Fighting Heart: Fighting Heart Erotic Bad Boy Romance Series Book 1 Page 7

  Eleven

  I got through the weekend okay after my second row with Cody. I spent a half hour reading up on William Blake, but really, who was I kidding? All I could think of was how I was about to lose my job when I needed it the most. Purdy and Reggie had been unfair to me, but so far life hadn’t exactly been a great example of fairness. These were the cards I had been dealt and there was no point moaning anymore. Yet again I’d been too hard on Cody. The guy was cute, not my sort of cute, but he was funny and kind of charming. But he just kept getting too close to the pressure points in my life right now. I was beginning to think he liked me a little – in more than a study buddy kind of way. But then again why else would a boy be so willing to help me in all the ways he wanted to help me? If he was attracted to me it was kind of flattering. He wasn’t a weirdo, he wasn’t predatory, he was nice and he wanted to help. When I was calm again – when my life was all fixed up – I would be nice to him and thank him for that. But he had no chance of anything else with me. Brandon was one hundred per cent my main man, and in between fits of worry and angst, I still remembered the feeling of his skin on mine, the fullness of my body when he was within me, and the sweet release when we came together. Indulging in those memories became my only joy that weekend as I began to turn my job around. I worked hard, I was polite, and when the odd jerk-off tried to do one per cent more than simply eye me up in my waitress get up, I just gave him my killer sickly sweet smile. If the jerk in question looked closely enough, he would have seen the total contempt in my eyes. But thankfully they didn’t, and the tips kept flowing. By Sunday night, my weekend’s earnings were enough to make me think anything was achievable. Even mission impossible. I spoke to Brandon by phone and we reminisced about our night together and we were hastily planning another. But to enjoy our time even more, I needed to fix things with the Dean. Brandon told me not to worry about anything, that it would come good, but I’d heard that line already from Cody. I knew I was in charge of my own destiny and I had the responsibility to fix it. The Dean was being unreasonable, and I planned to tell him so. I intended to get my original deadline reinstated.

  Tired as hell on Monday morning, having applied enough cosmetics to make a drag queen look stunning, I sauntered to college and arrived by eleven am. I got a coffee for Dutch courage – it was too early for the Union bar – and planned my best lines and appeals. If I had to, I decided I would even resort to flirting. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

  My class was at one pm. I had time for my grand appeal to the Dean with time to spare to sort my head out and wipe my tears away before class if he said no. The moment had arrived. I tossed my coffee cup into the trash and knocked on Dean Jonathan’s door.

  “Come in!” he called. My heart was thudding all over the place. It felt like Black Beauty was doing an Equestrian show over my lungs. I walked in, and there was a moment of surprise on the handsome Dean’s face. His eyebrows flew up and he shuffled in his chair.

  “Ashley Pearson! Good morning.”

  “Good morning, Dean.” His light tone really surprised me. It was almost friendly, but I wasn’t going to mirror it back to him. The Dean was becoming my nemesis.

  “I didn’t expect to see you today.”

  “Really? After that letter I didn’t feel I had any choice but to come in.”

  The man rubbed a hand across his forehead as if there was a fringe to brush out of the way. There wasn’t. He was acting self-conscious, and I was becoming confused.

  “Ahhh. That letter. It was very formal, but you see, after your attendance reports came into my office…”

  “Came into your office? Did they come so soon because you specifically requested them?”

  The man’s face reddened. “I have a right to check on a student’s progress, do I not?”

  “Especially if you have taken against a student for any particular reason.”

  “Now, come on Ashley. That’s unfair and inappropriate. You were not in a position to pay your fees, we both knew that, only you didn’t want to see the light. I have a job to do, and some if it can be difficult.”

  “Yeah. Difficult. Listen. I was wondering, do you ever make exceptions?” I tried to throw off the fug of my annoyance. I wanted to scratch his face to pieces, but instead I sat down opposite him, smiled and leaned forward. I made my voice a little softer too.

  “Exceptions?”

  “I mean, for someone facing my kind of challenges? Someone who is a bright and determined student, who could potentially be an example to other students who are currently struggling? Wouldn’t it make a great story for the college magazine?”

  The Dean was about to speak, but he got caught up in something. I felt his awkwardness. He was beginning to notice me in a different way, and he didn’t want to. I was pleased to catch him off guard. He looked away from me, asserting control over himself. Maybe I imagined he liked me. A night with a guy like Brandon could give a girl a big head.

  “Now, sometimes we have extended timeframes, Ashley. But your situation was far too difficult for that. You made it clear you had no means to pay whatsoever. You’d missed the student loan window. There was no bursary, as we discussed. Your best chance of completing the course was to withdraw and come back again next year.”

  I let go of the flirtation technique and sat back in the chair.

  “Dean, you keep saying ‘was.’ That’s past tense.”

  The man nodded and smiled. “Yes, Ashley. Past tense. I think the letter I sent you must have given your situation some impetus, am I right?”

  “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

  “Surely you do? This morning a payment was made to student services against your account, against your student identification number.”

  “What?”

  “Ashley, your student fees have been paid. In full.”

  “Can you please say that again?”

