Zeke (The Powers That Be, Book 2) Read online

  And that’s why Zeke Powers was an unnecessary distraction.

  Lane cleared his throat then looked out the windshield and said, “Candice broke up with me.”

  “What? Why?” That was a surprise. Lane was a heartbreaker and having a girl break up with him was definitely a first.

  He frowned as he continued staring straight ahead. “There’s a dance this weekend and some of the kids are going out to eat before. She told me she wanted to go too and I know she expected me to pay so I had to tell her I couldn’t. She went all psycho on me and told me she couldn’t be with someone who was… who was poor. She said it in front of everyone.” He now hung his head in shame.

  Shit. Shit!

  It didn’t matter that I couldn’t have things. I could deal with it. But I wanted Lane to have everything, damn it, and that’s why it was necessary for me to stay focused and on track.

  I nodded slowly a couple times knowing exactly what this Candice girl was. “Well, bubba, here’s the deal. Candice? She’s a bitch.” He turned to look at me again and I saw the shock on his face because I rarely cussed around him, trying to be a good example and all. “She is,” I stressed raising my eyebrows at him as I nodded again. “Any girl who would break up with you because of that is a shallow… bitch,” I repeated. I mean, how else could I describe her? “You’re much better off without her.”

  He turned to face the front again and I looked over to see I hadn’t convinced him.

  “Hey. I mean it. She sounds like a spoiled brat and will probably end up being some gold-digging, opportunistic, blood-sucking leech of a skank when she grows up.”

  This got a chuckle out of him. Good. I hoped he was starting to see the light. I mean, I didn’t know this girl and maybe I was judging her unfairly, but what she’d done to my baby brother was uncalled for and of course I’d come to his defense immediately. That’s what family was for.

  “Damn, Scar, Grammy’s gonna wash your mouth out with soap when you get home,” he said looking over at me with a grin.

  “Now, see, I love that you’re smiling. And I love that you’re being funny,” I pointed out. Then I reached over and smacked the back of his head as I said, “But what I don’t love is you cussing.”

  “Hey, I only said ‘damn.’ You said a lot worse,” he whined as he fixed his hair where I’d smacked him.

  “And I’ve got ten years on you. Remember that,” I said cutting my eyes at him and making him chuckle again.

  “Man, you’re old…”

  “Oh, no you did not just say that,” I semi-scolded, reaching to smack his head again but he dodged it, and just like that, things were fine, Candice, hopefully, a thing from the past for him now.

  Lane was a good-looking kid who was very athletic and had an awesome personality. Every time I saw him at his games or anything else he participated in, the girls flocked all over him. He just needed to choose more carefully the next time and avoid all the Candices of the world, and I told him so.

  “What’s for dinner?” he asked when I finished and I knew his mood was much improved if he was hungry.

  “Cheeseburger macaroni.”

  “Sweet!” Well, that put a smile on his face and mine too. “You coming to my game tomorrow?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I said, reaching over and mussing his hair. He played on the freshman basketball team and was their best player. He also was the quarterback on the football team and he’d move on to baseball this spring where he was an ace at pitching. I was so friggin’ proud of him.

  “Hey! Watch the hair. Chicks dig this look,” he said, running his fingers through his locks to fix it again.

  “Oh, they ‘dig it,’ huh? What are we, in a Brady Bunch episode?” I said laughing.

  “The Brady who?”

  I gave him a “get real” look. “Man, I’m slipping as a big sister. That’s it. More TV Land for you. And speaking of big sis duties.” I turned on my radio that was always set to a rock station and a Nirvana song now blared from my speakers. “Name the song and the group and you won’t have to do dishes tonight.”

  At his groan I laughed again. We’d been playing this game since he was, like, seven, so he shouldn’t have been surprised.

  “’Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana,” he mumbled then almost mechanically held up his hand.

  I hit his hand giving him a lame high five which was our tradition when he guessed something right. “Awesome. So, I’ve got a proposition for you. If you’ll do the dishes anyway, I’ll give you five dollars,” I bargained. I had a bit left from Zeke’s tip, so why not use it for good.

