Zeke (The Powers That Be, Book 2) (10 page)

When the next Monday
morning came, I don’t know why, but I found that I was somewhat
excited for class hoping Zeke would be there. I really shouldn’t
have been
.

Entering the
room, I saw that he was gone again which made me frown, but after I
was seated and just as Dr. Weston started taking roll, Zeke
sauntered in looking hot as ever. His eyes landed on mine and one
side of his mouth tipped up as he moved toward his seat. But he
didn’t go to
his
seat. Nope. He went to the one next to me.
Shit.

“Good morning,
Scarlett,” he whispered, his voice all deep and sexy, and when he
sat, his thigh knocked into mine and his forearm brushed against my
own. Gah.

My breathing
sped up at just hearing him speak to me, my heart racing because
he’d touched me (jeez) and I knew if I’d had a short-sleeved shirt
on, the goose bumps would be abundant. Talk about being a complete
mess. And then the way he smelled so friggin’ good, all spicy and
manly, my God, he was just an assault on all my senses, which,
throw in that I also knew how he tasted, and that got another
full-body shiver from me.

I gave him a
weak smile then turned to the front, opening the textbook, pushing
it closer to him so we could share. Mistake. He put his arm on the
back of my chair and scooted me closer to him so we were all nice
and cuddly now.

“What are you
doing,” I hissed under my breath, keeping my head down so Dr.
Weston wouldn’t see me talking.

“Sharing,” he
replied.

Our thighs
were practically fused together now and I was tucked under his arm
possessively which meant I couldn’t push away from him without
making a scene.

“Zeke,” I
whispered hoping he’d understand and move away.

He leaned
down, subtly putting his nose in my hair. “Rain,” he mumbled but
didn’t move away.

“What?” I
asked, still looking down at the book.

“Your hair. It
smells like rain. I love that. A lot.”

I closed my
eyes not wanting to like what he said but I most definitely
did.

Class started
but I had no idea what it was we were being taught because my
attention had been hijacked by the hot guy sitting beside me. I
couldn’t help but be hyperaware of everything when it came to Zeke,
every breath he took, how he was so warm against me, how good it
felt when, with his arm still on the back of my chair, he rubbed
his thumb slowly over my upper arm making me want to melt into him
and give in to my desires, telling myself to screw my rules and go
for it.

But I knew
that couldn’t happen, so by the time class was over, I’d given
myself the pep talk I hadn’t gotten to use the other day and when
we were dismissed, I pushed away from him then stood quickly
grabbing my bag.

“Uh, you can
keep the book,” I said, then hastily made my way out of there.

As I jogged
down the steps outside the building, I heard him calling,
“Scarlett!” but I didn’t stop. Just as I got to Jezebel and opened
the door, his hand went to it keeping me from opening it farther.
“Stop.”

I spun and
looked up at him, shading my eyes with my hand. “What do you want,
Zeke?” I asked almost angrily. This was so not how I wanted my
morning to go.

He shut the
door behind me and took a step forward, backing me against my car.
“I wanna know why you ran the other night.”

I shook my
head and rolled my eyes trying to affect a casual attitude even
though my heart was racing at his closeness. “I didn’t run. I
left.”

His eyes
narrowed. “And there’s a difference?”

“Yes, there’s
a difference!” I crossed my arms over my chest wishing he’d back
away.

“Then why’d
you
leave
?”

“I told you
from the start, I can’t get involved with you.” I looked up at him
for a moment then it hit me. “You don’t like this, do you? You’re
that guy who’s used to being the one who walks away. That’s what
this is, isn’t it? It’s not that you like me or whatever. It’s that
it pisses you off that you can’t have me.” Revelation! Duh!

He chuckled
then brought his hand up, running the backs of his fingers down my
cheek. “Oh, I’ll have you, Scarlett.” At my big eyes and gasp he
continued. “And when I get you, it’s gonna be awesome. But for now
you should know
this guy
also loves the thrill of the
chase.”

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit!

