Page 14 of Wicked Surrender

Of all the bombshells he could’ve dropped on me, that one sucked. Big time.

I blinked, trying to process this out-of-the-blue news. “Tutor?”

“Yes.” He looked down at the papers on his desk. “You seem able to maintain decent grades.”

I almost have straight As, you asshole!

“And you’ve tutored plenty of students before.”

Only because you force me to.

“Yes, but I can’t.”

He arched one brow, glaring at me.

“I can. I mean, I am capable of tutoring, but I don’t have the time in my schedule to take on tutoring anyone.”

“That’s your own fault.” He steepled his fingers and sighed, like I was such a problem. “If you stuck with the coursework that is expected for your pre-med program, you would have ample time to tutor whomever I assigned to you.”

I bit my cheek, holding in the shout that I wanted to sling at him.

“It is your own fault that you are overwhelming your schedule with all those unnecessary courses that won’t make an impact on your degree.”

He meant all the classes I signed up for voluntarily. The ones like organic chem and others that would look impressive if I wanted to switch my major to bioengineering. Of course, he’d see them as a frivolous waste of time.

I swallowed hard, unsure how to stand up for what I wanted. He’d conditioned me to behave and never talk back. Taking the classes he deemed unnecessary was my passive-aggressive act of defiance.

“I thought, um, after the last student I had to tutor, that we realized how unsuitable I am to tutor, though.” It was a weak excuse and we both knew it.

He snorted. “Then work on not being so shy. Gain some skills to better communicate with others.”

I cringed, almost panicking now.

“You will make time to tutor this student since you like to waste your time on those classes you don’t need to practice medicine one day.”

No. Just stop. Don’t you ever hear yourself and realize how cold you are?

“And if you don’t agree to tutor, I will contact your instructors and drop you out of those classes myself.” He sighed again, like he was counting down the seconds until he wouldn’t have to deal with me again. “Because in my opinion, those courses won’t do a damn thing for your standing to get into my alma mater.”

He was giving me an ultimatum. Just when I thought I couldn’t despise him any more…

It’s not like it would last.I wasn’t bluffing or making up an excuse when I reminded him how ill-suited I was to tutor. None of the other students I’d been forced to tutor lasted for very long. They gave up quickly, not caring about their grades. And then I was off the hook and spared the obligation until he or someone else in the recovery program thought I should assist someone else. It was just one more way that they'd made me the pushover that I was.

“Okay,” I agreed weakly, giving in.

Just show up and they will quit quickly.

“Good. You’re dismissed. I have another call to make.” He didn’t even look up, treating me like I were a student, not his child, a blood relative.

I looked at the time again.

Nope. There wasn’t any way I was making it back across campus for my lab now.

I held in a sigh and stared at him, wondering what I’d ever done to deserve his cruelty.

“Who am I tutoring, and when should I begin?” I asked, not even trying to sound enthusiastic.

He glanced up with a bored expression. “Jason Reeves. You can begin tonight at the library, where he’s expected to meet you.”

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