Valentine (A Standalone Novel) (Bad Boy Romance Book) (20 page)

"Every night would be better, but
I'll take tonight, for sure." My heart raced in my chest over the idea of
committing fully to the woman in my arms. Could I really live up to anything
she might need me to be? It didn't feel like it, but I couldn't shake the
thought that regardless of what I was headed into...she would be well worth the
effort.

Chapter 24

Val

I woke the next morning with a crick in my
neck from being snuggled against Tate all night. My mixed feelings could be
dissected later when I had some free time to myself on the basketball court.
For now, I was going to try hard to go with the flow and not think about the
fear that crept around inside of me. Tate's mood swings were enough to leave me
wondering what was coming next, but I wanted a chance at us enough to try to be
the calm in the storms he kept coming up against.

"You awake?" He kissed the side
of my head as I glanced up at him.

"Yeah. I can't believe we slept on
this couch." I smirked.

His mother's voice caught my attention.
"I can't believe you did, either. You guys need to get up and get moving.
I have a detective coming out this morning to question me over this stuff with
Daniel."

I sat up and groaned as my back popped.
"It will be great when all of this is finally behind you guys."

"Let's just hope it stays that
way." Tate stood up and turned to give me a quick kiss. "I'm jumping
in the shower. You want me to walk you out to your car?"

"No, I'm good. I have a basketball
game tonight. You guys should come and watch me play." I turned my
attention back to Ms. Phillips. "It's up at the college."

"I'd love to. I'll make Tate bring me
up there." She walked toward me and gave me a hug as Tate disappeared down
the hall. "I'm so glad you two are working things out. He needs a good
woman like you in his life."

"I'm not sure how good I am, but I'm
not going anywhere just yet." I smiled at her and moved to pull my boots
on before grabbing my keys and heading toward the door. "Good luck today."

"Good luck tonight." She smiled
at me warmly and closed the door behind me.

I wrapped my jacket around me tightly and
cursed myself for not getting a scarf from the house before heading out to
Tate's the day before. It was freezing and the snow was moving in fast.

I jogged to my car and got in as my teeth
started to chatter. I didn’t mind the cold, but the minute I graduated, I was
going to look for a warm weather state to move to. The idea of Tate coming with
me gave me pause. Was I that serious about him? We'd just started dating.

"One day at a time," I grumbled
under my breath as I tried to start the car.

Nothing.

"Not again." I tried again. Not
a sound. "Great."

A familiar truck pulled up next to me, and
Sam got out all bundled up.

I opened my door and got back out of the
car, giving him a curt wave. "Sam, is there any way I could get a ride to
school? My car won't start and I have an exam this morning in my ten o'clock
class that I need to study for."

"You bet. Is Tate's mom making
breakfast?" He nodded toward the house.

"I don't think so. The detective from
the police station was supposed to come down and visit her today." I
walked toward the passenger’s side door quickly as the wind picked up.

We got into the truck and I worked to get
my seatbelt on as he started the engine. It was still warm from him just
getting out, but it was so intensely cold outside, that it took me a few
minutes to thaw.

"You sleep over last night?" He
lifted his eyebrow at me.

"That's kinda personal for someone you
barely know." I gave him a grin and laughed.

His lips lifted as his cheeks grew pink.
"I didn't mean like that. I just meant-"

"Yeah, I stayed the night. The couch
is less than comfortable, but I wouldn't have been anywhere else." I
pulled my phone from my purse and texted Katelyn to get me some clothes thrown
in the dryer. Everything I had was wrinkled thanks to my rebellion over having
to hang up clothes like I'd been forced to do my whole life.

"That's good to hear – about you
wanting to be with Tate, not the crick in your neck." He pulled out onto
the main lanes and glanced over at me as if nervous. "So, you really like
him? Cause he's a great guy and watching you hurt him isn't going to fly."

"Are you trying to be tough with
me?" I smirked. Tate's best friend was almost too cute. He reminded me of
a young Clark Kent.

"I'm trying," he chuckled.
"Is it working?"

"Yes. Absolutely." I leaned back
in the seat and closed my eyes. "Tate's an interesting guy. I've yet to
even start figuring him out."

"He's a
great
guy. Life's been hard for him, far harder than I could ever
imagine living through."

I turned my face toward him and opened my
eyes. "I think everyone has a story to tell though, don't you think? Tate
being an orphan and not knowing his parents is horrible, but there are lots of
kids who know their parents and wish like hell they didn't."

He gave me a quick glance and nodded.
"Yeah, I get that. My parents are great, but I can imagine there are
plenty of people we encounter at UMN every day that hate their home lives. It's
sad."

"Yeah, but life isn't about where we
were raised. It's about where we're headed. It's about where life is going, not
where it came from, right?" I felt calm and comfortable around Sam. He
exuded this feeling of acceptance that left me understanding why Tate would be
so close to him.

"I guess you’re right, but people get
stuck in their pasts all the time. My parents expect me to make good grades,
marry a white girl with brown hair and good teeth, and have two well-behaved kids
that I bring home on the weekends to see them."

I laughed at his description of his future
wife. "Good teeth?"

"Yeah." He rolled his eyes.
"My mom's a dentist, and my dad says he's not a racist, but he's full of
it."

"That's...interesting. I was going to
try and set you up with my friend Lucinda, but if your dad isn't-"

"Yes." His eyes widened a
little. "The really pretty black girl from the party the other
night?"

"Yeah, but if-"

"Yes. Hook me up. She's beyond hot.
We only got to talk for all of ten minutes the other night before Tate fucked
it all up." He nodded and glanced over at me again. "Does she like
white guys?"

