Bad Professor (An Alpha Male Bad Boy Romance) (36 page)

Please
God, no.

*

I raced into the house, not thinking about
anything but saving my mother. I made it to the bedroom in time to see Daniel
crawl on top of her and sit on her chest. A scream left me as I launched myself
at him, ripping him backward and pressing his face into the ground.

"Mom, tell me you're alright." I
pressed my knee into the back of his neck and tried to get a hold of myself.

"I'm okay. I'm just glad you're
here." She moved to the edge of the bed as Daniel threw himself around on
the floor.

"Good. I have a friend outside. Her
name is Val. Go out there and talk with her while I deal with this creep.
Okay?" I looked up, half expecting her to look bloody again. She didn't.

"Okay." She was crying as she
ran from the room.

"You're such a piece of shit. You're
lucky I have something worth living for or I'd kill you right now." I
pressed my knee into his neck harder, and he gave a strangled sound.

The echo of the cop siren coming down the
street caused me to pull back a little, which was a mistake I should have been
smart enough not to make.

Daniel turned over, taking me with him
before slamming his body on top of mine. Something glimmered as the light
caught it, and I realized that he had a knife.

I didn't have time to move, but I didn't
need to. The look on his face as the baseball bat hit him in the shoulder was
priceless. I was shocked to see Val standing behind him with terror on her
pretty features.

"Give me that." I scrambled to
my feet and grabbed the bat from her as the cops walked in.

"Drop the bat, son. Now!" one of
the cops yelled as he lifted his gun toward me.

Of all things I didn't want the girl
beside me to see, this had to be at the very top of the list. I dropped the bat
and lifted my hands into the air as one of the cops moved in and pulled my arms
behind my back.

"Wait. He didn't do anything. This
creep attacked his mother!" Val wasn't going to be quiet, which was so
fucking endearing that I almost told her then that I was going to marry her one
day, but I didn't.

"We'll sort it out. Get outside now,
miss, or we'll cuff you, too." The cop glared at her.

"No the fuck you won't." Her
chin lifted, and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Her daddy will shut your whole force
down. She's David Scott's daughter." I laughed as one of the cops gasped.

"Alright, I don't care who you are.
Out!" The bigger of the two pointed to the door, and she finally turned
and walked out.

The two cops mumbled about how ridiculous
the night had already been, and now this. I was beyond trying to hold in my
emotions. Laughter bubbled up out of me, and I was sure it was because I was
cracking. I'd have to tell Sam the next day, and he'd know that there was no
way I could make this shit up. My life was just this weird at times.

They hustled me outside, and my mother
walked up, trying to explain everything to them. Valentine pulled her back and
walked with her to the house before looking over her shoulder at me.

"I'm okay," I called out to her
and winked. Val was nothing like I expected. I was in far more trouble than I
imagined possible.

Chapter 17

Val

I sat down across from Tate's mother and
let out a long sigh. I'd been in a few odd situations, but nothing like the one
I'd just gone through. When she had come out of the house crying, my first
inclination was to pull her into my arms.

She'd tried to explain what had happened,
but something inside of me broke open, and I didn't care about anything but
helping Tate get out of there, too. The baseball bat was sitting by the couch
as I made my way down the hall, and from that moment on, I simply acted on
instinct. Now that it was over and the cops had Tate's mother's boyfriend with
them, I was suddenly exhausted.

"He's a good boy. He just loves me
and wants to protect me. To save me – or all of us, really," the pretty
older woman across me from spoke up.

"I like that about him." My
heart fluttered in my chest as I glanced around the small kitchen. It was
dilapidated to some degree, but it was homey and smelled like vanilla.

"He seems quite taken with you, too.
He rarely brings anyone out to the house. I think it's because of us being poor."
She laughed, but the sound fell flat. There was nothing funny about it.

"I don't take anyone home,
either." I shrugged as I shared my own situation. "My parents are
horrible and usually leave me feeling like I'm nothing by the time I leave.
They don't care who's there to witness it, either."

Tate walked in as we both stiffened, like
we were caught in the middle of something.

"You girls okay?" He glanced
from me to his mother.

"Yeah, I think we're okay." I
got up and moved to stand in front of him. "You?"

My eyes moved across him as I tried to
assess if he were hurt. Everyone happened too damn fast to figure out what
really went down.

"I'm good. I'm so sorry, Val."
He reached out and touched the side of my face as sadness brushed across his.
"I told you it was going to be bad."

"It's my fault." His mother let
out a long sigh before getting up from the table.