He gave me his
half grin which knocked the breath out of me at how friggin’
beautiful he was, then taking my chin in his fingers, he leaned
down and touched his mouth to mine sending all kinds of heat
through my body, especially to one area in particular. When he
pulled back, he was full-on grinning. “Later,” he said then turned
and walked away nonchalantly as if he hadn’t just turned my world
upside down
.

After our little
têtê-à-têtê in the parking lot Monday, Zeke didn’t show up for
class on Wednesday
.

Nor was he
there Friday.

He didn’t make
The Nook that weekend.

And I didn’t
see him the next week either.

I wondered if
he was off doing pro football stuff and thought maybe he was, so
that made his absence easier to deal with, which, I don’t know why
I was having a tough time dealing with it in the first place, but
whatever.

The next
weekend came and went and he hadn’t come into The Nook. And when he
wasn’t in class again that Monday or Wednesday or Friday, I worried
about how he was going to keep up with his assignments.

“It’s none of
your business,” I muttered to myself as I left class and resolved
to just keep on living my ho-hum, no-fun existence telling myself
things would be better for me one day soon when I had my bakery up
and running.

And I was okay
with that,
had
to be okay with it, Zeke Powers be
damned.

~*~*~*~

Zeke had been
AWOL in class Monday and Wednesday of the next week. I was working
Wednesday night at the Dean’s office and Dr. Moreland asked me to
take more mail to the Athletic Director’s office. As I walked
across campus, I couldn’t help but wonder if Zeke would be working
out in the weight room again. At least I could make sure everything
was okay since I hadn’t seen him around for going on three weeks.
Yep. That’s the only reason I hoped he’d be there, to make sure he
was all right. Once inside the building, I smiled when I heard
music and weights clanking from inside the weight room and felt my
heart speed up. I even ran a finger over my teeth and fixed my hair
for good measure, but when I walked by slowly looking inside, I saw
three guys who I didn’t know.

And my spirits
flagged.

God, what was
up with me? I’d set my rules. I’d followed them for two years. And
now Zeke was respecting them. And I was upset about it.

So. Dumb.

But not being
able to help the disappointment that plagued me, I continued on to
the A.D.’s office dropping off everything then headed back to the
Dean’s office. On the way, I had to stop and sit on a bench because
I was so pissed at myself for feeling this way, so after digging my
phone out of my pocket, I called Jayla.

“What’s up,
buttercup?” she answered cheerily as usual.

“Jay, tell me
I’m an idiot.”

“You’re an
idiot.”

I let out a
chuckle. “I’m pathetic.”

“Why,
honey?”

“Because I
told Zeke I couldn’t see him and now I’m kind of upset because he’s
nowhere to be found. Tell me I’m dumb.”

“You’re
dumb.”

That made me
laugh more. “Shit. What’s wrong with me?” I shook my head as I
watched a couple walking together holding hands and laughing, which
B.Z. (before Zeke) I would’ve noticed but been immune to. But now
A.Z., coupledom had become glaringly noticeable, each encounter
with it giving me a little pang where my heart had once occupied a
space.

“Scar, I’ve
told you a gazillion times. It’s like you’re punishing yourself for
what happened with those fuckholes you dated by not going out with
anyone. I know you’re focused on the future, but even though you
finally
had sex, and it was
really
good even though
you won’t give me any deets, is abstinence
really
a part of
that plan? I mean, your vag is gonna dry up like some old
prune!”

I snorted.
“Except for what happened three weeks ago, I think it’s well on its
way.”

She giggled.
“Bullshit. You told me that Zeke got you revved up. So, why don’t
you call him? See if he wants to get a drink and if you’re still
madly attracted to him, then you could see if he wants to help
remedy your problem again. You don’t have to date him, you know,
but you
can
get laid. That’s like guy heaven: all the pussy
he wants and no attachments.”

I huffed out a
laugh. Pure Jay. But it wasn’t a bad idea. I could use the whole
getting his book back to him as an opening. “You’re right. I think
I will.”

“Good! And it
sounds like he’s the perfect candidate for it anyway because he’s
got loads of experience when it comes to sex and I’m sure if you
walked away, he’d be okay with it like he has been the past three
weeks.”

