Hooped #5 (The Hooped Interracial Romance Series #5)

by Claire Adams

  HOOPED #5

  The Hooped Series Book #5

  BAD BOY FRAT

  By Claire Adams

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 Claire Adams

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  Chapter One

  A few minutes after Kelly walked out of the bathroom, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Hey, babe! Ready to head back? I bit my bottom lip; part of me didn’t want to go with Devon at all, not with the doubts raging in my mind. What if he was just using me like Kelly said? It was a stupid thought, and I knew it was stupid, but I couldn’t help thinking that in spite of the fact that she had lied to me, she had been my friend for such a long time.

  I worried at my bottom lip for a moment, looking at my screen. Even if I wasn’t sure of whether Devon was really seeing me because he wanted me, or because he was using me, I still wanted to be around him. I needed to know the truth, and after all, the only way I’d get to the bottom of it would be to talk to him about it. I took a deep breath. Yeah, Dev. I’m in the girls’ room. Meet you by the locker rooms? A moment later my phone buzzed again.

  See you in a minute. I slipped my phone back into my pocket and told myself that I would just play it cool. There was no need to cause a scene with Devon; even if he was using me, I would just figure it out on my own, and I would dump him before he got the chance to dump me. Now that he’d told everyone in the stands around us that I was his tutor, and we’d been together publicly, I wasn’t about to be yet another of the girls Devon ditched once he got what they wanted from them.

  I walked through the arena until I came to the locker room entrance; Devon was waiting there, talking to some other girls—but even as suspicious as my brain was, I couldn’t see anything that looked like interest from him. He was talking to them because they were there and because they had chatted him up. I wasn’t about to start jumping on every little thing. Besides, I thought. What reason do I have to believe Kelly? Everything she’s said about Devon so far has been a lie. Except it wasn’t all lies. She had told me that Devon was a player—and before he had started to get serious with me, he had admitted that he’d fooled around with girls, getting laid without caring about them.

  “Hey, babe! I was just about to send someone to look for you,” Devon said, breaking away from the groupies to close the distance between us. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me hungrily, his hands trailing over my sides. He deepened the kiss, and I melted against him in spite of the thoughts swirling around in my head; I wanted to believe so badly. I wanted it to be just fine, nothing different between us at all.

  After a few minutes, Devon pulled back, breaking away from my lips. I realized that the girls who had been talking to him before were gone, that they’d wandered off somewhere now that it was clear he wasn’t going to be going anywhere with them. “You tired or something, Jenny?” I made myself smile.

  “Yeah, I guess. Can we go back to the frat now?” Devon nodded and steered me away from the locker rooms, his arm draped around my back as we both headed for the exit. I told myself that I should just act normally—that it wasn’t the time for any kind of confrontation. I even told myself that Kelly was wrong; she was a proven liar, and I shouldn’t trust anything she had to say about Devon.

  We walked in silence, and I didn’t even realize that anything was different—I was so trapped in my own head—until Devon stopped underneath a security lamp and turned me to face him. “If there was something wrong you’d tell me, right?” he asked me, his eyes full of concern.

  “Of course! Nothing is wrong, babe. I’m just tired.” I smiled again, and Devon hesitated only a moment before starting off again, my hand in his. I thought I should be confronting him about what Kelly had told me—that I should be talking to him about it. But I didn’t want to cause a scene. I didn’t know what to say, or what to believe. Shouldn’t I be giving Devon the benefit of the doubt? Devon started telling me about the other guys, about the members of the team, and I tried to listen and pay attention, but I was too consumed with all the thoughts in my head.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Devon asked, giving my hand a quick squeeze.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I swear, just tired.” You might as well just ask him about it. It’s not like you could make anything worse. But Kelly…you can’t trust anything she says about him. I went back and forth in my mind, occasionally thinking that I should tell Devon to stop and talk to him before we even got back to the frat house, and then another part of my mind countering that it would just be stupid, and I wasn’t going to be the kind of girl to make a huge scene in the middle of campus, even if there was no one around.

  As we neared the Phi Kappa house, I halfway hoped that Devon would be interested in fooling around; maybe it would take my mind off of what Kelly had told me. Instead, he gave me a kiss right before we went in and said, “If you’re really tired, we should probably just call it a night, right?” I kissed him lightly on the lips; how could I possibly doubt a guy who was going to be so sweet to me?

  We went in, and Devon answered the guys’ questions about the game, telling them with a little pride that he’d taught Miles and Lee all they needed to know to keep the team going without him. “You going to hang out and watch the game?” one of the guys—I thought it might be Jaxon—asked Devon.

  “Nah, the girl’s tired,” Devon replied. He gave my waist a squeeze. “I think we’re going to call it a night.” A few of the guys made some jokes about Devon being whipped, but he just rolled his eyes and led me up the stairs.

