Denying the Bad Boy(22)

Yay for them. Insert sarcasm.

Mary was still a bit hesitant on going, but all it took for that uncertainty to vanish was looking at Darcy and the sad expression she carried when she thought no one was looking.

Darcy planned on meeting her at the club at eight, so that gave Mary a little over an hour to tutor Alex, and then swing back home to get ready before heading out. So now here she was, staring at Alex’s house, feeling all kinds of anxiety and anticipation, which was dumb because she had done this type of thing a hundred different times. This was no different. He was no different, and she needed to remember that. She grabbed her bag that was filled with several books she had checked out from the library on Human Sexuality. Figuring they would start from the beginning since she had no idea what he even absorbed in the class, if anything at all, she made her way up to the front door. Bringing her knuckles down on the door three times she dropped her hand but instantly clasped them together in front of her.

Several long moments passed, and she lifted her hand to knock on the door again. She knew someone was home because the sound of loud laughter, and a football game on the television playing in the background came right through the door. She had sent Alex a text earlier today telling him she’d be here at six, so he should be expecting her. Seconds later the door flew open.

“What the fu—” Adam stopped midsentence and stared at her. He lifted his hand that wasn’t holding the edge of the doorframe and ran it over the top of his head, further disheveling the strands. “Oh, sorry ‘bout that, Mary.” He looked over his shoulder toward the stairs and then turned back to her. “I thought you were someone else. Come on in.” He moved out of the way, and she stepped inside. The house smelled funky, like sweat, old gym socks, and something stale.

“I’m here to tutor Alex.” She turned around to face him. Adam shut the door and glanced at the stairs again.

“Oh, okay. He’s upstairs primping.”

Primping? “Excuse me?” Adam grinned and shook his head.

“He’s getting all pretty for his date tonight.” Something twisted in her stomach at Adam’s words.

“Oh, well I wouldn’t know anything about that. I’m just here to help him with his class.”

Adam was staring at her strangely, and she hoped her sudden and irrational disappointment was written across her face. Before anything else was said the sound of heavy footsteps descending the stairs filled her ears. Adam grumbled something under his breath and headed back into the living room. Mary turned around and watched Alex making his way toward her. He wore a pair of loose fitting distressed jeans and a button down shirt. The sleeves were rolled up his forearms, showing off the muscular, tanned flesh, and the first two buttons at the collar of his shirt were undone. His hair was damp and the strands were spiky around his head, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. A nasty bruise marred his cheek, and there looked to be a gash right above his right eye.

“You weren’t waiting too long, were you?”

She shook her head, his words kind of going right through her as she stared at his wounds. “God, are you okay?” On instinct she reached out to him, but he took a step back. Mary was immediately embarrassed for doing something like that, so she took a step back herself.

“Yeah, I’m good.” She wanted to ask what had happened, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Besides, Alex did have a reputation for getting into fights. Mary looked up at him again, and even though someone had gotten in a few hits, she had no doubts the other guy probably looked worse. He was close, far too close for her comfort because a rush of heat filled her. The scent of soap and a light undertone of cologne filled her nose, and she actually felt herself leaning toward him.

“Whoa, you okay?” It was only when he placed his big hand on her shoulder to steady her, or maybe it was to keep her away, that she realized what she was doing.

Oh my God. Heat rushed up her neck and covered her face. There was no doubt in her mind that she looked like a tomato, but whether Alex saw that or not was a mystery since his expression remained stoic. “Um.” She cleared her throat and quickly looked toward the living room. Adam and a few other guys sat around the big screen TV watching a football game. “No, it’s fine.”

When she looked back at Alex he was watching her with a strange expression, and a tick under his cheek jumped. She looked to her right, into the kitchen, but it seemed there was some kind of card game going on with several more guys. Was this how it was all the time? She had only been here a few times in the late evening to help Adam, but it had never been like this. It seemed chaotic and crowded, and as if to prove her point the guys in the living room started roaring out at something that happened in the game, and the ones in the kitchen were swearing and talking about “eating out pussy” and “fucking chicks in the ass”.