Valentine (A Standalone Novel) (Bad Boy Romance Book) (7 page)

Chapter 7

Val

The ice cream the night before had helped,
but sleeping on Amy's couch was another story altogether. I got up early the
next morning and made Lucinda take me back to the sorority house for a quick
shower before class. I half expected the kitchen to be empty when I walked down
the stairs afterward, but everyone in the house was gathered around Katelyn and
Carolyn, who were in a rather nasty screaming match.

"You're a slut and a disgrace to the
Gammas. We should out your ass right now." Katelyn poked her finger into
Carolyn's chest and pushed.

"What I do with my private life is
none of your concern." Carolyn swatted Katelyn's hand away from her as she
glared at all the girls around in the circle. "It's nobody's business.
Paul and I have been in love for a long time."

"Then why was he with me?" Some
part of me wanted to keep silent, but I wasn't doing anyone any favors by
having Katelyn fight my battles for me. Besides, I was more than capable of
doing it myself.

"Good question." Katelyn moved
toward me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "We should out Carolyn and
have Val take her place. You guys know as well as I do that if she'd wanted any
of our men, she'd have done the same damn thing. Don't think you're immune to
that viper."

"Shut up. I'm not sitting here
listening to this. I'm the president of this sorority and my personal life has
nothing to do with me running this place. It's thriving, and you've all said so
yourselves." She was losing her cool, and it was almost fun to watch.
Almost.

I lamented over not being more of a bitch,
but something about feeling free that morning for the first time in a long time
made me want to let things be.

"I'm outta here. Paul's as much at
fault as you are, and honestly, you deserve each other. Neither of you gives
two shits about anyone but yourself. I'll be running for your spot in May when
your term is up." I shrugged and moved through the crowd of Gammas to the
fridge.

"You'll get it, too," one of the
other girls spoke up, and within minutes, they were all sharing their feelings
about Carolyn's actions. How she thought that she could stab one of her own and
get away with it was almost humorous. I walked toward the front door, turning
only as Katelyn called to me.

"You need a ride?" She moved up
beside me. Her cheeks were slightly pink, which only seemed to make her prettier.

"Yeah. Can you take me by my car
after lunch today? I'm going to walk to campus this morning. I need some
exercise." I pulled my jacket tighter and let my eyes take in the beauty
of the freshly fallen slow.

"You're not walking in this. It's
fucking freezing out here." She wrapped her arms around herself and let
out a funny sound.

"It's not that cold, and I've lived
here all my life. I'm somewhat used to it by now." I laughed and made a
left turn. "I'll see you at Barney's Cafe at noon. That good?"

"Suit yourself, crazy girl. First
letting Carolyn off the hook and now this? We might need to check your head.
You didn't fall down the stairs at the party last night, right?"

"Nope. Just feeling good today."
I shrugged, but didn't turn back to look at her. I was feeling good. Really
good.

It had to be the fact that I was going to
take the car over to Tate's garage later that day. He hadn't stopped playing
along my mind all night. I'd been a bitch and he'd been a perfect gentleman.
Funnily enough, our looks alone said that the opposite response should have
been true for both of us.

I wanted to know his story. Why was he so
calm and assured of himself, yet driving a motorcycle in the snow? The tattered
edges of his leather jacket left me to guess that he was either poor or really
loved his coat. It had been worn to death and couldn't be enough to keep him
warm.

I pulled out my phone and called the
number on his business card, checking to make sure it was in fact an auto
repair shop. It was, and nervousness pumped through me over the idea of seeing
him again later that day.

"Hey." A handsome guy held the
door for me as I jogged up the stairs and entered the business building.

"Kade, right?" I walked into the
warmth of the building and tugged my scarf from my neck as I turned to focus on
him.

He pulled off the black beanie he wore and
gave me a warm smile. "Yeah. You remember. I must have made quite an
impression."

I rewarded him with a chuckle before
starting down the hall to my business law class. He was cute and entertaining
myself from time to time with him seemed almost like a good idea, but I
couldn't shake the idea that someone was coming, heading my way.

"You treated my friend Amy well. I'm
thinking that's worth remembering. At least, for me." I opened the door to
Dr. Griffith's class. "This is me. Have a good day."

"It's me, too. I'm the TA for this
class this semester." He smirked and moved in behind me. "Make sure
you talk good about me in here. Everyone needs a spotter."

"A spotter?" I gave him a
confused look to match the emotion swimming around in my chest.

"Yeah, you make sure the weight
doesn't fall on my throat and take me out. The girls are vicious in here.
They're going to be lawyers. Well, most of them hope to be." He winked at
me and walked to the front, leaving me to stare after him like I wanted more of
his time, which I didn't.

I found a seat in the middle of the room,
not wanting to look too much like a slacker by taking the back row. The class
filled up, and Kade worked beside Dr. Griffith to go over the basics of
business law. I thought I would have to work to keep my eyes open, but the
subject was actually riveting – exciting.

"All right. Make sure you study for
the quiz on Wednesday and start looking for a partner for your midterm
projects. One of you will have to work with Kade here seeing that there are an
uneven number of you." Dr. Griffith started to pack his bag as hands shot
up around the room.

I rolled my eyes, grabbed my bag, and
walked to the door.

When I noticed Paul was waiting outside in
the hall for me, I considered turning back and going into the classroom to
search for another exit. The last thing I needed was to talk with the cheating
bastard that had left me feeling inadequate.

"Val, wait." He moved toward me,
and I couldn't help but notice the way the other girls looked at him.

Good.
Have him.

