Page 11 of Troublemaker
Under my breath, I said, “You want to fuck with me? I’ll fuck with you right back.”
She didn’t need to know that the “with” felt optional.
After practice was over,I left Lucy to clean up the three piles of vomit on the ice, satisfied that I’d taught her an appropriate lesson, and made my way to my office.
Trey followed me.
“Blake, this seems like a real mistake. Paul’s one of our best players, and you benched him for the season for a dumb joke any of his teammates were probably thinking in their heads.”
Trey was right, but I didn’t want to hear it. It was the least I could’ve done in that moment, instead of ripping each and every limb off of Paul’s body, including his dick. He’d embarrassed Lucy, even if no one knew but me. What’s more, none of them were going to make a move on her now, which was exactly what I wanted.
“I’m setting an example,” I told him as I entered my office.
To my annoyance, he followed me inside, grabbing the chair facing my desk, and turning it around so he could straddle it.
“Are you setting an example? Or are you pissing—inappropriately, I might add—all over your ‘territory’ like a college punk so the rest of these college punks stay away from her?” He put territory in quotes, and the accusation made my whole body go stiff, and not in the way it did when Lucy paraded around in one of her little outfits.
How much did he know?
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” I told Trey, sitting in my own chair and typing my password—Troublemaker—so I could access my laptop and do work, ignoring the steaming pile of shit Trey was serving to me.
He raised an eyebrow. “I see it. I’m sure the players see it. The only ones who don’t see it are Lucy—and you. It’s a real problem, Coach. You can’t have an affair or date a freshman at the university you work at, especially not when she’s employed by the team.”
“She’s not really employed; she’s doing her community service.”
“Still. You’re in a position of power over her. It looks really bad. She’ll either have to drop out, or you’ll have to quit. It would hurt you both?—”
“Lucy’s not dropping out,” I barked. “She’s going to vet school after college. It’s her dream.”
Trey stared at me. “Shit, this isn’t just a case of being an old asshole who wants some young pussy. You have actual feelings for her, don’t you?”
An image came to mind: Of me rising to my feet, grabbing Trey by the throat, and slamming him against the wall, and then again, and then again. No one talked about Lucy’s pussy. No one talked about her like she was nothing more thanpussy. I wanted to kill him for it.
Instead, I took a deep, long breath, reminding myself that attacking my assistant coach would be bad man behavior. As much as I wanted to, I needed to keep my shit together—now and forever.
I steepled my fingers. “Of course I have feelingsaboutmy legal ward,” I lied easily, playing with semantics. “But if you’re suggesting I’m romantically interested in her…well, your guess is as off as your aim was the last time we went golfing with the dean.” I cleared my throat, hating what I was about to say next. “In fact, I was going to ask if you could give me your sister’s number, so I could reach out to her about going on a date.”
Trey frowned at me. “You already have her number.”
Damn it. He was right. It had slipped my mind.
“You wouldn’t be using her as a way to cover your own ass, would you?” he continued.
I straightened my shoulders. “Last I checked, I was your boss. So, I suggest you don’t ask questions like that going forward, if you’re interested in keeping your job. I must have not saved her number. Now, if you don’t want to give it to me, that’s fine, but I would like to take her out, so…”
God, I was a real asshole. Still, Trey swallowed, nodding and reciting his sister’s number so I could put it in my phone. I had forgotten her name but figured that part didn’t matter. I’d needed to get him off the scent, and I had. That was the important thing, even if I hated myself for it.
As he sat there, I shot off a quick text to his sister, letting her know who it was and asking if she wanted to get dinner. It was barely a minute before she responded with aYes!The idea of going on a date with anyone made me feel sick to my stomach, and I had to remind myself that I wasn’t in a relationship with Lucy. I wasn’t inanythingwith Lucy, except for poorly misguided lust. Probably fucking someone else was the way to go.
Even though I knew my dick wouldn’t get hard for anyone but her.
5
LUCY
“Lucy!”
I paused on the steps of the life sciences building, turning back to see Professor Alison Putrovksi clicking after me in her stilettos. The professor taught my animal biology class, and although she’d never entirely warmed to me, I always showed up to lectures, studied my ass off, and got perfect scores on all the exams. I knew people thought I was a ditzy blonde party girl, but as a kid who’d been ignored by everyone but the family dogs—only to lose both to cancer—I was determined to become a veterinarian.
