Bad Reputation

by Melinda Di Lorenzo

  “Now ask him what he does with the money,” Evan said.

  “No, don’t ask him,” one of the other guys piped up. “He’ll just lie and tell you he spends it on call girls.”

  “Or his truck,” added another.

  “But really…he donates it to charity,” Evan announced.

  Joey ran his fingers through his hair and grinned. “I’m a full-on philanthropist.”

  One look at his face told me what he had in mind. “No.”

  “You don’t even know what I was going to offer!”

  But I did know. Six-thousand dollars would put me so close my fund-raising goal that I could almost taste victory. But as much as I wanted the money for my campaign, I couldn’t do it.

  “I can’t use illegally raised funds for the community center,” I said vehemently.

  Joey’s face fell.

  “It doesn’t have to be illegal,” announced one of the guys at the table.

  “Of course it doesn’t,” another agreed.

  “We could make it work,” added a third.

  “And if it was a legal charity event, we’d all be willing to contribute our cuts,” said the fourth. “Call it a tax write off.”

  They had all paused in their counting and were looking at me and Joey expectantly.

  “Tucker, these are my business associates.” Joey pointed at each of them in turn.

  “Ryan, ledgers.” He was a spindly, dark-haired man with a freckled face.

  “Vince, computers.” Vince had hair dyed a blue-black and was dressed in a vintage, pinstriped suit.

  “Evan, muscle.” My companion from earlier in the evening flexed one of his biceps and winked.

  “Arnaut, acquisitions and…well, I’m not sure what else he does, but he assures me that it’s important.” Arnaut was the littlest guy at the table—shorter than I was for sure, and probably half my weight, too.

  “Oh, it’s important all right,” he said with an impish grin.

  “I don’t even know you guys,” I protested. “And you don’t know anything about my project. Why would you want to help me?”

  Evan nudged me. “They want to stay on Joey’s good side.”

  “By giving away his money?”

  But they were already outlining a plan.

  “I’ll work on your website,” Vince told me as he typed into his laptop. “The one you’ve got for Greenleaf Gardening has got to go. You need an option for online donations and some social media advertising.”

  “No media,” I said at the same time Joey said, “Let’s keep the press out of it.”

  Vince rolled his eyes. “Not media media. Social media. The student union blog and stuff.”

  “Okay,” I agreed hesitantly.

  They all started talking at once about signs, and permits, and gaming licenses.

  A bubbling excitement was beginning in my chest. Gratitude threatened to overwhelm me as I turned to face Joey. For one moment, I forgot how mad I was at him.

  “This is amazing! This could be it!” I was whispering to stop myself from squealing.

  “And that makes me a good friend, right?” Joey raised his eyebrows.

  His face was comically hopeful, and I Iaunched myself at him for a hug. His arms came up and he squeezed me back. I pressed my face against his well-muscled chest, and let my guard down for a second. I inhaled and enjoyed the pleasant sensation of being held by him for an extended moment before I broke off the embrace.

  He pulled away and slung an arm across my shoulder as I sat down.

  “Forgive me?”

  “A little bit.”

  He chuckled. “I can only imagine what it would take to get you to forgive me fully.”

  “Keep whatever you’re imagining to yourself,” I replied good-naturedly.

  As Joey’s friends hammered out the details of their—my—fundraising project, I let my mind drift. When I’d decided on the community center project, I’d been hopeful I’d be able to make a difference. I’d known it was a long shot, and that I was going to have to work hard to meet my goal. I never dreamed it would happen like this.

  Thanks to Joey.

  I snuck a glance at his profile. That thin line of stubble grazing his cheeks, emphasized his already alluring masculinity. My heart skittered. My gaze lingered on his lips, and my body lit up with tingles as I remembered the feel of them.

  Joey leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table, and his pants pulled across his rear end, exposing his taught muscles.

  He’s perfect.

  I shook my head. Keeping my mind out of the gutter was proving to be more work than raising the funds for my project. I was so distracted, it took me several seconds to realize Joey was talking about taking me home.

  “I’m fine to walk,” I interrupted.

  “No way.”

  “I walked here.”

  “It’s dark now.”

  I sighed. “It’s past my dorm curfew. Your truck is big. And noisy. It will just draw attention to the fact that I’m sneaking in.”

  “You can stay here with us,” Vince offered.

  “Um, no,” Joey said, jumping up. “She’ll take her chances with sneaking in.”

  “She will not,” Arnaut replied.

  “Don’t you know anything about the all-girls’ dorms?” Ryan asked.

  “I have a bit of inside knowledge,” Joey smirked.

  “Apparently not enough,” Ryan told him. “They give out demerits for breaking house rules. And that can get you kicked out.”

  I watched with increasing indignation as the guys continued to argue in favor of keeping me at their house, while Joey defended his right to get me back to the dorm. I looked at Evan, who seemed to be keeping his mouth shut.

  “Do you live here, too?” I asked him casually.

  He grinned and shook his head. “You want to crash at my place?”

  “It might be helpful,” I agreed. “I’m pretty tired.”

  “I’m not telling Joey,” Evan informed me.

  “Neither am I.”

