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.