The Dating Tutor: Alec's Story (9 page)

Her fingers grazed his neck as she lifted her lips to brush against his. “You’ve been distracted with thoughts of kissing me.” She pressed her lips more firmly to his. “I’ll put your mind at ease. I allow you.”

As her lips pressed to his once again, Alec felt himself giving in. He was torturing himself over a girl when he had one very much into him right here. He should be giving Shannon a chance instead of moping over Ellie.

He deepened Shannon’s kiss, his hand coming up to cup the back of her head.

A purr escaped her, and she shifted closer on the seat. “You are so very sexy in your hockey get-up. You know that?”

He mumbled an unintelligible thanks before tugging her closer.

Shannon gave a little giggle of approval before swinging her leg over his so she could straddle his lap. “Alec Horner…you bad boy.”

Now this was more his speed. He was used to feeling in control. He was used to knowing when girls wanted him. He chuckled and drew her mouth down to his. “You have no idea.”

She responded so well to his touch, whimpering and giggling. With her hands on either side of his neck, she kissed each corner of his mouth with gentle pecks before flicking her tongue up the length of his mouth. “Good. I like bad boys.”

He was more than a little bit aroused by this point. With a devilish grin, he watched with rapt attention as she lifted her top up over her head. But the sight that greeted him was like a cold bucket of ice water being dumped on his head.

Covering Shannon’s chest was a pink pushup bra. The same bra he’d suggested Ellie buy for her date tonight. Seeing that bra made him think of Ellie in this exact circumstance. Only it was Jake’s lap she was sitting on, and it was Jake’s jokes she was laughing at as she’d done to his last night.

All pleasure left him in that instance. With a hand to Shannon’s waist, he nudged her off of his lap and back into her own seat. “I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “I can’t do this.” He ran his hands through his hair and was surprised to find them shaking. Resting his elbows on the steering wheel, he cupped his head in his hands and took a few deep breaths.

“What is it, Alec?” Shannon asked with surprise. “Are you… Are you a virgin? If that’s the issue, it doesn’t bother me. I promise. I’ve done it before so I can guide us throu—”

“That’s not the issue,” he said in a gravely tone. “It’s not you. You’re great.”

“Then what?” she asked testily.

He turned his head to look at her and gave a huff of disbelief. “I’m in love with somebody else.”

Shannon blinked at him for a moment, then shrugged and went for her purse. Pulling out a compact, she began touching up her makeup. “Why didn’t you just say that?”

He couldn’t hide his shock. She was okay with this? She wasn’t going to rant and rave? “I…I wasn’t sure until now.”

“Oh. Whatevs.” She arched a brow. “Before you go running off with this dream girl of yours, wanna do it anyway?”

Alec choked on his next breath. Had she really… “Um, no. I’m sorry, but no. I think…I think I’m just going to wait.”

Shannon shrugged again. “Your choice.” Dabbing on a bit of lipstick, she cocked her head at him questioningly. “Are you going to take me home then? ‘Cause if we’re not doing anything, I’ve got to work in the morning.”

He bobbed his head, feeling almost stunned at how blasé she was treating this. He supposed it was better than her freaking out on him, but he’d never been made to feel so replaceable in his life. “Yeah,” he said, starting up the car. “I’ll take you home.”

“Cool.” After pulling her shirt back over her head, she turned to him with a quizzical look. “So is Matt seeing anyone?”

*
* * *

Alec walked into his darkened living room and tossed his keys onto the end table. He was just picking up the television remote to watch the DVR version of the Rangers game when his father came stomping into the room.

“It’s about time you came home,” Jerich said with annoyance. He waved a hand impatiently at his son. “I need back that fifty I gave you last weekend. I need to go buy…groceries.”

Alec turned to gape at his father in disbelief. “It’s gone. You told me—”

“I know what I told you! I changed my mind.” Jerich’s face began reddening, and his hands shook.

Withdrawals. This wasn’t the first time Alec had seen his father go through this. Every time his old man had a few good days, this would happen. He never could handle staying sober. “It’s gone.” He shrugged helplessly. “I can’t get it back. Nor would I if I could.”