  I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the group. The four other guys were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t even notice as we snuck out of the house.

  “You realize that Joey is going to be beyond mad, right?” Evan asked as we climbed into his two-seater sports car.

  “Serve’s him right,” I muttered. “He shouldn’t be standing around talking about me like I’m a piece of property.”

  Evan laughed and put the car in gear. “Well, he does come by it naturally. After all, his dad is some kind of real estate mogul. Property is a Fox family thing.”

  “That’s no excuse,” I grumbled.

  Evan drove a few more blocks and then parked the car in front of a strip of tidy-looking, attached row houses.

  “Home sweet home,” he announced, and led me into a tastefully decorated unit.

  I watched Evan as he pulled out linens and made the couch into a serviceable bed.

  “Thanks for letting me crash here,” I said.

  “No problem. And just so you know…some chicks dig that possessive stuff that Joey pulls,” Evan informed me.

  “What do you know about what chicks dig?” I countered.

  “Absolutely nothing,” he admitted.

  “Besides that, I doubt that I’m anything like the usual girls Joey brings around.”

  “He doesn’t bring them around, actually,” Evan replied. “They just kind of follow him wherever he goes.”

  I snorted. “Oh yeah, he’s like the pied piper.”

  “You really think you’re impervious to his charms?”

  “No,” I admitted with a yawn. “And that’s why I’m here, and he’s there.”

  Evan laughed. “Well, I won’t pull any of my mad moves on you. But Joey does scare me a little, so you can have the bed, and I’ll take the couch.”

  I smiled, and didn’t bother to argue.

  Joey

  I threw up my hands in frustration as the guy
s argued in favor of keeping Tucker in one of their rooms overnight.

  I didn’t begrudge any of their female pursuits. Normally. But at that moment, they were a group of overly bored, overly bright guys who were overly interested in the girl I liked.

  Not that I have a real claim on her, either, I acknowledged, then pushed down the thought irritably.

  Vince, the weirdly extroverted computer nerd who handled everything tech-related, was talking to me, and he had a smirk on his freckled face.

  “Looks like you won’t have to sneak her into her dorm after all,” he was saying.

  “What?”

  “She’s gone, man,” Vince said.

  “And so is Ev,” Arnaut added.

  “Shit.”

  I don’t know why I didn’t notice the second Tucker left the room. The weird draw that had been pulling me toward her had been building exponentially with each second I spent with her. And the guise of friendship wasn’t decreasing it at all. Maybe I didn’t feel it when she left because I was too distracted by where I wanted her to sleep. I was damned sure I wasn’t going to let her spend the night with the clowns who helped me run the gambling operation.

  “Goddamn you guys!”

  “J-man…”

  “Where are my keys?” I snarled at Ryan.

  He jumped up and left the room while I opened and closed my fists angrily. No one else said a word, and I thought that was probably a wise decision on their part. Ryan came back quickly, and he had my jean jacket in one hand and my key ring in the other. I reached out impatiently, but Ryan hesitated.

  “Why don’t you just let it go, Joey?” he asked.

  “Give ’em over,” I commanded. “Or I’m just gonna take ’em.”

  He dropped both items into my waiting arms, and I stormed out to my truck without looking back. My hands shook as I turned the key in the ignition.

  Evan’s all right, I reminded myself as I struggled to remember where the guy lived.

  I’d been there several times over the past year or so, but my brain was foggy with guilt. I knew the only reason Tucker had left with him was because I’d acted like a selfish jerk. Repeatedly.

  I drove through the neighborhood with a heavy heart, recalling every detail of the previous week, berating myself for every stupid mistake.

  Why didn’t I just come clean when I had the chance? I should’ve told her about my dad. And more important, about how I feel about her.

  I finally turned up a familiar street, and recognized Evan’s little red Fiat immediately. I pulled my truck up beside it and parked on an angle, effectively blocking him in.

  Just in case, I said to myself, though I didn’t want to dwell too much on what it was in case of.

  The house was completely dark. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, and I wasn’t taking any chances.

  I jumped out of my truck, took the wide cement patio in three easy steps, and then pounded unceremoniously on the door. I waited about five seconds, then banged again. Midway through my third forceful knock, a light went on inside the house.

  I crossed my arms over my chest to keep myself from lashing out automatically when the door opened. I failed. As Evan cracked the door and peered out, I gave it a vicious and explosive kick. Evan stumbled backward and landed on his ass.

  “Where is she?” I hollered at him.

  “Dude,” he started to say, but stopped as he caught the look on my face.

  He stared up at me, not quite cowering. He was dressed in cartoon-themed boxer briefs and nothing else. I felt a low growl build in my throat at the thought of his nearly naked body pressed against Tucker’s.

  “Where is she?” I said again, this time in a quietly dangerous voice.

  Evan stammered something unintelligible, and I took a breath, trying to dial it back a notch.

  “Joey?”

  I whipped around at the sound of Tucker calling my name. My breath caught in my throat. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs. I was relieved to see her in one unharmed piece. And even if she didn’t look terribly happy, she didn’t look upset, either. She’d scrubbed her face, and her hair was tied back in a thick braid. She reached up and tugged on it, drawing it over the big, white T-shirt she was wearing.