  “Man. You and your deals,” he groused but I could tell he liked my offer. “Okay.”

  “Great. I’ve gotta go back to do some filing at the Dean’s office, so help Grammy out ‘cause you know she’ll try to do everything.”

  “I’ll try but you know how she is,” he muttered.

  “I do know. That’s why you need to try harder.”

  We got home where I made dinner but skipped eating because I had to get back to work.

  “I should be back around seven. Make sure to help out and do your homework, bud.” I gave Lane a look making sure he knew I was serious at which he rolled his eyes making me point a finger at him threateningly which only made him grin. I held my thumb and fingers up rolling them together to remind him about the five bucks for dishes and got an eye roll but I knew he got the message.

  I went to the bathroom to put on more lip gloss and spritzer, told them goodbye and headed out, smiling when I heard Lane telling Grammy that he and Candice had broken up but he was going to ask the new girl out tomorrow.

  *Week One—4th Encounter*

  “Hey, Scarlett,” Dean Moreland said coming into the outer office where I’d been filing some reports that Mrs. Wells, the office manager, had given me. “I’ve got a couple things I need you to take over to the AD. I just talked to him, so he’s still in his office.”

  “Yes, sir,” I answered. Grabbing my coat, I shrugged it on then followed him into his office, and taking the armload of envelopes and a box he handed me, left to walk across campus to the Athletic Director’s office.

  I loved Hallervan’s campus at night. The landscaping was gorgeous but it was the lights that made it even more so. Each sidewalk was lined with lampposts that had two curling arms at the top from which lanterns hung, and tonight a light snow was quietly falling which made the whole campus look magical, almost Narnia-like. Beautiful.

  When I made it to the AD’s office which was connected to the fieldhouse and accommodated locker rooms for football, wrestling and baseball, I walked down the hall to the sound of rock music and weights clanking from out of the weight room, and passing by glanced inside to see a shirtless guy sitting on a bench with his back to me hunched over and breathing heavily as if he’d just lifted a ton. Another guy, shirtless as well but wearing a weight lifting belt, was standing in the middle of the room, also with his back to me (his tattooed back, mind you. Damn!) and facing the mirrors. He bent to pick up a barbell that had so much weight on it that the bar bent when he popped it up to his chest. He dropped it and it was so loud, I must’ve let out a little yelp because he immediately turned to look at me.

  Zeke.

  Oh, God.

  God!

  The grin that immediately formed on his face didn’t stop my eyes from roving over that friggin’ superb body of his. My lord. He had on gray shorts that sat low on his narrow hips and hit right at his knees, his sculpted, tattooed chest was glistening with sweat and everything on his body just rippled with muscle. I think I even let out an audible gasp if the smile he now wore was any indication. Holy crap!

  “Hi, Scarlett,” he said with his deep, sexy voice.

  “Uh, hi, Zeke,” I mumbled, still in awe of the perfect specimen in front of me. And I swear, if I’d been having a staring contest with his chest, I would’ve won hands-down.

  The guy who’d been sitting stood and turned to look at
me and I was shocked to see that Zeke had a twin.

  “This is my brother Ryker,” Zeke introduced him as he took off the belt he wore.

  “Um, hi,” I said, staring now from one guy to the other and saw Ryker do that head jerk thing in greeting. “Are you twins?”

  Zeke barked out a laugh. “No. Ryke’s a sophomore. He just wishes he could be this good looking.”

  I heard Ryker mumble something not so nice to his brother as he held a hand up and flipped him off then he walked over to a bench and picked up a towel, wiping his face then grabbed a bottle of water and downed it all. While I was watching him, too late I realized Zeke had made his way to me because when I turned back to him, he was now right in front of me.

  “What’re you doing over here?” he asked, backing me up against the wall outside the door.

