotic.

He laughed and reached for my bag, which was starting to cut off the circulation on my lower arm. Before I could tell him no, he slipped his hand under the strap and lifted it off my arm. The relief from the pressure was really nice, so I didn’t stop him from swinging it up over his shoulder.

“So what do they got on you?” he asked, taking my bag back to the table.

“What?” I replied, spinning around to glare at him.

“You know… Why do you have to tutor me?” He sat down and placed my bag right between his legs on the floor.

“The dean said it was a requirement of my scholarship.”

“You have a scholarship?”

Duh.
“Didn’t I just say that?” I snapped. I was immediately contrite, but Romeo grinned.

“Yeah.”

Damn if I didn’t notice the way his blue eyes sparkled when he looked at me.

“Maybe we could try this again?” he asked, turning on the charm.

“You didn’t even ask for my name,” I blurted out.

So much for thinking I was impervious to his charm. Clearly, it made me gullible.

“I guess I didn’t.” He agreed and pulled out the chair beside him for me to sit in. “What’s your name?”

“Rimmel.” I sat. But only because it got me one step closer to my bag.

“Hey, Rimmel.” He started, speaking my name like he’d said it a hundred times before. “I’m—”

“I know who you are, Romeo.”

His lips curved up. “My schedule says Roman.” He pointed at the paper I was given.

“No one calls you that.”
And now I know why,
I silently added. I mean, sure, he was like super popular and great at football, but I hadn’t realized just how far his charm extended until I followed him deep into the bookshelves.

He leaned forward, bringing his face close to mine. “My mother does.”

“Does your mother know what you do in libraries?” I countered. My lips snapped closed, and I ducked my head.
Oh my God, what if he knows I saw?

His warm laugh dusted the air around us. “You mean study?”

He knew damn well I wasn’t talking about studying.

“I have to go.” I started to rise.