  “Your student fees have been paid. A sum of £9000 was paid. You have no more debt and no fees to pay until your next academic year. In short, Miss Pearson, you are a free woman. And my hearty recommendation to you is to go and concentrate on your studies and use all that stubborn determination to go and get yourself the best degree you possibly can.”

  I was stunned.

  “The payment. Who made the payment?”

  The Dean screwed up his face. “You mean you don’t know?”

  I shook my head. “I want to know.”

  “Hang on a second.” The Dean picked up the phone on his desk and made a call.

  “Hello. It’s Dean Mayhew here. You know that payment on Ashley Pearson’s account? Yes, the cash one. That’s it. Did the person paying leave a name? Right, so they signed the docket. Great. What does it say?”

  The Dean blinked and his eyes widened. “Thanks Mary. That’ll do for now.”

  “Who was it?”

  “It was a gentleman. That’s all we know.”

  “What about their name? They signed for the payment, I heard you ask that.”

  “Yeah. They signed “A . Friend.” You’ve got an amazing friend there Ashley.”

  “So it seems. Thanks Dean.”

  I stood and walked out of his office without a farewell. Faces dropped into my mind. Cody. Brandon. Even Regan. Though as soon as Regan appeared, I wiped his face away. There was no way on planet Earth that Regan had paid his debt. Cody’s face and words came back to me. He reassured me everything would be okay, that I would be able to do this. Cody was getting some traction with his writing, and the teachers liked him. Maybe he had earned money from his writing than he was letting on. And I knew he liked me and he kept trying to help me. I felt a surge of relief and gratitude all in one. But as I thought about Cody’s meddling, and his motivation for doing so, a new fire welled up within me. I had to thank him, but more than that, I had to challenge him. He needed to back off right now.

  I found Cody exactly where I expected, sitting with his head in a book back at the college library. Through my
rage tinted glasses, I saw he was writing in a notebook. It didn’t look like college work, but right then, it didn’t matter what Cody was doing. I was mad as hell. Couldn’t the guy take a hint?

  “You said it would turn out all right, didn’t you Cody?”

  Cody looked up from his notebook and smiled. Then he must have seen my face, because his dropped like a stone.

  “Maybe you just need to wait a while longer. Things will turn out okay, they will.”

  “No, I don’t need to wait any longer. First off, I’d better get the thank you out of the way. So thanks.”

  “Excuse me? Are we still on Planet Earth or have I woken up in Dimension X?”

  “Did you want me to say it with flowers, maybe, or a box of chocolates? Or maybe you had something else in mind?”

  I was standing at Cody’s side. There were plenty of other students around, and now they were beginning to look over at us. I didn’t give a solitary damn.

  “Ashley.” Cody put his book down. “I don’t want you to thank me for a thing. Not ever if it comes out like this. Why are you always so angry with me?”

  “So you don’t want me to thank you for paying off my tuition fees? Is that it?”

  Cody’s face flickered and he shook his head. “Someone paid you tuition fees? Who?”

  “You.”

  Cody laughed. “Nooooo way! I didn’t do that! Wow, I would have loved to have done that, Ashley, of course I would, but hey, three thousand is a lot of money.”

  My mind was spinning. Quietly now I said “It wasn’t three. It was the whole nine Gs.”

  “Nine thousand! The fees for the whole year! That’s astounding. Ashley, you should be overjoyed. Not angry. And, Ashley, it definitely WAS NOT me. Now, does that make you any happier? Jeez.”

  I looked at Cody hard. He was upset, his face earnest. I hoped my look softened towards him. He was being honest, it really wasn’t him.

  “So… have you guessed who it is yet – your mysterious benefactor?”

  “I think so.”

  “Then you best go and give them the thanks they deserve. Every scintilla of the joyful thanks you had reserved for me.”

  “Yeah… right. Cody?”

  His face was pointing down towards his journal.

  “Yes?” He didn’t look up.

  “Sorry.”

  “Yes,” was all he said. He deserved peace from me, so I turned heel and walked away. Before I was out in the precinct, I was texting Brandon. “Hey B. Where are you?”

  A half minute later came the reply. “Lunchtime drinks in the Union bar. Coming along Gorgeous?”

  Brandon managed to do something to my body even by text. I was still angry, though perhaps I’d let off some steam on Cody, so maybe not as angry as I had been to start with. And reading his text I could hear his voice and felt his touch and his breath on my face. But what Brandon had done was beyond helping. It was too much and I needed to tell him so. I had to keep my resolve. I needed to get my act together first. I texted him back. “Union bar, after class. See you then x.” Going to class would buy me to time to prepare myself.

  I saw Brandon in class and we waved at each other. Cody saw our little wave, and wore a serious face. I gave Cody a smile too, and he gave a weak half nod in return. Poor guy, I’d bitten his head off so many times, I guessed I owed him a beer or ten. Throughout the lecture I felt shock, and a new sense of freedom. The idea that I didn’t have to work anymore suddenly dawned on me. How good it would be to politely tell Purdy where to shove her job and her outdated expectations. But I knew I still needed my independence and freedom. I couldn’t become totally free of my obligations like this. Was any of this right? I left the lecture two minutes early because I wanted to walk to the Union bar alone. When Brandon came walking in soon after, talking to a couple of his literati guys, I was standing at the edge of the bar area. I had bought my own drink. When he saw me, the jokey humour and the laughter fell away, his eyes got big and earnest and he headed my way. He walked up to me and tried to enfold me in his strong arms. I let him a little, because I wanted those arms around me, but I didn’t want them either. Why was I being such a bitch? My new man was a hero, he had paid off a debt that was hanging around my neck, but here I was unhappy and ready to tell him so.