  “I, uh, had to, uh, I was bringing, uh…” I tried explaining but he’d put a hand up on the wall above my head and was looking down at me, so right there in my space, that my brain became addled and I just gave up on speaking. I saw his eyes crinkle at the corners as he watched me, the gold flecks shining bright in his chestnut irises. And I know it sounds weird, but he smelled so manly, all spice and sweat mixed together, which baffled me because I thought most guys stunk when they worked out, like Lane when I picked him up after practice, but I thought Zeke smelled, well, attractive.

  He leaned down and said low in my ear, “Do you like what you see, Scarlett?”

  So first of all, I gasped at his arrogance with a frown. But then, if forced to answer his question, well, duh. Of course I liked what I saw. Half-naked tattooed man all sweaty with muscles bulging. Hello?

  “You should be in Sports Illustrated!” I blurted then winced. Oh, God. How many more magazines was I going to suggest this guy appear in? Bleh.

  He now gave me that seductive half grin of his which made my heart pound like crazy as I swallowed roughly.

  “So, I’m almost done here. Would you like to go get a drink with me after?” he asked, his eyes moving over my face then up to my hair and reaching his hand up, he smoothed a piece off my forehead.

  “It’s snowing,” I answered ridiculously.

  Full-on grin now. Jeez. “I see that. Your hair’s a little wet.”

  “I, uh, work in the Dean’s office after class.”

  Good grief. He had me so flustered that my conversation was going backward.

  He pulled away and I felt myself going with him as if I were tied to him, as if when he moved, I moved, like my body didn’t want to be too far away from his. Magnets pulling at each other. What in the world was going on here?

  He smiled and nodded. “When do you get off?”

  Any time you want to get me off, hottie. Ugh. Shit. Bad Scarlett. Bad!

  “Seven. I usually go in at two until four which is when I pick my little brother up. Then I go home and make dinner and come back from five to seven,” I rambled.

  Oh. My. God. Why was I telling him my entire schedule?

  He turned and looked at the clock on the weight room wall. “How about I pick you up at the Dean’s office at seven and we go to O’Leary’s?”

  All I could do was nod, totally in the “Zeke Zone.”

  “I’ll see you in a bit,” he said, then he leaned in slowly, his eyes on mine the entire time and I swear the gold flecks in them were almost glowing, then he brushed his lips feather-light over mine and then he was gone.

  And I was left standing in the hallway, head against the wall, eyes closed, my fingers tracing my lips where his had just been.

  Holy hell. What in the heck had happened to my resolve? My focus on a better future?

  Oh, man. I was in some serious freaking trouble with this guy.

  ~*~*~*~

  “I’m in trouble, Jay!” I screeched into my phone as I walked back across campus.

  “What? Are you okay? What’s going on? Did Jezebel break down?” she questioned.

  “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” I cried.

  “Scar! What is it? You’re scaring me!”

  Taking a deep breath I exclaimed, “I just agreed to have a drink with Zeke Powers!”

  There was silence for a moment then I heard her squeal at her boyfriend. “Dex! Scar has a date with Zeke Powers!”

  I stopped walking and my head went back on my shoulders as I stared up at the dark sky and the snow falling down wondering how I’d let this happen. “Ouch!”

  “What? What’s happening now?” Jay asked when she calmed down.

  “Just got a snowflake in my eye,” I grumbled rubbing my eye.

  “Uh, okay. So when’s your date?” she asked (still squealing, by the way) as I started walking again.

  “In,” I pulled my phone back to look at the time, “twenty minutes,” I answered. Wait, what? “Oh, shit! Fuck! I’ve got a date in twenty minutes and I look like crap!” Ugh. I smacked my forehead with my palm.

  “What’re you wearing?”

  “My fisherman sweater and the same jeans I wore to work this morning. My beige and brown plaid pea coat and brown boots.”

  “Sounds cute,” she offered.

  “No, it doesn’t! Oh, God. How did I let this happen? I can’t go out with him, Jay! It’ll screw everything up!”