We turned to watch her as she pulled a few
things from the fridge. "You guys go hang out in the living room and talk.
I'll warm up something good for dinner."

"You wanna stay? I can take you back
home if you want. I know this has probably been too much." He looked over
at me. A part of the tough guy had softened, and I wanted to stay to see where
the night led.

"I'm good. I can go home after a
while, but I think I would feel better hanging out with you, if that's
cool?" I slipped my hands into my pockets and turned to face him again. He
was handsome and rugged, so intimidating in appearance, but there was a softie
under all of it. I'd seen that part of him and honestly wanted to see it again.

It was insanely inappropriate standing
there in the kitchen, but I couldn't help but wonder how he was in the bedroom
– if he was sweet and caring or rough and demanding.

"Yeah, that's cool." He reached
out and squeezed my shoulder. "You shouldn't have come in this house, you
hard-headed thing."

"He would have stabbed you if I
hadn't. A thank you would go over well." I smiled and pulled from him
before walking into his tiny living room. There was only one couch and no TV.
The pictures on the wall were all of him, and I couldn't help but walk around
and look at each of them.

"Oh shit," he growled as he
stopped beside me. "Come on, let's go outside for a little while. You don't
need to look at these."

"What if I want to?" I looked
over at him. My gaze shifted down to his lips and back up to his strong gaze.
Mesmerizing.

"Then look at all of them. I'm having
a hard time denying you anything." He reached out and tucked a strand of
my hair behind my ears. "You're a tough cookie. You know that?"

"I'm learning new things about myself
all the time." I turned back to the pictures and tried to ignore the
fluttering in my stomach. With him not wanting to deny me anything, I wanted to
ask for everything.

"Tell me something about you. I want
to know everything." He moved in behind me and slid his hands up my arms
to my shoulders, stopping them on either side of my neck. "You like
massages?"

"If it gets your hands on me, then
yes." I turned and smirked as he chuckled.

"And, where did you learn to swing a
bat like that?" He moved my hair from one side of my neck, and every
muscle in my body tightened as he leaned down and pressed his lips to my skin.

My breath caught in my chest, and I whispered
the only words I could think of.

"Please don't." I moved away,
catching me more by surprise than him.

"I'm sorry." He gave me a weak
smile and lifted his hands. "I'll keep my hands to myself. I just
thought..."

"You thought right. I don't want to start
anything in the middle of your mother's living room that we can't finish."
I touched his chest softly. "I want you too badly for that."

His eyes widened and he nodded. "I
know the feeling all too well."

"Tate. Val. Come eat!" his
mother yelled far more loudly than she needed to.

"Spend the night with me
tonight." He reached out and brushed his thumb over my lips.
"Please."

"I don't know." I licked at my
lips and moved past him. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that. I barely know
you."

His mother smiled at me and sat down at
the table. "I hope you're okay with leftovers. We had fried chicken last
night and meatloaf the night before."

I smiled at her. "I love both of
them. Tate and I have sandwiches from earlier, too."

"I'll get them." He poked his
head into the kitchen before walking back out.

"You know that he thinks a lot of you
already, right?" His mother reached out and touched my hand.

"Really? He's been a little back and
forth about the two of us." I realized how easy it was to talk with her.
It was nice. "He's too good for me, anyway. I'm serious when I say that my
life is a nightmare that no one should have to deal with."

"Maybe you just haven't me the right
man." She squeezed my hand and pulled her back as Tate walked back in the
room and sat down next to me.

"Mom, are you trying to marry me off
already?" He winked at me, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Always. If this girl had a handful
of magic beans, off you'd go." She smiled and started to talk about her
day at the hospital like nothing had happened that evening.

I enjoyed the conversation and story after
story about Tate when he was a kid. I laughed until my sides hurt, and hated it
when she had to get up to get some sleep.

"Well, you kids have fun and behave.
No breaking anyone's heart tonight. You're both too precious for that."
She opened her arms, and I gave her a long hug after Tate did. I think it
surprised her a little, but after all she'd been through, I figured I could
continue to extend kindness toward her.

The hug was more for her than me – or so I
told myself.

*

"You're too much. You know
that?" Tate reached for my hand as we walked toward the sorority house.
His bike was parked in student parking just outside the large building and
would be covered in snow within an hour if we left it there.

"Me? Just because I saved your ass
tonight?" I turned and slid my hands up his chest and clasped them around
his neck.

"It's way more than that." He
leaned down and brushed his lips by mine. "Did you think about my
offer?"