  I was still slightly hoping that Devon would want to fool around, make love for a little while before we went to sleep; but he seemed genuinely concerned about me. “It’s good to have a down night,” Devon said, giving me a quick kiss.

  “You, the party animal, want to have a down night?” Devon grinned at me, tugging his shirt over his head and tossing it towards the hamper.

  “I can’t party all the time. Especially since I need to keep my brains working at peak, right?” He unbuttoned and unzipped his fly, and I began to strip down too, confused and comforted at the same time. I could see my suitcase and decided that, since I had told Devon I would stay with him for a few days, I might as well just treat the situation as if Kelly had never said anything to me. Devon didn’t even know that I knew Kelly; I felt a little bit of guilt at the fact that so far he had been much more honest with me than I had with him.

  We got into bed and for once—for the first time since we’d hooked up, and I’d lost my virginity to him—Devon and I just cuddled, talking about the game, about our day. It was so nice, but I felt it every time I didn’t mention running into Kelly after the game while I was waiting for Devon to finish hanging out with the guys. I felt guilty, almost ashamed of myself. Devon began to doze off and without being able to continue chatting with him, my brain went back into overdrive. I argued mentally with myself about whether or not to believe anything that Kelly had said.

  On the one hand, nothing that Devon was doing or had d
one were the actions of a guy who was just looking to get what he wanted from some girl, to use her. In spite of how cavalier I’d been about just throwing away my virginity, Devon had been sweet and gentle and good to me. But then, Kelly and the other girls had all said that he was exactly the type to act that way; right up until he decided he’d gotten what he wanted, or until there was another girl to take his eye. But how could I doubt him so much? In spite of what the other girls had said, Devon had been absolutely honest. If he were really just looking to get what he wanted from me, then he would have lied to me about everything else.

  I couldn’t fall asleep. I turned my head to see Devon in the bed next to me, fast asleep. He had no idea of what was going on in my mind; as far as he was concerned, everything was great—or if not great, then at least he was right where he needed to be. He would re-take the test that he had cheated on, and then he’d be back on the team, back to class, living the life he had marked out for himself, complete with a girlfriend who cared about him. But what if Kelly was right? What if Devon was just using me to pass the test? I thought about what she had said, about how she had known the person who’d taken the test for Devon. How likely is it that she could really have known that specific person? My mind was swimming with questions about what she had told me. I had to know more. I had to just get over it and talk to Devon. I had to come clean, and hear what he had to say. I had to know the truth, and so far, Devon hadn’t let me down.

  I shook him awake, my heart beating faster in my chest. “Hey, babe? Babe. Wake up, Dev. I need to talk to you about something.” Devon muttered and murmured as he came out of his sleep, shaking his head and frowning. He looked up at me in confusion, and I turned on the light in the room, sitting up in his bed.

  “What’s up, Jenn?” Devon grinned slightly. “You less tired than you thought?” His hands trailed over my body, caressing and teasing me. I shook my head, pulling free of his touch.

  “I need to talk to you about something,” I said, taking a deep breath. “It’s about the test you cheated on.” Devon’s eyes widened.

  “Is this why you’ve been so quiet all night? Jenn—babe, I know I did wrong. I want to set things right.” I swallowed against the tight, dry feeling in my throat.

  “Do you know who it was who turned you in?” I asked. “I mean, it could be a couple of people, right?” Devon sat up in bed next to me.

  “I know who it is,” he said. He looked at me with a frown. “Do you know who it is?” I took another deep breath, hoping to steady my nerves.

  “I ran into your ex, Kelly,” I said, hedging on how I knew it was her. “She told me that she’s the one who turned you in. She—I guess she was jealous, or whatever. But shouldn’t you be warning the person who took the test for you?” Devon’s eyes widened.

  “She is the person who took the test for me,” he said. “Kelly—she and I knew each other in high school. We met at a party after a game once and started seeing each other some.” I blinked; Kelly’s words—that the person who had taken the test for Devon would be fine, would not be investigated at all—took on new meaning. Of course she could be sure that the person Devon had used wouldn’t be caught; it was her.

  “She took the test for you?” I asked him. Devon nodded.

  “It was her idea! I was telling her how nervous I was about the ACT, with the scholarship riding on it and everything, and she said that she had already taken hers, and got a high score. So she’d take it for me, and everything would be great.” Devon shook his head, his face full of regret.

  “Oh my god…” I stared at him in shock. Considering what Kelly had done so far, it wasn’t that much of a stretch.

  “We were really close, and I—I always thought of myself as kind of a loser, school-wise, so I went along with her idea. It was stupid.” I bit my bottom lip; Kelly had taken a huge risk, cheating for Devon. She had to have known that it would be a major blow to her entire academic career if she got caught.

  “What happened?” Devon shrugged.

  “While we were putting the plan together—getting her and ID that had my name, all those things… she started to kind of lose it.” Devon closed his eyes, shaking his head. “She kept saying things like I would owe her forever, and I’d have to stay with her for the rest of our lives now. She played it off as a joke, but…” he shrugged again. Devon took a deep breath. “A few weeks after the test, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I told her that I appreciated what she did, but I couldn’t see her.”

