Page 78 of Candygrams

“Excuse me?” She starts to laugh like she’s on a hidden camera thing. She even looks around like she might be trying to find the camera. “I thought you said…”

I interrupt her, “I did.”

“I quit.”

She turns to walk away from me but just like before I grab her wrist and pull her back to me.

“We agreed to listen to one another, and I have a really good reason.”

She’s shaking her head before I even finish my sentence.

“I don’t care what half-cocked notion you’ve cooked up…”

If I was smart, I would just drop it. I should just drop it. But if I was smart, I wouldn’t need her to tutor me.

“People want to take my attention away and have a tendency to be overzealous in their…appreciation. Women show up naked, men hand me drinks…”

She rolls her eyes before “And what? You can’t say no.”

“I have no problem saying no, swee…Tandy.” Not calling her sweetheart is going to be a true test of my strength. Why I want to so badly is beyond me right now. Normally, I don't call anyone sweetheart, but with her, it just kind of falls right out of my mouth. “I just want you to act as a buffer. When it’s time to go, we get out of there. When…”

“You want to make me the bad guy who takes shit because you have to pull yourself away from the parties and shit shows. Fuck off. I don’t want nor need the flack I’m going to receive for doing that shit.”

“I’m not trying to make you a bad guy. People act differently when they know someone is waiting on you.”

“No! I won’t do it. I don’t have time for this kind of shit. I don’t want to go to parties or hang out with your football bros or your teammates either. I don’t want to hang out with YOU. It’s not part of my job. And if you want to pay someone to do that, they’re not called tutors, Rip. They’re called escorts. I’m sure you could ask one of your buds to give you a number or hell, put in a good word for you.”

“It’s not like that, damn it.” Why am I so pissed she misunderstood what I was asking of her and thought I wanted to make her…less? “I’m not asking you to whore yourself out. I would never ask you to do something like that.”

She looks down at the phone she clutches in her hand. “I have class. I have to go. I don’t want your money and I don’t think this is a good idea. I think it would be better if you asked your coach to find someone new for you to study with. Someone who can do what you need them to do.”

“I don’t want someone else, damn it. I want you. I’m not asking you to sleep with me, only to show up with me so I don’t have to put up with so much shit and can stay focused.”

“Like a…fake girlfriend.”

“No! Like a fake little sister. Someone to take care of so I don’t have to ruin my career before it’s begun. No pissed-off people wanting to take shit shots at me because I turned them down or didn’t sleep with them.”

She loses some of her stiffness and I can tell she’s at least thinking about it.

“Not to mention I can help you too.”

“Help me? How?”

“Protection.”

“Protection?”

You bet your ass protection.

Chapter Five

Tandy

What is he even going on about now? Protection? From what?

“Seriously.” He pulls me over to the side of the walkway when a group of people walk by.

The way he’s looking at me it’s like he thinks I’m being purposefully obtuse about what he means. His words warning me about walking alone come back to me. Is that what he means?

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