“What did you say?” Jerich’s eyes flashed with rage.

Alec calmly placed the remote back on the table and climbed to his feet. “I’m not dealing with this.” He started for the front door but stopped in his tracks at the warning tone of his father’s voice.

“Don’t you dare walk out of this house.”

Alec made a sound of disgust. “I’m not going to sit around and be dragged into your misery.” He yanked open the front door. “You’re not going to make me stay through that.” With that, he pushed out the front door and slammed it shut behind him.

He was in such a blind rage as he stormed across the lawn to Ellie’s yard that he bypassed the front door. It was still early, and Mrs. Harper wouldn’t care if he came in, but he moved on autopilot. Usually when he left to escape his father, it was in the middle of the night.

He was halfway through Ellie’s window before using the front door ever occurred to him. The thought obviously entered her mind as well, because as he entered her room, she asked, “Why didn’t you use the front door?”

He shrugged noncommittally as he closed the window behind him and hopped down off her desk. Moving across the room, he silently plopped down to sit on the edge of her bed.

“And why are you home so early on a Saturday night?” Ellie asked. “What happened to your date?”

“She was boring.” He observed her reluctantly for a moment before asking, “And your date? You’re home early too, you know.”

The giddy grin that spread across her lips at his question had Alec’s heart sinking.

“My date was amazing!” She gave a girly little squeal. “The only reason I’m home before ten is because Jake is doing volunteer work at a church tomorrow. He is just…perfect.”

“Oh yes. He’s so dreamy.” He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice and instead went for sarcasm.

“He is.”

He regarded her for a moment in silence before asking, “I take it he kissed you then?” Even to his own ears, his voice sounded cold. He also doubted she wouldn’t notice the aggression in his tone.

Either she truly didn’t notice or she was being cruel, because Ellie answered him in a sing-song voice. “There was a kiss.” She seemed lost in her own little dreamland, but after a pause, she spun to face him. “But I still need your help. Jake asked me to go out with him again, and I’m terrified I am going to screw things up. It’s still early in the dating game. I need my tutor.”

Alec opened his mouth to protest, but she rushed forward and cut him off. “Please? Just for a little while longer? Once I start to get a feel for it, I’ll handle things on my own, but I just don’t feel confident enough about myself yet.”

Her request had his stomach roiling with displeasure. He wasn’t sure he could do it anymore. He didn’t think he could tutor her and not get emotionally involved.

She widened her green eyes with a pleading expression. “Please, Alec. I don’t trust anyone but you with this.”

The problem was, he couldn’t tell her no either. He’d never been able to tell her no. He took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. “Fine.” At her excited clap, he held up a hand. “But only for a little while longer.”

With a squeal of delight, Ellie threw her arms around his neck and gave him a squeezing hug. “You’re the best!”

The best? No, he wasn’t the best. He was the chump who was about to let a girl trample all over his heart. The only thing he was best at was being a fool.

Chapter Nine

“What is up with you recently, man?” Matt asked as he stood with his elbow propped up on his hockey stick while he and Alec waited their turn for one final practice shot before their game.

Alec glanced over at him after watching the shot of one of his fellow defensive players go wide of the net. “What do you mean?”

“What do I mean?” Matt snorted and moved up a place in line. “You’ve been moody going on a week now. And I feel like you’re barely registering anything around you. Mario Lemieux could walk out onto the ice, and you’d barely notice. It’s like you’re in your own fantasy world.”

“Trust me,” Alec said with a grin at the mention of one of hockey’s finest players in all of history. “I would notice Lemieux.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Okay, maybe that was a bad example, but you get what I’m saying. Something’s going on with you. I don’t like it.”

As another one of their teammates completed his shot, both boys scooted up in line. Alec took that time to collect his thoughts. He hadn’t realized his displeasure over the whole Ellie situation had been that obvious. He was going to have to work on that. “Nothing is going on. I’m just…worried about that college application.” Okay, at least that was true.

