Page 24 of Disobedient Pawn

“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” I said and grabbed for Ren, not even thinking about the coffee still in my hand. Of course, one of the lids popped off, and the hot liquid splashed all over the front of her uniform.

“Ah, holy hell, that’s hot,” she yelped and pulled her shirt away from her body.

“Oh fuck, sorry,” I said and quickly sat the second coffee down on a small table and grabbed a towel off the back of a chair. I pressed the towel against the liquid and swallowed hard as Ren’s angry stare looked down at my hand and towel pressed against her chest.

I whipped my hand away as Ren’s eyes tried to meet mine through the tears streaming down her face from the blow to her nose. I wanted to help but was terrified to move as she glared at me and then down at her outfit.

“What the hell, Myles?”

“Keep it down, Freak. I’m trying to sleep,” Vicky complained.

“How about I pour hot coffee on you and see how quiet you remain,” Ren growled out, and my eyebrow cocked. No one talked to Vicky like that except us Kings. We didn’t give a shit who her family was, but no one else dared to mess with her. I was impressed that Ren didn’t seem to give a shit.

Vicky sat up, obviously looking to start World War III, but when she saw Ren’s stained and dripping clothes, she burst out in hysterical laughter and grabbed her phone.

“Oh, I need to preserve this,” Vicky said.

“Leave her alone, Vicky.” I did the one thing I could do to help and stepped between Ren and the camera, holding the towel open to make sure Vicky didn’t capture this moment. I was all for being an asshole. In fact, I was great at it, but I figured punching Ren in the face and dumping hot coffee on her was more than enough asshole for six in the morning.

“Come on, Myles, get out of my way.”

“Not a chance. Ren, are ya alright?” I glanced over my shoulder, but she was gone. “What the fuck?” Spinning in a circle, I checked every corner of the room. It was like a magic trick. There was no way she would still go to class like that, would she? Dropping the towel on the mess, I darted out into the hall and saw the far exit door closing.

Coach Bates would’ve been impressed with my speed and how quickly I got through the two sets of double doors that led out of the girl’s wing. I got my arm in the closing elevator doors just in time, and with a ding, they opened.

Ren held her bag in one hand while the other wiped at the mess I’d made. I wanted to make a mess all over her, but this wasn’t what I had in mind.

“Snowflake, truly I’m sorry,” I said as the doors closed behind me.

“What were you doing at my door in the first place, Myles?”

“Ya told me to meet ya for tutoring this morning.” I pulled out my phone and flicked through the numerous texts from the guys and a couple of girls I planned on meeting up with after the competition.

“I’m pretty sure the text said to meet me in the cafeteria.”

“Aye, but I thought I would do something nice and bring ya coffee and walk ya there. We didn’t get off on the best foot yesterday, and I was trying to be nice.”

Ren sighed and rubbed at the tears still running down her cheeks. Her nose was already red, and she would definitely end up with a partial black eye. There was a strange stirring in my gut. Guilt was a rare ass emotion for me, but I felt it now.

“It was a nice thought, thanks.”

“Are ya okay? It didn’t burn ya? We can go to the nurse.”

“I’m fine. Nothing that a shower and some ice won’t fix.”

Oh, she had to go and put the idea of her naked and wet in my head.

The elevator dinged, and I stepped back so Ren could walk out first. She looked like a perfect little librarian, with her hair twisted into a messy bun and a pen stuck in it. Even covered in coffee with a swelling eye, she looked delicious. I wasn’t sure how I would get through two hours of calculus twice a week, plus tutoring, and not think about laying her on the desk.

Who was I kidding? There was no world where I didn’t picture her laying on Mr. Willis’s desk as a fuck you to the ass wipe teacher. Her normally neat blouse would be open, showing off her white lacey bra that I could see through her damp shirt. I’d push that short blue kilt up over her hips and—

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

Ren’s voice startled me. Shaking my head, I forced myself out of the fantasy that could become a full-fledged reality if she just said yes. Fuck the desk. I’d pull her back into the elevator and press the emergency stop if she wanted.

“Sorry, I spaced out.”

“Are you going to do that the entire time I’m tutoring you?”