  I heard her take a breath and blow it out. “Okay, I’m only going to say this once. Well, once for tonight, anyway. And I know I’ve had to have said it at least fifty-thousand times before, but let yourself have fun, Scar! You haven’t gone out with anyone since Lance!”

  Lance. Great. I hadn’t thought about him in a while and that was a good thing. “Thanks for bringing him up,” I snapped.

  “It was two years ago. Let it go. It happened. It’s over. Move on.”

  “Easy for you to say,” I grumbled.

  “Two years, Scar. Don’t you think it’s time to let yourself be happy?”

  I’d dated Lance for a year and a half. He’d been a year older and I thought I’d been in love. I’d met him at a friend’s party and we’d both been drunk and I’d slept with him that night. Not very smart on my part, I know, but whatever. This had also been during the time I’d had to drop out of school to work at a grocery store on top of working at The Nook and I’d felt lost. But Lance had grounded me. He’d been a senior at UDub who was getting his degree to be a software engineer and he’d been so focused that he inspired me to get back on track and go back to school. He’d also asked me to marry him promising that once he graduated and got a job, we’d get married right after. Things had been fabulous between us until during a two-week span the next winter break when I’d gotten the stomach flu and he didn’t call. He didn’t answer my calls. He wasn’t home when I pulled myself out of bed and went by his apartment. Nothing. I’d even called his parents but they’d had no idea. I’d finally told Jay I was worried, so one evening, she, her boyfriend Dexter and I went to Lance’s apartment. When no one answered, Dexter produced a lock pick set and proceeded to break in. And that’s when I’d heard it: the sounds that Lance made when we were having sex, coming from his bedroom. I’d gone on shaky legs to his bedroom door and pushed it open to find him and one of his study partners, Belinda, getting busy. The same Belinda I’d complained that he spent too much time with only to have him promise me there was nothing going on. Upon catching them, I’d gasped, they’d stopped, Lance had yelled at me, I ran out of the room and out the front door, he chased me and grabbed me in the parking lot and that’s when I’d thrown up on him. It’d been a very lovely evening overall.

  And that had been the end of that. Well, not until a week later when he’d called to apologize. Then he’d asked if I wanted to have a threesome with him and Belinda. That had been the end of that.

  Before Lance, I’d had two semi-serious relationships and those boyfriends had also ended up cheating then asking if I wanted to have a threesome with them too (what was it about guys and threesomes? Not that there’s anything wrong with them if that’s your thing; they just weren’t my thing). But I’d
really been head over heels for Lance, I wanted to marry him for crying out loud, and look how that turned out. So after the Belinda debacle, I decided I’d had enough of men and needed to take control, making my future my priority and I hadn’t dated or looked back since.

  Until now.

  I was outside the Dean’s office when I told Jay, “This guy scares me. He’s someone I could totally fall for. I just don’t want to get hurt again.”

  There. I’d said it.

  “I know, honey, but that’s the chance everyone takes. You’re not the first person to get hurt and you won’t be the last. And what if this guy’s…” she gave a dramatic pause before finishing, “the one?”

  Good old romantic Jayla. She was an English literature major and wanted to be a professor. She also lived in a Jane Austen novel most of the time and actually wanted to write historical romance novels herself, so yeah. So while she lived that life, I was the opposite. I’d become the realist, the pragmatic one who always did the right thing. And, oh, how much fun that was. But if it got my family out of debt and allowed my little brother to take girls to dinner on dance nights, then I was willing to do what it took to get us there.

  But then I sighed as I ruminated on everything, especially what Jay said. On the one hand, I felt I did deserve to have some fun. I mean, I was twenty-four and hadn’t really gotten to live out the college experience because of my responsibilities.

  On the other hand, what if Zeke was the cheating, let’s-have-a-threesome sort like the others?

  “I know what you’re thinking, Scar. What if he’s a cheating, threesome-wanting bastard too?” Well, she certainly knew me well. “Look. What happened with Lance and those other dipshits was a reflection on them, not you. And I swear, if you start trying to tell me again that you think you’re not good in bed and that’s the reason they cheated, I’ll smack you.”