Zeke (The Powers That Be, Book 2) (4 page)

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
.

“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.