* * *
Me: Just arrived. Shouldn’t you be practicing, Captain?
* * *
I smiled.
* * *
QB#1: You can tell Darcy from me that she'd better take care of my girl.
* * *
The knot in my stomach tightened. Jason thought Darcy was a girl, just like I had when I pulled one of her—his—tickets off the advert pinned to one of the course noticeboards.
Crap.
He wasn’t going to like this. It wasn’t about not trusting me. Jason had a problem trusting anyone with a dick around me. But it worked both ways. If I knew Jase was getting tutoring from a girl, that he was spending a lot of time with someone who wasn’t me, I’d be jealous too.
It was just the way we loved each other. Deeply. Obsessively. Completely.
Darcy chose that exact moment to return, placing my latte down in front of me. “I didn’t know if you’d eaten or not, so I grabbed two blueberry muffins.”
“I already had breakfast, but thank you.”
“Hey, more for me, right?” His smile was easy, his eyes warm. Darcy didn’t give off creeper vibes. He was nice, friendly, even if a little forward.
“So, Penn Vet, how’s that going for you?”
“I want to say it’s a breeze, but then I wouldn’t be sitting here.”
“Yeah, freshman year can be a shock to the system, but it gets easier, I promise.”
“Why do I feel like you’re sugarcoating the truth?” Our laughter swirled around us. “Thanks, for the latte.” I brought the glass to my lips, reveling in the bittersweet smell of cream and coffee beans.
“Anytime. So why don’t you tell me what you struggled with last year and we can look at your classes for this semester and figure out a plan of action.”
“Sounds good.” Some of the tension left me. Darcy was my tutor. This was strictly a business relationship. Jason couldn’t get pissed about that. Besides, he knew I was his.
I felt a lick of determination skitter up my spine. I needed this if I was going to be able to survive sophomore year. I needed help.
And Darcy Bannerman came highly recommended.
After almost two hours, and a rigorous plan, Darcy and I packed away our things and left the coffee shop. “So I’ll see you Wednesday?” he said, waiting for me to move ahead of him.
“Sounds good,” I said, ducking around him and stumbling straight into—
“Jason?”
“Hey,” he shot me a smile that made my knees weak. “How was tutoring?” His arms went around me, as he dipped his head to kiss me.
“It was good. I... uh... this is Darcy, my tutor.” I wriggled free of his grasp to step aside and introduce them.
The second Jason’s eyes landed on Darcy his expression darkened. “You’re the tutor?”
“Darcy Bannerman.” He held out his hand. “You must be the boyfriend.”
Jason narrowed his gaze, staring at Darcy’s hand as if it was contagious.