Ouch.

I hadn’t told
her that he’d said he was interested in me because what did it
matter since I wasn’t going to get serious with him anyway? But
what she’d said had kind of hit a nerve. Then again, she was right.
He had been okay that I’d walked away.

“Thanks, Jay.
I’ll call him in a bit.”

“’Kay! Go get
‘em, tiger!” She let out a rawr then donkey laughed and hung
up.

~*~*~*~

I finished up
at the Dean’s office and before leaving, took a deep breath then
dialed Zeke’s number.

“Yo,” he
answered, shouting over the party sounds I heard in the background,
and I felt myself shiver at just hearing his voice again. Jeez.

“Uh,
Zeke?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s
Scarlett.”

“Who?” he
yelled.

Oh, God. He’d
already forgotten who I was. I closed my eyes and drew in a
breath.

“Scarlett.
O’Rourke? From class?” I clarified.
You know, the chick who
fucked you then acted like a world-class bitch?

“Zeke!” a
woman called but it came out more like
Zeeeeeeeeeke!
“I’ve
missed you! Where’ve you been, handsome?”

“Who is this?”
he asked again.

Crap. He had
forgotten me. Of course he had. How stupid was I to think that
after being such an ass to him, he’d still be interested. So I did
the mature thing and hung up. Then after throwing my phone into my
purse, I locked up the office and headed out to Jezebel feeling
like a fool.

“’Why don’t
you call him? See if he wants to get a drink? At least you can get
laid,’” I mimicked Jay’s words as I walked. Brilliant plan, Ms. Van
Zandt.

Upon getting
inside Jezebel and turning the key, of course she wouldn’t start.
I’d been noticing her getting a little more draggy the past several
days but was hoping she’d hold out until Dad got home in a week
when he could take a look at the carburetor.

“Goddamn it!
C’mon, Jezebel! You can do it! Just a couple more times then I’ll
fix you right up! I promise!”

But Jezebel
wasn’t convinced and after trying several more times to get her
running, but to no avail, I put my forehead on the steering wheel
thinking this was the perfect ending to a perfectly shitty day.

So I threw a
little pity party for myself which was just fabulous. But, really,
why did all this shit have to happen to me? I had a mom who didn’t
give a fuck about my brother or me, I’d had to drop out of school
to help my family survive, I had a little brother who I’d
practically raised and had worried numerous times over the years
about whether he’d get three meals a day or not, and on top of all
that, I’d abstained from anything self-gratifying for two fucking
years. Zeke had forgotten me. And now Jezebel was being a bitch and
I couldn’t afford to get her fixed.

And I’d had
enough. Letting out a scream of exasperation which segued into a
whole string of cuss words and tears of frustration—God, don’t
forget the friggin’ tears—I pounded my hands against the steering
wheel in frustration.

Oh, yay. The
pity party was in full force now.

But why did
everything have to be so hard? Why couldn’t I be like the gorgeous
sorority girls who traipsed their way across campus daily with not
a care in the world? I mean, I’m sure they had their own problems
but at least they had money to deal with them. Oh, who was I to
judge? They probably had just as many things that upset them as I
did. They just covered it up better than I was doing at the moment
which made me cry harder.

Some twenty
minutes later, after FeelSorryForMeFest 2.0 had finally fizzled out
a bit, I put my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes
letting the tears have their way as they coursed down my face. God,
I was tired. I was only twenty-four but felt like I was Grammy’s
age. This went on for another five minutes then I decided it was
enough. You know you’re only allocated so much whining in your
lifetime and I thought I’d probably used more than half of my
allotment tonight.

I took several
deep breaths to stave off those stupid shuddery sobs that always
accompany a hard cry and when I felt I could talk without my voice
wavering, it was time to call Jay to see if she could give me a
ride home. I’d deal with Jezebel tomorrow. Reaching for my purse on
the passenger seat to retrieve my phone I’d just pulled up her
number when I yelped and almost jumped out of my skin at someone’s
tap on my window
.