Page 140 of Cold as Ice

“Elliott, you might not realize this, but you’re the highest scorer on your team. The second highest scorer in the whole conference. Taking you off the board? That would change everything. And for bookies? That’s power.”

“So she didn’t hate me? Because I was an athlete?” Elliott hadn’t realized how much this was bothering him, until he realized that it hadn’t mattered. That she hadn’t targetedjusthim.

Dr. Bricker’s face softened even more. “Not even close, Elliott. In fact, when Dr. Howard and I spoke to her, she cried. She felt terrible about what she did to you, but she felt like she had no other choice. Some bad people were leaning on her very hard.”

Elliott felt terrible, too. “She didn’t feel like she had a choice, so did you really have to fire her? Even after she told you how much she needed the money?”

“We’re working on it, but she is most definitely not teaching this class for the rest of the semester. I can’t say anything else, but thereisa major investigation going on. I don’t know if we’ll need you to give a statement. But possibly yes. And not only for us, either.”

“The cops?”

Dr. Bricker didn’t react, but it was clear that the police were now involved.

“Well, I hope you nail those bastards to the wall,” Elliott said in a hard voice. “AndnotDr. Prosser. She got taken advantage of.”

Patting him on the arm supportively, Dr. Bricker nodded. “We’ll see. But I’m just glad to see you in class so I could tell you that it wasn’t you at all.”

“Guess I should’ve been a shittier hockey player,” Elliott said, shrugging.

“I know at leastI’mglad that you aren’t, and I’m sure that Malcolm is, too.”

Elliott grinned. “Definitely.”

“Alright, I’ve got to get started, but don’t think I’ll be taking it easy on you, Jones.”

“I wouldn’t expect any less.”

Elliott barely made it to his seat before pulling out his phone.

You’re not going to believe what I just heard from Dr. Bricker about why Dr. Prosser targeted me, he texted to Mal.

Are you texting in class again?

You gonna spank me, finally?

Mal didn’t answer right away, and Elliott had actually just slipped his phone back in his pocket, when he felt it buzz again.

Trust me, you ask for it, I’m not gonna deny you a single goddamn thing.Lunch? I want to hear what happened with Dr. Prosser.

Lunch? Does that mean I have to wait for my spanking?Elliott sent a pouty face.

You figured it out. Lunch. Now go pay attention.

Dr. Bricker had a different style than Dr. Prosser, and it also helped Elliott to focus—he’d gotten scared enough of what could happen if hedidn’tpay attention to just blow any class off again—and to his surprise he found that healmostenjoyed the lecture.

Or maybe it was just the thought of Mal bending him over his knee and spanking him.

Still, he was surprised to hear when Dr. Bricker announced that class was over.

When he exited the building, Mal was standing at the stairs, waiting for him.

“Hey,” Elliott said. Looking forward to the weekend, when he and Mal had agreed they’d tell the rest of the team. After that, they could kiss whenever they wanted. Elliott wasreallylooking forward to that day.

“Hey, so what’s going on?” Mal asked eagerly. Probably, unfortunatelynoteager to go spank Elliott, and instead eager to find out what had happened to Dr. Prosser.

Disappointing.

“Apparently she got into an illegal gambling ring to raise money! For a sick relative!” Elliott whispered-exclaimed.

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