  “Why didn’t she just come clean then?” I couldn’t quite believe it—and yet it made way too much sense.

  “I think she was afraid that she’d be in trouble too. But she’s held it over my head ever since—constantly threatening to tell that I’d cheated on the test, that I’d paid someone to take it for me. I never paid her, Jenn—believe me. She did it because she wanted a hold on me, and then once that was gone…” I sighed, shaking my head at how crazy Kelly had been to do all of this. I had to believe Devon; the evidence in front of me was clear. Kelly had been the one to suggest over and over to me—pretending it was a joke—that we should ruin Devon’s life, get him in trouble. She had been so crazy about him that she’d been willing to almost sacrifice her own college career in order to destroy his.

  “That’s…how could you just keep going with that hanging over your head?” Devon grinned slightly.

  “After a year or two, I figured she had to be over it. I mean, the threat was still there.” He shrugged. “I’m actually kind of glad she finally went through with it.” Everything was quiet between us for a long moment, and then Devon looked at me with confusion. “It’s kind of weird that she’d tell you, though, even if you are my girlfriend.” I bit my bottom lip. Devon had been completely honest with me; I owed it to him to come clean.

  “Not as weird as you might think,” I started. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Kelly and I have been friends since high school, and she’s my roommate. I thought—I really believed she was my best friend.” I looked at Devon, feeling my eyes sting with tears. “She never even mentioned you until we hooked up, I swear. I didn’t even know you had any history with her at all.”

  “I believe you,” Devon said, reaching out and brushing my cheek. “You seem like the kind of girl who would have avoided a friend’s ex like the plague.” I laughed, even as tears started to spill out of my eyes.

  “She—she told me a ton of terrible things about you and suggested we could ruin you…and she tried to play it off as a joke.” I shrugged. “If I’d known she was like that, Devon, I’d never have stayed her friend as long as I did. She’s not even one of my friends anymore. She told me I had to choose between her and you and well…” I smiled sadly.

  “You chose me; I take it,” Devon said with a grin. I nodded. “No wonder you haven’t been in the dorm much if you’ve had to sneak around her.” He pulled me into his arms. “I trust you, Jenny. I trust what you’ve told me—and I know you wouldn’t have pulled something like this on me, no matter how pissed you were.” I kissed Devon, feeling so relieved that the fatigue of the day and the game finally started crashing in on me.

  “I’m glad I chose you,” I said, curling up in Devon’s arms as he pulled me down onto the bed next to him. “I’m also glad I came clean.” Devon chuckled, kissing me.

  “Now get some sleep. You’ve got a long day tomorrow.” He pulled me close under the covers, and I felt myself starting to slowly fall asleep. I cuddled close to Devon and sank down into the darkness, contented once more.

  Chapter Two

  The next morning, it felt so good to wake up next to Devon, to know that everything was absolutely clear between us, no secrets. We fooled around for a little while—kissing and touching each other—but Devon pointed out that I had class to get to, and suggested that he could make me breakfast again, give us a chance to just hang out and enjoy each other’s company.

  I grabbed a quick shower while Devon cooked breakfast, and when I joined him in the kit
chen, saying hello to the few guys who were already up and watching TV, he gave me the smile I was already starting to love. He made scrambled eggs with cheese, toast, strawberries, and bacon—somehow managing to put it all together in the twenty minutes since we had parted. “I don’t think I’m even as good a cook as this,” I said, taking a bite of the perfectly cooked eggs.

  “Aw, come on—I’m sure you’re no slouch either.” I grinned.

  “I could make dinner for you some time; that’d be a good payback.” Devon chuckled.

  “I know just how you can pay me back—and you don’t have to chop a single onion to do it.” He stood, leaning over the table, and kissed me on the forehead. He sat back down. “I’ve been thinking,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

  “About what?” I ate a piece of bacon, sitting back in my chair; I was both worried and not worried at the same time.

  “Well—about what you said last night. I don’t hold it against you; I completely believe that you had no idea what kind of mess Kelly was, or you wouldn’t have been friends with her, or gone after me, one.”

  “Right. I’m so sorry I didn’t come clean sooner.” Devon smiled, reaching across the table and taking my hand.

  “And you trust me—you have no idea how much that means to me.” He gave my hand a squeeze. “But obviously we have a lot more connections than we thought. And I want this to be serious between us. I like you a lot, Jenn. In fact…” he took a deep breath. “I kind of think I might love you.”

  “Really?” My eyes widened. “You really think you might love me?” Devon chuckled.

  “Is that so hard to believe? You’re amazing! You’re smart and gorgeous and funny and just—great. All the guys are jelly.” Devon grinned. “But if we’re going to be serious, we have to agree to be completely honest from here on out—both of us.” I nodded slowly.