Page 16 of Embrace

It’s one of the reasons I’ve never made that fact known. Nobody could tell anyway, but it felt safer to keep that part of me close. That way I could just be Scarlett, not the coach’s daughter.

But my dad has warned both me and Sierra away from hockey players for years, so crushing on one of his players now is the ultimate betrayal. The guy thinks no one’s good enough for me, and if he found out how close I was to drawing hearts in my notebooks about the player who’s caused him to plan an early retirement, it wouldn’t bode well for anyone.

I’ve eaten only half of my ramen when Sierra stands with her empty tray. “See you back at the dorm?”

I nod just before she takes off with her bag. I notice the way she shrinks herself as she passes the groups of athletes, trying to slip away undetected. I go to toss my empty cup of ramen when someone calls my name.

As usual, my stomach tightens, because at Dalton you never know who’s going to approach you. But when I turn, I see Kian Ishida walking toward me.

My gaze catches on the sliver of skin at his exposed midriff, his wrinkled white shirt stiff and short on his long frame. I don’t dare look at his veiny arms, or the rings adorning his thick fingers. He’s got on faded blue jeans, ripped in some places, and white sneakers.

“You weren’t at the library,” he says, slightly out of breath when he reaches me.

“Huh?”

“The library? We were supposed to meet there to talk about our new arrangement, remember?”

Arrangement? Oh my God. Thedeal.

This can’t be real.

“That was a joke. Y-you were drunk,” I remind him.

“I wasn’t,” he says. “Well, drunk, yeah, but I wasn’t joking. You shouldn’t have to deal with those creeps. I can keep them away, and you can help me graduate. That’s what we decided, right? Your reputation, my graduation?”

My words catch in my throat as I blink rapidly. “Do you realize what hanging around me would do toyourreputation?”

I expect him to realize I’m right, that this won’t be worth it for him.

“Well, it’s a good thing their opinions don’t mean shit to me. Which, by the way, is lesson one: Fuck. Everyone.” He pauses. “Well, excluding the people you actually care about.”

I shake my head hard enough to rattle something loose. “Look, it’s a nice thought and all, but you don’t need to do that. You don’t have to associate yourself with me. I can find you someone who actually tutors Dunn’s students—”

But Kian’s already moving. He climbs onto the table I was just eating at, right in the middle of the dining hall, startling a guy who is now seated there, and the sound of Kian’s sneakers hitting the wood makes half the room look up.

“What are you doing?” I mutter, my pulse skyrocketing as people start whispering. Even the professors pause mid-bite, like this is their entertainment for the day.

“Scarlett.” His voice booms across the room. Then he crouches down and whispers, “Wait, what’s your last name?”

“Why?” He just stares, waiting for my response. I hesitate, feeling the name on my tongue before saying, “Rose.”

There’s a deep, almost instant swell of guilt in my stomach when he tilts his head, as if he’s wondering if that’s my real name, before he stands tall again.

“Scarlett Rose, will you be my friend? I cannot”—he clutches his chest dramatically—“I cannot continue this cruel, meaningless life without you by my side!”

I nearly choke on air. “What the hell are you doing? Get down!”

“It’s a grand gesture, Scar. Let it happen,” he whispers, before straightening to his full height. “So…is that a yes or a no? Only one will shatter my heart, but hey, that’s not your problem.”

Every set of eyes in the room lands on me, and I can feel my entire face heating up.

“Put me out of my misery, Scarlett!”

“Okay! Yes. I’ll be your friend,” I shout.

A grin splits his face as he bows to the crowd, earning a smattering of confused, hesitant applause. Then, with the kind of grace that shouldn’t belong to someone his size, he hops down from the table, landing light as a cat.

“Perfect. So, tutoring tomorrow at four?” he asks casually, as if he didn’t just cause a scene. Or that his sneakers didn’t make contact with that poor freshman’s oatmeal.