Denying the Bad Boy:Tattooed and Pierced, 2(4)

Mary grabbed her purse off the passenger seat, got out of the car, and  headed toward the front door. There weren't any lights on, but then  again it was midnight. She normally didn't tutor this late, but Adam was  having a difficult time understanding the dynamics of economics. Mary  had a feeling he hadn't been paying attention either, not when his eyes  had been trained on her breasts instead of the textbook.

Oh well, if he didn't want to focus on what he was paying her for that  wasn't her problem. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, and  immediately was assaulted by the loud, sexually explicit sounds of Darcy  having sex. Mary rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen for water.  Leaning against the counter and bringing the glass to her lips, she  turned her head to the side and listened with astonishment as the sound  of a headboard banging against the wall resounded in the silence. After  only a few seconds of that racket all was quiet again. Mary finished her  water, and just as she was about to head to her room a very naked Darcy  and her current guest for the evening, Dane she thought his name was,  came walking into the kitchen. The lights were still off, but there was  enough of a glow from Darcy's bedroom light that Mary saw everything.

Darcy stopped when she saw Mary standing there, which in turn had the guy slamming into her back.

"Shit, Mary." Darcy placed a hand over her heart. "You scared the hell  out of me. What are you doing creeping around in the dark? Did you just  get in?" The nude couple didn't seem to be the least bit self-conscious  over their body parts just hanging out in the open since they moved  further into the kitchen. Dane opened the fridge and bent at the waist.  Talk about an unattractive picture, even if he did have a nice body. She  quickly averted her eyes and looked back at Darcy. Her roommate had  started walking over to the fridge, and Mary decided now was a good time  to get the hell out of there.

"Just got home from tutoring, and I'm beat. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah, all right."

She quickly headed down the hall to her room, and when the door was  firmly shut behind her she breathed out. God, she so needed her own  place, but of course she couldn't afford that on her own, and even if  Darcy had a lot of sex, she was good company. There were far too many  times she had either walked in on a lot of flesh jiggling around as  Darcy screwed her boyfriend of the week, or heard the sound of their  almost animalistic sex, or seen enough wieners in her house to give her  nightmares. She supposed it was just one of the hazards of having a  roommate that liked to get it on  …  a lot.                       
       
           



       

Getting undressed and changing into a t-shirt, Mary climbed in bed and  closed her eyes. She was tired, but of course the blissful peace of  sleep didn't come right away. Instead the image of Alex Sheppard slammed  into her brain. Even now she could swear she smelled Alex. It was a  darkly intense aroma that had her heart racing and her toes curling. She  was insane, certifiably so, because there was no way anything would  ever come between them. Well, maybe a one-night stand, but that wasn't  Mary's style, and anything long term certainly wasn't Alex's calling  card.

Oh, who was she kidding to even play with an idea like that? Forcing  everything that was Alex out of her head, she made herself relax and  finally felt herself drift to sleep.

****

"Sheppard, I want to talk to you." Coach Marx called out from across the  field. Alex tipped his chin in acknowledgment and walked over to the  bench to grab one of the towels sitting in a stack on the metal seat. He  took off his jersey and equipment and wiped the sweat from his face and  chest. Then he tossed the small strip of cloth over his shoulder and  headed to where Coach stood talking with a few of his teammates.

"Damn, Sheppard, even hung over like a motherfucker you played like a  beast." Harley, one of the linebackers and a mean asshole on the field,  slapped Alex on the back and made his way with the other players to the  locker room.

"You wanted to talk to me?" He stopped in front of Coach Marx and  breathed out roughly, trying to calm his respirations from the grueling  exercises.

"You came to practice hung over again." It wasn't a question. Coach  didn't want any of the players to drink, because he said it polluted  their bodies and made them sluggish on the field the next day, but he  couldn't stop them from having a good time, and they just had to deal  with the shitty feeling the next day. Alex knew in order to succeed in  this sport, this career, he needed to kept to a strict regime and diet,  but the truth was that as much as Alex loved playing football it  obviously wasn't in his heart if he couldn't just stop the fucking  partying and focus.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Alex didn't offer any more of an explanation.  He respected the hell out of Coach Marx, but even nauseous like a bitch  after drinking all night he kicked ass on the field. "I mean, we still  played good today." It hadn't just been Alex that was hung over. There  had been a handful of other players that had dragged their sorry asses  out of bed and busted their balls in practice.

Coach ran his hand over his buzzed dark hair. Alex knew something was  wrong for him to look almost hesitant. "Listen, I've seen that you're  slacking in your studies, and have fallen under the grade point average  that is required for you to play with the team."

Shit.

Alex knew he was slacking in some of his classes, but the last time he  checked he was passing them all, at least he thought he was. Clearly he  had been wrong. Although this was his fourth and final year at OSU  before he could graduate with a Bachelor's degree in Sports Therapy, he  had only been thinking about exactly that: this was his final year. He  hadn't even realized he had been fucking up so much that he was now at  risk of getting kicked off of the team. "Shit."

"Listen, this is totally out of my hands. You know the rules the  university requires for all players, and the fact you need to keep your  grade point average at an optimal level in order to stay on the team."  Coach started pacing in front of him. "Alex, I have to put you on  probation until you bring your average up."

Anger built deep inside of Alex even though this was totally his doing.

"Are you fucking serious?" His voice was raised, but Coach didn't even  blink at his outburst. "You want to put me on probation?" Alex was now  the one pacing. Football had been his life for as long as he could  remember, and in one fucking semester he had fucked it all up. Yeah, he  had read the rules which he had to follow if he wanted to stay on the  team, but fuck he hadn't actually thought this would happen. "How the  fuck did this happen?" It was an empty question, more for himself than  anything else, but he said it regardless.

"Alex, this isn't anyone's doing but yours. You know how strict the  University is about this, and it pains me to have to suspend you seeing  as you're one hell of a player, but my hands are tied on this. All I can  say is get your average up at midterms, and then when that happens I'll  throw you back in the games. Go talk to the academic advisor and see  what you need to do, and maybe get someone to tutor your ass so you can  get your grade point average up." Coach slapped him on the back and  walked away, cutting off any further conversation, and not bothering to  hide his disappointment. Fuck, he was disappointed in himself.                       
       
           



       

Well, motherfucking shit.

****

"What time are you coming in?" Mary held her cell phone between her  shoulder and ear and adjusted her shoulder bag. She kept her exasperated  sigh to herself at hearing Margo's clipped words. Her sister's normally  snotty attitude was to the nth degree with her upcoming wedding.

"Margo, that's like a month away." Her sister didn't bother hiding her frustrated sigh.

"Listen, I am trying to plan when the bridesmaids are coming, and I need  you tell me if you'll be here any earlier. It isn't like you have  anything else to do that weekend, or any weekend for that matter."  Bitch. "Mom's having dinner Friday night, so I know you'll be there, but  are you coming up any earlier?"

Mary gritted her teeth, biting back a smart-assed retort. Just one more month of Bridezilla and all of this will be done.

"Why don't you just tell me when you want me there and I'll work my  schedule around you." Mary made sure to add a bite to the last part,  because frankly she was sick of this high and mighty act that Margo put  on. It was like the world would stop rotating if things didn't go her  way, and at twenty-three her older sister should have grown up a little  bit.