Tutoring the Bad Boy

Not So Bright Light

Ryan

The coach's voice kept going round and round in my head: Ryan, if you don't keep your grades up, you'll be kicked off the team.

I rubbed the back of my neck as whispers floated around me. People watching me walk toward the quad as if they had nothing better to do.

It was sad. I was a student just like them. The only difference: I was Winter River University's star soccer player.

Because of me, the Winter River Miners won the state cup last year. I was a god to these students, and I hated it. People came up to me everywhere I went, wanting something from me—a pic or to crash their party to get cred. Girls threw themselves at me all the time.

It was nice at first, but after my ex-girlfriend cheated on me and said she only dated me for the attention, I realized every one of these students wanted a piece of me. They didn't care about me, just what I could do for the team, for their school, or for them.

As much as I hated the attention, I wasn't about to give up my goal of being a professional soccer player, and that meant not getting kicked off the team. My ultimate dream was to play for the Liverpool Football Club one day. My dad and I might not have seen eye to eye on most things, but soccer was one thing we could bond over. He was from England, and that was his favorite team. We watched all their games together when I was growing up.

After my parents divorced when I was sixteen, he was heartbroken when I lived with my mom. But my mom never put her job before her family, and I couldn't say the same of my dad. Being a cop was his life, and I wondered where I fit into it. I hadn't spoken to him in months and wondered if I'd ever speak to him again.

I was lost in my thoughts, wondering if the tutor I was going to meet today could help me understand biology. Then I saw something green fly across the air in the distance.

It was a Frisbee, and it hit a girl. Even from this far away, I could tell she was gorgeous with long, flowing brown hair.

Something surged in me upon watching her shrink back in pain. A primal anger and protectiveness that I had never felt before flowed through my veins.

My pace picked up as I moved closer to make sure she was okay. I knew he hurt her from the way she covered her eye.

When I was several yards away, I heard the asshole who threw the Frisbee joke about her weight, accusing her of being at fault. Suddenly, my anger grew tenfold. My fists tightened, and I turned toward him. He was tall but lanky. I could easily break him if I wanted to.

I knew I should calm down—the last thing I needed was to cause a scene that Coach would find out about—but that jackass needed a good kick in the pants.

Right before I got to him, he said something else. He called her a name that made me sick to my stomach.

My hand landed on his chest so hard, he stumbled back into the tree. He told me to get off, but I laughed.

I knew I had a temper. Coach had warned me many times to keep it in check, or I'd get kicked off the team. I'd be the first to admit that, until this year, I was reckless and gave zero fucks about anyone but myself.

But after what my ex did, I realized she did to me what I had done to everyone around me. I spent the past year working on my temper and keeping it in check, and I'd done a good job... until now. For that one moment, I was going to tap into my bad boy reserves and let this weasel get what he had coming.

"Dude, seriously, I can't breathe." His wiry arms tugged at mine with zero effect.

"I don't hear you apologizing for being an asshole?" I tilted my head.