Page 44 of Happy Krampus Xmas & the Meet Not Cute
“Stay back!” he snarls. His hazel eyes are sparkling with fury, body trembling with it.
I raise my palms up in a yielding move. He stares, nostrils flaring, body alert. My dick twitches at how hot he looks all disheveled and badass while my mind is fucking enraged about what happened.
This is partly my fucking fault. I feel responsible. I should have been the one to clear the air with those four fuckers—even though it would have probably made it worse. But I saw the way they were glaring at him this morning, and I didn’t do anything, too lost in my little mental, bi freak-out.
He lifts the broken bike, cursing at it. Both tires are slashed and the back wheel is bent. Did Josh and the others do this? I want to ask if he knows, but it doesn’t look like he’ll give me an answer.
After looking at the damage for a bit longer, Spencer hoists the bicycle onto his shoulder and starts walking. After witnessing his fighting skills, I know he has trained muscles under the purple tie-dye t-shirt and black jacket, but his limp has worsened.
“I can carry the bike,” I tell him.
He keeps walking ahead of me like he didn’t hear me, which is impossible. His loose black jeans have fallen lower, putting on display the upper curve of his round ass and the waistband of a pair of black boxer briefs.
“Why are you following me?” he asks. “You want me to beat you as well?”
“I’m sorry, okay? Didn’t know their intentions.” I jog ahead of him and spin, walking backward, facing him.
He studies my face and then makes an incredulous sniff. “You’re being glib! Are you telling me that I didn’t lose my job because of you?”
He lost his job?That’s why he didn’t show up the last few nights. Not that I waited for him by prolonging my training in the gym.
He pushes me unceremoniously to the side and lowers the bicycle to place it under a bike shelter. Then he moves toward the two-story building.
I expected a cheap student accommodation, instead, Spencer is climbing the stairs of a nice four-apartment complex. I follow him. He stops on the second-floor landing, and while he takes out the keys, he says without turning my way, “You and your jock friends are pathetic. You know that, right?”
“I’m not like them,” I automatically retort, even though I know there’s truth in his words. I am pathetic.
“Don’t worry, getting hard when brushing against a hot body means fuck all.” He pats my shoulder with mockery as he opens the door.
His bold if patronizing statement takes me off guard, and I start stuttering like an idiot. “I… It…didn’t…”
“Riiiight, denial from a macho guy. So cliché. Go back to your bunnies, groupies, or whatever the fuck you call them, jock. Good luck.” He uses the word jock like a curse.
I open my mouth, hoping to give him a comprehensible reply, but he has already closed the door on my face.
three
Incendiary: extremely hot or capable of causing a fire
TJ
The next day, I’m leaving Markson Hall after a boring-as-fuck econ prime class when a small guy with curly hair and high boots flanks me.
“Hey, football star,” he greets me with a cheery voice. He’s wearing a black kilt skirt with a red sweater under a long coat. Brown curls escape from his pink knit cap, and he’s holding an expensive bag. He screams money and confidence.
“Me?” I ask, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.
“Ah, apparently ignorance is bliss.” Did he just insult me with a sweet smile? His upturned nose is red from the cold, and his pink-lipsticked mouth has a perfect cupid shape. Objectively beautiful, but I prefer the naturally red, full lower-lipped mouthof a certain someone with a taste for baggy clothes and fancy words. Fuck!
“I’m Lori, a friend of Spencer’s.”
I blink at him, taken aback by his words. “TJ,” I utter. Then an anxious feeling makes me hold my breath. “Is he okay?”
He frowns. “Do you know what happens when some wankers decide to hurt a friend of mine? I don’t only get even, I like to pile up on it.”
Fuck, I get that. I’m still fucking angry at Josh and the others—and myself. “Look, it was my fault if my teammates assaulted Spencer. I mean, I didn’t tell them to do it, but I should have handled it differently. I had no idea they’d attack him. But they already got what they deserved. From Spencer.” And me. I told them I got the security camera video on iCloud, ready to be sent to Coach Morgan and the dean. Assault is a serious fucking offense. I don’t really have that video, but I know how to deal with this kind of people since unfortunately I am one of them.
“And you? Did you get what you deserve?” Lori narrows his makeup-defined brown eyes at me.