"To spend the night with you?" I
pursed my lips to hold back the yes I wanted to scream. We weren't dating and
had yet to really do much more than play with each other's emotions. Having
known him for no more than a week, I wasn’t ready to commit to anything, though
my body screamed for the opposite.

"Yes." He brushed his nose by my
jaw and pressed his lips to my ear. "I'd give just about anything to hold
you all night. I want to whisper 'thank you' for being so good to my mom and me
tonight along every inch of your body, Val. I need to."

I closed my eyes and let out a shaky
breath as I pressed myself tightly to him. I stifled a groan at the thickness
of his erection pressed against my stomach. How good it would have felt to go
up to my room and strip down for him.

"I want to so bad, but I can't."
I opened my eyes and found a look of understanding instead of the one of
condemnation that I expected.

"Then let's sneak into your room and
just talk for an hour or so. I don't want to let you go just yet. Don't deny
me." He leaned down and nipped at my lips, causing electricity to shoot
out from deep inside of me.

"We won't just talk, and you know
it." I ran my hands along the sides of his face. "Will we?"

"I promise we will." He kissed
me softly before stepping back. "Even if you want something more. I'll
play the mature one tonight."

I smiled, unable to help myself.
"Alright, but I'm serious. No sleeping together when we're not even
dating."

"Let's start dating, then." He
gave me a cheeky grin and reached for my hand, pulling me against him as the
snow continued to fall.

I laughed and glanced up at the dark sky.
"Soon. You've been quite on and off with me. Figure out what you really
want, and if you think you can handle dating a Scott, we'll talk."

"Handle it? Don't you know that us
biker guys love a challenge more than anything else in the world?" He
smiled and my resolve began to melt.

"No, but that's a good thing to know
for the future when I want you to do something. I'll just challenge you."
I laughed at the cute look that swept across his perfect features. I ran my
fingers over the tats the dipped into his shirt. "I wanna see all of
these."

"And you shall, but not tonight. I
should get home to my mother, and you should get some sleep. I hear a rowdy
biker guy's going to try to sweep you off of your feet soon." He lifted
his eyebrow at me and smirked.

"I sure hope he does. If not, I'll
have to sweep him off his." I lifted to my toes as his hands moved along
my face, cupping it softly.

His lips were cold, but the kiss hot and
demanding. I breathed in deeply and gave myself over to him as I slipped my
fingers under his jacket and shirt, needing to touch his skin.

He inhaled sharply, and the sound of the
groan that left him echoed over my nerve endings. It left me in a state of need
that I wasn't sure how to deny.

"I want you, Val," he whispered
against my lips. "Tell me I can have you soon."

"You can." I kissed him once
more before moving back. The door opened behind me and the sound of a gaggle of
girls interrupted the serenity I'd been lodged in the middle of.

"Good. I'll wait until that time
comes, but don't make it too long, okay?"

"Or?" I lifted my eyebrow and
stepped back toward the door as some of my sorority sisters moved around me and
gave Tate the once over.

"Or I'll come take what's already
mine." He shrugged and zipped up his jacket. "You were incredible
tonight. The craziest, bravest, hottest girl I know."

"You don't get out much." I
laughed and tried to ignore the stares I got from the other Gammas.

"We should remedy that." He
winked at me.

"Night, Tate."

"See you tomorrow?" He watched
me intently, leaving me feeling beautiful and special.

"Maybe." I turned and walked to
the door, laughing as he referred to me as a tease. I wasn't one, but for him,
I was willing to figure out how to be.

I closed the door behind me and pressed my
back to it as Katelyn looked up from the couch where she sat.

"Hey, you. What's up?" She
tilted her head to the side. "Why are your cheeks so red?"

"It's cold, and I guess I'm blushing.
Tate was complimenting me."

"So that's where you've been."
Katelyn sat her magazine down and turned her attention on me. "And? Tell
me everything."

"There's not much to tell. He took me
out for a sandwich this afternoon and then to his house for the evening."
I let out a long girly sigh and fell onto the couch beside her. "He's so
damn dreamy."

She laughed and tugged at a strand of my
hair. "Do not tell me you're falling for the punk biker mechanic. You're
parents are going to flip their shit."

"Yep, and I honestly could not care
less. I haven't wanted anything for myself quite as bad as I want him." I
closed my eyes and replayed the moments outside just before coming in.

"And, he's worth losing everything
over?" Her words forced me from my daydreams.

"I'm not sure, but I intend to find
out."