  “Sweetheart, look at you. I missed you.”

  The anger was ready but his amazing looks took the wind out of my sails. He reached out and touched my hair, and I softened a little more. My voice came out funny.

  “Brandon, I wanted to say thank you… and that we need to talk.”

  He let out a huge beaming smile which knocked me for six. He was stunning.

  “You found out already! Fantastic! What do you think about that?”

  “I think… I think it’s great…but…” He pulled me into his arms and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. It felt good, but on the inside I was getting in knots.

  “You are free, Ashley. You can get on and study, you can spend time with me, and you don’t have to be stressed anymore. All that worry filling your head, it can go as of now.”

  “Yeah. It’s good to have the pressure lifted…”

  I hesitated. He was waiting for me to say something else, but whatever I said next was going to change things, and I wasn’t sure I wanted that. Not yet. But I had to speak. Just when I was going to launch into my half-arsed, weak-willed explanation of just why I was being so ungrateful, two of his friends turned up at his side, one with a pool cue in his hand, the other with a spare pint of beer for his friend. Brandon took the drink.

  “Hey, Paul, Greg. Meet Ashley. This girl is going places at this college, believe me.”

  “Hi,” I said, wanting them to go away quickly so I could get this over with.

  “Until this morning Ashley was due to pay a huge tuition fee bill. She had a nine grand debt hanging over her head, and Dean Mayhew was trying to force her off the course.”

  “Really?” said the guy with the spare beer.

  “Absolutely. But thanks to a little help from A Friend, Ashley is a free woman and the Dean can’t touch her. Now she’s totally free to join our merry band!”

  I made a big smile, but now I felt embarrassed and super awkward. Even worse, Amanda walked in and joined us, seeming every bit the best-looking-brunette-waif-with-arty-hair this college had ever seen. When she looked at me, I saw bristling resentment in her eyes.

  “Amanda, this is Ashley. The newest addition to our super-set.”

  “I’ve seen you around,” was all she could muster. I’d seen her around too. And even though Brandon had really hurt my feelings by showing off that he had paid off my debt, I took a step closer to Brandon in Amanda’s presence. I was seething inside because the debt was my responsibility… and when it was paid, my burden had gone, where was my independence? I was so mixed up and tired, I couldn’t work out whether to be grateful or angry, so I hovered grimly between both. Brandon took his pint and laughed with his friends, laying an arm on my shoulder. Amanda didn’t make any attempt to talk with me. The barrier between us was thick and cold, and I wanted it to stay there

  “Brandon… I need to go,” I said, whispering to him.

  “But you’ve finished classes, right?”

  “Yeah… but still…”

  He lifted the pint glass to his mouth and tipped it back.

  “Then I’m coming with you, baby.” He grabbed up his jacket and said goodbye to his friends. I nodded a goodbye to all of them apart from Amanda. It wasn’t worth wasting the time.

  I guess I should have known what was going to happen next. I wasn’t working until the evening and being alone with Brandon still felt so good, even when I had all these questions and some hurt inside. I put them to the back of my mind, and let him wrap his arm around me. I closed out the world, and the unpleasant swirl of emotions as I waited for the taxi with him.

  “Why did you do that, Brandon? Why did you pay all that money for me?”

  “Because.”

  “Beca
use what?”

  “Because I want you to be happy and I want you to be free. Free to be mine.”

  They were the last words we spoke before I surrendered myself into his arms. I revelled in his strength and dominance, and his masculine scent. His words echoed in my mind. I was free – but I was only free to be his. What did that mean?

  His apartment was silent and empty. He took my hand and led me to the main room – living room - we had snuck past on Friday night. It was spacious with an array of sofas before a gigantic flat screen TV. There were side tables scattered around the sofa, but what immediately caught my eye was the deep white rug. It caught Brandon’s too. I still wanted to argue with him, or at least tell him that he didn’t own me – and that he never would. I wanted to tell him I was going to pay him off just as quick as I had intended to pay the Uni, but when I looked into his big shining eyes, I just knew this wasn’t the time. I stood in the middle of the room, on the rug. He read my mind and walked over towards me. Today I was wearing my long-sleeved T shirt, and a denim skirt. I knew the skirt looked good with my knee high leather boots. He looked at me and made his move, enfolding me with his arms, pressed himself to me and kissed me ravenously. His tongue swept over mine, and he picked me up in his arms and held me off the ground, seizing my ass with his hands so my skirt rode up and my legs simply had no choice but to encircle his hips. He was so strong and having my legs around him again felt so good. I kissed him back, sucking his tongue back into my mouth. He groaned in pleasure, then he let me down. His eyes were ravenous.