Page 81 of Candygrams

Banner just can’t keep his fucking mouth shut. “If she doesn’t belong to you, buddy, she’s open game.”

“No! She fucking isn’t, asshole!”

The bastard just keeps talking shit about Taffy. Yeah, I’m not fucking blind. I realize how fucking attractive my tutor is. I’ve seen her in next to nothing, after all, and I know how fucking breathtaking she is. But these guys don’t need to make it a big thing. She already has a bad taste in her mouth about football players after all. I don’t need anything making it harder for her to…trust me. To be my friend.

Once we take a break I make damn sure I am the first one over to her. “Hey, you get in alright?”

She nods. “Yeah, Richie was really sweet and walked with me here, so I didn’t wind up lost.”

Who the hell is Richie and what the hell is he doing walking with my…fuck! Not my girl!

“Richie?”

“The guard.”

The sixty-year-old guard. Am I going to have to beat the hell out of him now too? Sixty isn’t too old. If I was sixty, I would try my damnedest to figure out if she had a daddy fetish I could play into. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked her to meet me here. There are way too many people I have to guard my little tutor from.

“You going to introduce us, Rip?”

My best friend comes up and slaps me on the back.

“If I have to. Aaron, this is MY tutor.”

He goes around me to offer his hand to her. “Ma’am.”

“I’m Tandy.”

“Now that is a real sweet name, Miss Tandy.”

“Thank you. I’ll be sure to tell my mamma you approve.” They laugh together and I don’t like it.

How come she’s not as prickly with Aaron as she is with me? Is it because of that honey-dripping southern charm he’s shitting out of his mouth. Ma’am, really? If I had called her ma’am first, would she have smiled at me instead of frowning and offering me attitude? Did I not show her I could be a gentleman right out of the gate? I worried about her safety after all.

“Who’s your friend, Rip?”

“Yeah, who’s your friend?”

Yeah, I shouldn’t have asked her to meet me here as more and more of my teammates come over to be introduced to the tiny redhead. I start counting down the time when practice will end and I can get Tandy the fuck out of here. And to make matters worse, I play like shit. So when I hear Banner loudly proclaim he’s going to ask her out and I can fuck myself for not trying to hit it sooner, I lose my shit and take off running.

He doesn’t make it even halfway before I am tackling his ass flat. While we are still on the ground, I whisper so only he can hear me. “Touch her and die, fucker!”

I stand up. He doesn’t. When I look over I see Coach’s eyes on me and Banner and the questioning look written all over his face. Well, Coach, you’re not the only one trying to figure out what the hell just happened. So the fuck am I? So am I.

Chapter Seven

Tandy

He doesn’t ask me to go with him to a party until well into our two-week probationary period. I’ve met him at a few team practices and the library several times and true to his -and his coach’s- word, he is putting in the work. And he did come the day after the first time we met at the library and put the new lock on my door just like he promised he would.

So now, I’m waiting for him dressed in a baggy t-shirt, leggings, and a coat. Not exactly the sexiest of outfits but, I can’t help but admit, I do look like a kid sister, especially with my hair up in a ponytail and very little makeup on. He did say it was just a party at someone’s house. No need to dress up or go out of my way from what I wear to class. Those were his words exactly.

He pulls up and instead of making him wait -or being attacked by Vanessa- I bounce out the door and get in his car.

“Is this okay?”

“Okay?”

“What I’m wearing?”

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