snapped his head back. “Are you fucking kidding?”
“Benno, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I… I didn’t know what to do, so I went along with what he wanted.”
His eyes got dark. Really dark. “What did he ask of you?”
I swallowed. “F… first he said I had to write a paper for him. I did a lousy job to get even. And I had to go on a date with him. We went to a game, but I left early. I couldn’t stand it. But before I took off, he said I had to go on other dates with him—” My voice caught and all the craziness in my life suddenly felt like it was sitting on my chest.
I reached for a chair. “I… I need to sit down…”
“Here,” he said, helping me to a seat. “Calm down. We’re going to figure this out.”
He paced the classroom like a caged lion ready to pounce. “I’m going to fucking kill that punk. That’s all there is to it.”
I glanced out to the hallway as I willed my dizziness away. People were passing by in hordes, but no one was paying any attention to us.
“You know who I got a call from this morning?” Benno asked. “The fucking football coach. He told me to lay off Ty. I told him he had to be kidding. That kid is a fucking loser, I told him. He doesn’t deserve to be here at Wellshire. For Christ’s sake, he’s in his third year here and still hasn’t made it through Freshman English. I hate this shit. I hate it…” His voice tapered off as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
“Wow. The coach can do that?” I asked.
If what Benno was saying were true, the academic world was certainly not what I’d thought it was.
He continued walking back and forth. “They do shit like that all the time. Everybody knows about it, but little is said or done about it.”
“Why do they protect guys like him?”
“Because they bring in money. Sell tickets to games, raise the profile of the university, make the coaches look good. They don’t care about Ty per se. They just care about what he can do for them. They’d push him through his undergrad degree even if he didn’t know how to fucking read.”
He stopped pacing and stood in front of me. “I can understand why you did it. But if you have any more issues like this, you come tell me right away. Understand?”
I nodded. I hadn’t imagined being caught, and I certainly hadn’t imagined Benno losing his shit like he had. If Ty happened by at that very moment, Benno probably would have torn his head off.
“Thank you for listening to my side of the story. I gotta run now. I have my shift at the fitness center.”
“Okay, get going. But we’re all having dinner together tonight, right?”
I gave him a limp smile. “Yeah. Unless you don’t want to anymore.”
He helped me to my feet and after a quick glance around kissed my cheek.
“Oh, I want to see you tonight. Very much,” he whispered in my ear.
Chapter 35
SENNA
As soon as my shift at the fitness center was over, I bolted from campus and went home. I was shaken by my conversation with Benno, but also excited to see all the guys together again. Hopefully, there would be no tension to ruin the night.
Would he tell the other guys about my writing Ty’s paper? I couldn’t bear the shame, but on the other hand, I was committed to being honest with them. I wasn’t proud of what I’d done, but they should know. They wouldn’t think less of me when they heard the whole story.
Jamie had suggested dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in town, so I’d borrowed a black halter-top jumpsuit from Godiva and paired it with some strappy high heels. It was a simple outfit but elegant. I ironed my hair straight and carefully applied a very natural makeup look, which I finished with a dark red lipstick.
I checked myself out in the mirror and liked what I saw. I was sexy without looking like I was trying hard, something that was not easy to accomplish.
Thirty minutes later, an Uber dropped me at the restaurant. The maître d’ was waiting, and personally took me to the table where the guys were sitting.
As I approached, I slowed my walk. I wanted time to look each of them in the eye and let them know