"I have nothing to say to you."
I pulled my bag onto my shoulder and turned, bumping into someone who had moved
up behind me.

Kade wrapped an arm around my shoulders and
extended his hand to Paul. "Hey, I hear you fucked up with this pretty
girl. Your loss. My gain."

I wrapped an arm around Kade's back, and
we walked down the hall to the exit door.

"Thank you," I whispered and
released him before moving out into the freezing cold. "I owe you
one."

"Naw, we're good. You deserve someone
better than him." He shrugged.

"Like you?" I gave him a cocky
grin as I walked backward away from him.

"Me? Hell, no. I'm way worse than
him. There's some good guys out there, though. We need to find you one."
He winked at me,
waved ,and
turned, walking away as I
watched him.

Feast
or famine.

*

"Sooo...you doing okay?" Katelyn
glanced over at me as we drove to my car.

"Yeah, I'm actually okay. It's still
a little hard to swallow that Carolyn would sink that low, but it's just who
she is. I don't mean to sound like a charity case, but it's not like I could
keep a guy like Paul happy. He's like my mother – I'd never be able to measure
up. I'm not Allison." I shrugged and glanced out of the window. I sounded
hurt by everything, and to some degree I was, but I wasn't nearly as beat down
by it as everyone would expect me to be.

"You're right."

I glanced over at her and snorted. "I
am?"

"Yep. You're not Allison. You're you,
and I for one am damn glad that you are you. You're funny and smart, athletic
and giving. You have a great sense of humility and you care about other people.
It's refreshing. You're just hanging around the wrong people."

"You especially, right?" I poked
at her as she swatted at me.

"You know what I mean." She switched
on
the defrost
and turned the windshield wipers on
high. "Where is the car again? It's snowing so damn bad that I can barely
see the road."

"Just up here." I squinted and
leaned forward as my dark blue car caught my eye. "There. Pull over in
front of it. I just need to see if it will start. If not, I'll call a tow
truck."

She nodded and pulled in front of my car.
"I'll wait here unless you want me to come with you."

"No, I know you hate the cold."
I gave her a smile before getting out and jogging back to my car. It was beyond
freezing inside it, but I was bundled up properly. I'd survive.

I put the key in the ignition and much to
my surprise, the car started. I texted Katelyn that I was good to go, but she
wasn't going to leave me there.

She followed me all the way to Tate's
garage and rolled down her window as I got out of my car.

"This the place with the hot biker
guy that Lucinda said you were talking about last night?" She lifted her
eyebrows and smirked.

"I sure hope so. Seeing him again
would make my day – or better yet, my week." I tucked my keys into my
purse and waved at her. "I'll see you in a little while."

"Okay. Call if you need me to come
get you, and if biker-boy has a friend, don't forget Lucinda. She needs a good
lay." The sound of her laughter left my lips turning up into a smile. She
was a good friend, but all of my close friends were. Where my family treated me
like shit, all three of my girlfriends made up for it.

I walked up to the run-down garage and
opened the door to a small office. A friendly redhead glanced up before
standing and smiling.

"Hi, hun. What can I do for
you?"

"Hi, I had the beginnings of a flat
tire last night, and one of your mechanics stopped and helped me. His name was
Tate. He's not here by chance, is he?" I slipped my hands into my jacket
pockets, feeling nervous all over again.

"Of course. You called earlier,
right?" She turned as an older man walked from the back room.

"Yes, I did." I glanced around
as butterflies started to dance in my stomach. It was silly and made no sense
at all, but I couldn't help it. I'd started to build this sexy stranger into
some kind of hero that was going to come sweep me off my feet. It wasn't fair
to him or me. He was a friendly guy who worked on cars. Nothing more.

Except
that he's incredibly hot.

"Jerry, go grab Tate for me," the
woman said to the older man as I walked to the waiting room, which consisted of
two chairs and a small table overflowing with magazines.

"Can I get you a drink or something,
miss?" she asked.

"No, thank you. I'm good." I sat
down and pulled out my phone, flipping through my messages before checking my
e-mail. There was nothing new, but there never was. My life was simple and as
uncomplicated as I could get it outside of family drama.

Not dating Paul was just going to make
things easier for me. I could get back to hanging out with my girlfriends and
reading good books. No more dates where we did something Paul loved to do and I
had to pretend to be interested. Just back to being me.

"Hi, there. I almost thought you'd
fixed the tire yourself." Tate's voice was deep and a little scratchy. The
sound of it drove a tendril of desire through me.

I glanced up casually and shrugged.
"It's not every day a girl gets the offer for a free tire."

"I said I'd give you the work for
free. You're on your own paying for the tire." He slid his hands into the
pockets of his jeans, drawing my attention to the long line of his body.

"This is true." I jerked my eyes
back up to focus on his face and the fluttering in my stomach only intensified.

His warm brown eyes moved around my face,
as if working to uncover something about me I wasn't willing to share.

"Let me get the car back there, and
we'll get started on it. You wanna learn how to change a tire?" His lip
lifted in a sexy smirk.

I almost missed the five o'clock shadow
that wasn't there anymore.

"Not in the slightest." I lifted
my eyebrow at him. "That's what I'm paying you to do, right?"

He extended his hand. "Give me the
keys, hottie-tottie, and let's get this date started."

I handed him the keys and almost wished
I'd put on makeup that morning. He was too cute not to work to impress, but
then again, I wasn't quite sure what guys like him liked in a woman. Probably
someone in leather and willing to play with chains and whips in the bedroom.
The thought didn't disturb me, which
very
much
disturbed me.