“Worried enough to rebuff Shannon Albright?”

This finally drew Alec’s attention away from the mock-shootout. “She told you about that?”

Matt nodded in affirmation. “She did. Said you turned her down because of some other girl.”

Alec grunted in response and turned his attention to the shootout as if it demanded his immediate attention. “I didn’t want to hurt her feelings is all.” Apparently, Shannon hadn’t wasted any time in cozying up to Matt, nor had his friend shied away from discussing him with her.

“I think you weren’t just sparing her feelings,” Matt argued. “I think this all has to do with that neighbor girl of yours. She’s gotten into your head. Bad.”

“She has not.” Alec was relieved it was his turn to take a shot on goal, so he could get away from Matt’s accusations. When Coach Grimmly passed him the puck, he took a rough shot at the net. His shot was made with aggravation and very little precision. It went flying wildly up into the netting.

Spinning back to Matt, he snapped, “My issues have nothing to do with Ellie. Just drop it.” With that, he made his way over to the outside of his team’s bench to await the start of the game.

A moment later, Matt joined him. The two stood on the ice in front of the bench, an awkward silence falling between them. Matt finally tried to bring up a new, less offensive topic to discuss. “So did you look over the guidelines for that English report yet? It is a complete killer…”

Alec had tuned him out. While Matty went on about their assignment, Alec’s eyes had landed on Ellie as she picked her way through the stands in search of a good seat. She’d come. Just like always, she’d come to watch him play. It gave him hope that things could get back to some semblance of normalcy. His heart was just swelling with optimism when he noticed the person walking closely behind her. Jake.

He couldn’t believe she’d brought Jake to a hockey game. A hockey game! Phillips had never shown his face at a single game all season, and Alec hadn’t mourned the lack of his presence. His hands balled into fists at his sides. He knew it was irrational for him to be angry, but he was. He was angry as hell. “Shut up, Matty,” he growled.

“Huh?” Matt looked at his friend in bewilderment, then followed Alec’s eyes to the crowd. It was at this moment that Jake grabbed Ellie’s face in his hands and planted a kiss on her.

Matt’s eyes shifted warily over to Alec, his expression one of sympathy. “Hey, man. I’m sorry. If th—”

“Shut up, Matty.” Alec’s voice was a low growl.

From her place in the stands, Ellie turned to look at him. When she lifted a hand in a friendly wave, he glared. He wasn’t feeling in a very friendly mood.

As players began to take the ice, Alec skated in the direction of the opposing team instead of his starting position. His eyes locked onto Justin Peters, a defenseman known for his short temper.

Alec tapped his stick aggressively against the much bigger teen’s, drawing immediate attention to himself. “That was a weak warm-up,” he taunted. He hadn’t caught any of Justin’s warm-up, but that didn’t matter. He was looking for a fight, and he knew exactly what buttons to push. “No wonder they bumped you to third line. You couldn’t hit the net if the goalie stepped out of the way for you.”

Justin spun toward him with a narrow-eyed look of rage. “You lookin’ to get your ass kicked, Horner?”

“Maybe I am,” Alec said with a mocking shrug. “But somehow I don’t think you’ve got what it takes to get the job done. I heard little Mackey Malloy from Western Cyprus took you down a few weeks ago. You’ve gone soft.”

“Mackey Malloy got in
one
lucky shot!” Justin gave a growl of frustration and shifted agitatedly on his skates. “Who told you—” Not finishing his sentence, he took the conversation in a different direction. He pointed a finger in Alec’s face. “Soon as that whistle blows it’s on. You hear me?”

Alec bobbed his head in complete understanding. “I look forward to it.” He would have almost felt guilty about starting an undeserved fight, but last time these two teams faced, Justin had taken a cheap shot against Matt and given him a concussion. Matty had missed the end of last season over it. Justin was a brute who deserved to take a few licks every once in a while…though if Alec looked at it that way, people probably said the same about him. Not wanting to linger on that thought, he lined up and waited anxiously for the puck to drop.