Page 11 of Ruthless Passion

"You,” I say, pointing a stern finger at my son, “shower, bed, now." He frowns and stomps his way up the stairs.

"No, you don't, little man. They're annoying and Shannon doesn't play hockey,” Collin says to Jett’s retreating back, “and neither do I, Jo."

"I don't care, Captain Chaos. Don't sleep over at the girl's house or in her dorm room. If she has roommates, they'll all be annoyed by you intruding on their personal space."

He waves me off. "I have a rule to never spend more than two nights in a row or else she'll think I'm her boyfriend or something. I also lost my scholarship for next semester."

"Wait, what? Why?" My eyes widen with shock as my pulse races again.

Collin moves from the hallway of the house into the living room, plopping down on the couch where I see he's already made a plate of food for himself. His nonchalance is grating, but it's his life and his education at stake. Still, I can't help but feel partially responsible as he continues detailing this destructively chaotic day. I'm the reason he's always going to intervene.

"Well, this was kinda my third strike. Did you know that Cal East Tech's Tigers, one of the worst football teams in all of the D3 universities, has the balls to put their best players on the team on a contract with a morality clause? A clause that says if I'm fighting in my team uniform, I forfeit my spot on the team for a semester. I can't play, can't even consider myself on the team, and because I can't play or be considered a player, I no longer qualify for my athletic scholarship."

"For fuck's sake, Collin. You really should take those stupid socks. How much is your tuition?"

"We're looking at around twenty-five without the dorm, and thirty-eight if I stay on campus."

"You can stay in the garage apartment. Did you tell Mom and Dad? Can they help at all?"

He chuckles. "Yup, I spoke to them while waiting for you guys to get back. They're not paying for anything because it's my fault."

"Did you video call them? Mom needs to see your face. Fuck. This is going to eat away at my rainy-day fund. I was going to use that in case I didn't book any gigs this week."

"Chill, Jo. Yes, I video called them. Dad said if I wanted their help, I'd have to sit through an entire semester's worth of his lectures on the perils of delinquency in academia and financial risk management. He said I'm too risky of an investment. Can you believe that?"

"Yes. Yes, I can. Your being here is proof of that."

Collin rolls his eyes. "They invested in you. They let you keep this house after they moved. You got Jett. You get to do whatever you want for work. Even though you got pregnant at fifteen, they still invested in you. I stand up for some girl about to get her face smashed in and simply because I'm in my gear, I'm too risky of an investment."

"I get why you did it. That time when Duke got in my face?" I plop down on the couch beside him.

"I should have been able to stop him." Collin murmurs.

"You were twelve, Collin. He would have done worse to you. Dad straightened him out though. He's been a pain in the ass since, but the most he'll do is yell, or even better, terminate his parental rights."

"My lucky socks?" Collin asks with a smirk and a glance upstairs.

"Yup, happened this morning. I have to meet him at the courthouse tomorrow morning. Right before I head to Luca Brisco Studios to discuss my possible leading role for the next Scream Queen horror flick."

He bumps my shoulder playfully with a smile. "You are definitely worth the investment. Congrats, man."

"Thank you, Captain Chaos. How about we help each other out?" I ask him.

Collin raises an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"I'll call Mom and Dad back and get them to cover half your tuition. I'm supposed to be getting a lump sum payment from Duke with this termination order, so I can use some of that with my savings to pay the mortgage and get you partially paid up. You're going to have to grovel to your coaches and deans to see if they'll let you work off the rest. Don't do anything stupid like take out a loan for it or stay with Shannon. "

"That sounds great, Jo! I knew I could count on you." He hugs me and pulls out his phone, ready to leave.

"Freeze." I beckon him back to the couch with a finger. "This isn't one-sided. You have to do something for me."

"What?" he groans.

"Since you'll be staying here, whenever you're free, if I need you to watch Jett, you have to do it. I already booked one role today, and I'm probably going to take the second one I was offered, too. That means long days and multiple sets. I need all hands-on deck. Especially since Duke's no longer pulling his weight."

"He's such a shit." Collin shifts his eyes upward. "I'll go check on Jett before I head out. I'll be back tomorrow to clean out the garage to make sure that apartment is livable."

He doesn't wait for me to say anything else, darting up the stairs to ensure Jett's actually getting ready for bed. My mind drifts to my conversation with Luca; lucky socks or not, he was right. I'm going to agree to be his leading lady. There are too many things happening pointing me right into the arms of Luca Brisco Studios' sexy owner.

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