  Evan’s shirt, I realized immediately, and my jealousy ramped back up.

  “What are you doing here?” I spat the words out, unthinking.

  “I was going to sleep,” she replied in a slow and careful voice.

  “With him?” I heard my ridiculously contemptuous tone, but I couldn’t control it.

  Or maybe you don’t want to control it, I admitted to myself.

  I even felt a deep satisfaction in knowing that Evan was lying on the floor at my feet. I had to cover a sardonic smile.

  “What are you asking me, Joey?”

  Her words were spoken with deliberate coolness, and it set my teeth on edge.

  “I’m not asking you anything, Tucker,” I replied, and I was immediately conscious of how imperious I sounded, but I couldn’t stop. “I’m telling you, it’s time to go home. Evan is no good for you. I have never once known him to be in a relationship. If casual is what you’re after…I’m sure you could still make a better choice.”

  “Like who?” Tucker wanted to know. “Like you?”

  I started to answer, but she put her hand up to silence me.

  “What right do you have to decide who I should go home with?” she asked. “And for that matter, what right do you have to decide anything for me at all? I can’t believe you have the nerve to come here and pull this crap. It’s exactly why I left in the first place.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I could see that she was trying very hard to not roll her eyes.

  “I asked Evan to take me home because I couldn’t stand listening to you argue with your friends about who got to keep me for the night,” she said with poorly veiled impatience. “And then you storm in Evan’s house, where I’ve come of my own free will, and tell me that I shouldn’t be allowed to make my own decisions. For what reason? You think you’ve bought me by financing my community center project? I was starting to think you were different, but the truth is, you’re the same self-entitled jerk I thought you were.”

  By the end of her speech, Tucker’s voice had climbed an octave and her eyes were flashing. I knew she’d said something significant, something I wanted to argue against, but all I could do was watch her animated face. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were parted. It was enthralling, and I could clearly remember the feel of her mouth on mine, hungry and responsive.

  I stumbled to get an explanation out. “No, dammit. It’s just that Evan—”

  “What about him? You think Evan is what? Some kind of player?”

  Tucker cleared her throat, and I realized she was looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to say something else.

  She’d called Evan a player. I suddenly remembered what I wanted to say.

  “It’s not that Ev’s no good,” I told her slowly. “It’s that he’s not good enough for you. You deserve more than a one-night stand.”

  Tucker’s mouth worked as if she was trying to find a way to protest without insulting herself.

  Evan groaned. “When are you going to put him out of his misery, Tucker?”

  She looked at him with a worried crease in her forehead.

  “You don’t have to get involved,” she said.

  He waved off her comment. “For crying out loud, Joey. I’m not interested in playing Tucker.”

  I turned to look down at him. “You’re not?”

  He laughed at the surprise in my voice. “Joey, I’m not interested in girls at all.”

  Oh.

  Evan nodded, and I turned back to Tucker, who was now sitting on the bottom stair.

  “You knew?” I asked her.

  “Of course I knew,” she replied tiredly. “But my point is, it shouldn’t matter. You’re a terrible friend for me, Joey. When we’re not trying t
o keep our hands off each other, we’re fighting. It’s exhausting. Like we’re in this battle of wills that neither of is ever going to win.”

  My heart dropped. I knew where this was going, and I desperately wanted to stop it. I also knew I couldn’t, so I did the next best thing. I turned and fled before she could tell me to go.

  * * *

  I didn’t even get as far as my truck before my body gave way and I slumped to the ground. I hunched up and closed my eyes. It was such a foreign feeling that it took me several moments to realize that my shuddering breaths and heaving shoulders meant I was crying.

  A hesitant hand closed on my shoulder.

  “Joey, it’s freezing out here.”

  I didn’t trust my voice enough to answer her. Another minute went by, and a warm blanket found its way across my shoulders. Tucker slid down beside me. She put her arm around my waist and rested her head on my shoulder. Her closeness was comforting. I tried to speak, to say what I’d come to say, but all that came out was an incoherent mumble.

  “What was that?”

  Tucker spoke the words against my neck, and it was all I could take. In one fluid motion, I tossed the blanket aside, cupped her face in my hand, and pressed my forehead against hers. I stared into her eyes, full of as much anguish as I felt in my heart.

  “I said that I can’t do this anymore.”

  “Do what?”

  “Run around pretending I don’t care,” I replied in a raw voice. “Tucker, these past few days with you have been some of the best of my life. The moments without you have been some of the worst. And I’ve been through some awful stuff. It drives me crazy to think of you with anyone else. I can’t even—” I cut myself off as my voice started to break.

  “I don’t know what you want from me,” she whispered.

  “I just wish it could be easy.”

  She tilted her head toward me and waited. I took a ragged breath. My body was tense with desire. With a defeated sigh, I took a deep breath and leaned in. She closed her eyes, and her long, auburn lashes grazed her skin, highlighting her beautiful freckles and creamy complexion.

  Jesus, I love that face.

  I brought my mouth down on hers. Slowly. Gently. It wasn’t a kiss. It was more—an expression of deep, unmet longing that made me ache. Then I pulled away carefully.