"I don't think she really sees people
as a color." I smiled at him. He was too cute, and Lucinda would eat him
up. She needed a good man, and from the look of things, he needed someone to
expand his horizons and give him somewhere to put his time and energy.

"Yeah, no one does but my damn
dad." He pulled into the parking lot and turned to face me. "Are you
playing in the game tonight?"

"Yeah. I invited Tate and his mom.
You should come, too. My friends will be there."

"Lucinda will?" He lifted his
eyebrow at me.

"Yep. She should be." I opened
the door. "Thanks for the lift."

"Anytime, and Val...I know it sounds
trite, but don't hurt Tate. He's a good guy and all he needs is the right woman
to help him bridge the gap between where he is and where he's going. If that's
not you, let him down easily, okay?" His smile faded.

I nodded. "I'll do just that."

After closing the door, I jogged to the Gamma
house and walked into the living room to find the place full of new faces. It
must have been recruiting day.

How
could I forget?

"There you are." Katelyn walked
up beside me. "You're supposed to give the new recruits their first
assignment today, remember? We discussed it a few weeks back."

"You forgot, didn't you?"
Carolyn moved up in front of me as her eyes moved down my body. The disgust on
her face was almost palpable. "Where were you last night?"

"None of your business, and no, I
didn't forget. You guys said nine. I have fifteen minutes to spare. Now, if
you'll excuse me." I moved past Carolyn, bumping her shoulder before I
raced up the stairs. I needed to pull myself together fast. Presenting in front
of the recruits wasn't the challenge, but having all of my sisters watching
was. Knowing that Carolyn would be praying for me to mess up or look ignorant
didn't make matters any better, either.

I closed the door behind me and let out a
long sigh. Having only been with Tate for a few days, I knew one thing was for
sure: he wouldn't have run for the presidency to impress anyone in his life.

Maybe I shouldn't, either.

*

Katelyn and Lucinda walked beside me as we
made our way to campus a little later. I'd walked the new recruits through
their first assignment for the house, which was to clean it spotless. They each
had a room, and everyone was quite happy with my choice. We'd come home to a
good-smelling house and everything being picked up. Carolyn had turned up her
nose at me as I left, but she was simply jealous – as always.

"Tell me more about Sam."
Lucinda poked me in the side as I reached for the door to the business
building. I tried to ignore my father's name plastered to the side of it. Most
people didn't know that I was related to the all-mighty Scotts, and I was
grateful for the small reprieve.

"I don't actually know much. He seems
like a great guy, and he and Tate have been friends forever. He's coming to the
game tonight. Just make sure you're there and grab the seat next to him if you
can. He's pretty open, from what I can tell." I looked up to see Kade
holding the door to my business law class for me.

"Ladies." He smiled and turned
his attention back to me. "Val."

I laughed. "What? I'm not a lady?"

"Yes, but you're a special
lady." He opened the door winder and I walked in after giving my friends a
silly look.

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?" I turned
to face him.

"Because. You were right." He
crossed his arms over his thick chest.

"About?" I tugged at the straps
on my backpack.

"About Amy being a great girl. I took
her out for dessert last night, and we laughed until our sides hurt." He
shrugged. "I'm not sure about dating, but she's going to be a great
friend."

Warmth filled me at the news. "That's
awesome. The dating part will come later. I promise."

"Maybe." He shrugged. "My
parents have some girl they want me to meet, so who knows where that's going to
go. I'm almost twenty-three and they're still setting me up on blind dates like
we live in a third world country."

"I know the feeling. My parents
aren't much better." I moved to the front of the classroom with him.
"Mine haven't done anything like that in a while, but I messed up the last
date pretty good. I'm not sure I'm out of the woods with my mother still over
that one."

"What did you do?" A smirk
lifted his mouth. He was impossibly handsome, but surprisingly enough, I felt
nothing but a good friendship growing between us. I was glad. The last thing I
wanted was the internal drama of having feelings for more than one guy.

"Let's see... I slurped my soup, burped
three times, and wore my hair in pigtails to a nice restaurant." I wagged
my eyebrows. "You just thought I was a goodie-two-shoes."

"Actually, I could see the rebel
peeking around the edges of your personality at the first party we went to a
few weeks back. It's the reason I asked you to dance." He turned as
Professor Griffith walked into the room. "Come have coffee with me after
class. Just two friends hanging out?"

"Yeah, sure." I walked to the
middle row and took my seat as Kade passed out the test we would be taking. I
wasn't nearly as prepared as I'd hoped to be, but with all the drama swirling
around me, it was a miracle that I was dressed and sitting in the right class.

I finished up faster than I thought I
would and told Kade that I would be waiting outside for him. He nodded curtly,
not really giving me his attention, at all. I ignored it and walked out into
the chilly mid-morning. After dropping down onto a bench, I pulled out my phone
and texted Tate to find out how things were going.

I hadn't gotten a reply by the time Kade
walked up beside me, but it was probably for the best. Tate had plenty to deal
with without having to entertain me and keep me updated on their every move.

"Hot chocolate or coffee?" He
stopped beside me and smiled.

"Coffee, for sure." I picked up
my bag and walked beside him toward Barney's Cafe. "Do you know anything
about this chick your mom and dad are setting you up with? You might be
surprised and find out that she's the one. Sometimes parents get things
right."

"Nope." He opened the door for
me. "No clue who she is, nor do I care. I'll take her to dinner and be as
pleasant as I can for her sake. She's probably in the same situation as me.
Poor thing."

"What? Being set up on a blind
date?" I moved up to stand behind the long line at the register.

"No, having her parents threaten her
college funds if she doesn't do exactly what they say when they say it."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm so ready to get the fuck out of here. Six more
months and I'm gone."