Talons

Chapter 75: The Pass

Raven’s POV

I don’t know what B did to me, but when I woke up, the pain of losing Tucker had dulled. All she did was hug me, but I swear that in that hug I felt relief. I had been awake for an entire day before she came home, but after talking to her, sleep hit me like bricks, and I was out. 

By the time I awoke, my sister had gotten rid of everything, and the scent of Tucker was so faint that I barely noticed it. When her friend showed up, I was expecting to feel like the odd one out, but Jamie is like a combination of Robin and I, so it was easy to get along with her, especially when she started to plan how my sister was going to get back at the human who embarrassed her. 

We rummaged through B’s luggage, which was filled with cut off shirts and shorts, and while some of the tops were salvageable, knee length shorts were not cute.

Armed with scissors, Jamie and I turned a pair of B’s high waist knee shorts into the kind of bottoms that turned heads, and with how amazing her body is, she’s definitely going to do just that.

When B tries on what we have picked out for her, we start to feel conflicted. She looks hot and with her beautiful face on full display, we know that not just the guys she tutors will be looking at her.

Rhea’s POV

Jamie spent the night at our place, and I took her car to campus since mine is still on pack territory. She and Raven planned to go shopping for the basic things that Raven needs. There are only a few months left on the lease, and as soon as it’s up, she plans to return to the pack. 

I’m so glad that Raven and Jamie get along, and if Miracle joins their group, I know they will be a trio of trouble.

I gave Raven my school issued debit card where all the payments from tutoring go. I haven’t had to touch the money in a while, so there's about 10k saved on it. She doesn’t need much, but I told her that she could spend everything.

Dressed in the cut off crop top and shorts that the girls put together for me, I walk into the restricted gym area, and toward the study hall. I can already hear the loud voices of the guys talking about summer break, and when I hear Mike chime in I almost lose the will to move forward but Sylvia pushes me.

My wolf tells me that we shouldn’t hide ourselves from anyone. Sylvia loves the changes in our body, and she wants to show it off.

I just feel like it's inviting more trouble, but she reminds me that we are no longer weak. If a problem wants to seek us out, we can deal with it.

I push open the door, and I’m immediately greeted by a series of ‘oh, sh*t’ whispers. I ignore it, and I notice a bouquet of flowers on my desk. I pick it up with a smile, thinking that Jamie and Raven have done too much. 

I read the card, expecting it to say something cheeky, and I frown when I see that it’s from Mike. I nonchalantly throw the flowers to the side, making the already silent room even more quiet.

I assume they don’t recognize me, so I put on my glasses to prove my identity. Brent raises his hand, and I chuckle at the action before calling his name.

“Is that really you?” he asks, and I smile. “It is you,” he says excitedly.

“I’m so glad my mom didn’t adopt you,” Brice says, and a round of chuckles goes through the room. I wink at the man, who clutches at his heart, and I shake my head at his antics.

“Who is Angel?” I ask. Based on coach Jim’s text, he got the worst grades in the summer classes he took, and he will need more than two hours of tutoring. 

I look up and see a handsome teen with his hand raised up. He has deep brown skin, curly black hair, and dark brown eyes. For some reason, I get a Jack vibe from him, so I take a gamble and in Spanish I ask him how he failed remedial English. 

He looks shocked for a moment, but recovers quickly, telling me that English is not his strong suit. He says that his problem is his comprehension. In his high school, his grades were all A’s and B’s, but he was allowed to use Spanish textbooks for all his classes.

I nod and start walking toward his desk as he mumbles out a bunch of words in Spanish. All I can really pick up is diablo (devil), which makes me pause in my steps. 

Some humans are sensitive toward supernaturals, and when they sense us, they typically go for calling us a demon or devil. With a name like Angel, I can’t be too sure, but when his eyes trace my body, I realize that he was probably saying something raunchy.

We continue our conversation in Spanish, and I ask Angel for his phone. He promptly hands it to me, and I download a translation app for him.

“Until your coach can get you Spanish textbooks, use this app.” I demonstrate how the app works before I head back to my desk, but Brent blocks my path, giving me the time-out symbol. 

“Wait a minute. There is definitely a flag on this play,” he says, making me giggle. I missed him and his brother, and I really hope to spend more time with them this year. “When did you learn to speak Spanish?” I make a confused expression, but from the looks I'm getting, everyone is just as confused as I am.

“Spanish is my first language. I tutor some of you guys in foreign language,” I add, and Brice clears his throat loudly.

“We just thought you were good in every subject.” I shake my head and scoot past Brent, who takes his seat. I’ve been ignoring Mike, but I can feel his eyes on me, and he finally speaks.

“What’d you do this summer?” Mike asks, and not wanting to be a complete jerk, I tell him that I visited family in Puerto Rico. Brent and Brice ask to see pictures, and I hand them my phone. Before long they are begging me to introduce them to my cousins, but that is a hard no. 

The two hours goes by with us just catching up. Truthfully, the freshmen coming in aren’t bad students, and the seniors don’t need me anymore. Coach Jim has made it so that I only tutor football players, which means I don’t have other athletes to deal with, and I feel like I’m just getting paid to chat.

With time up, I linger behind for a while but both Angel and Mike do the same. Brent and Brice were about to leave, but when they saw their teammates hang back, so did they. I know both men want to talk to me, which I don’t want, so I take the opportunity to ask the brothers what they have planned, and they tell me they have to run drills.

Their season starts soon, and they have to stay nimble. I ask if I can watch, and they of course agree. I don't actually care about football, but my ID is not synced to my dorm room yet and I don’t want to leave without getting coach Jim to do that for me. 

The guys leave to change, and in my boredom on the giant field, I pick up a football and throw it at a target.

“That wasn’t bad,” Mike says, and I spin to see him watching me. He looks more mature, and his dark eyes have a sadness behind them that wasn’t there before. “Can we talk?” I shrug as he stands next to me and apologizes for pretty much everything. “B, I really care about you. You know that right?” I shrug again because the damage is done, and I'm not interested in being hurt again. 

“Anyway, how are you?” I question, hoping to shift the topic.

“Not good,” Mike admits. “I spent the entire summer trying to contact someone special to me only to find out that she was on vacation and wasn’t even thinking about me.” I smirk, and Mike steps closer. “I can’t believe I let go of someone so perfect,” he says, and without much else, he walks away.

I go to leave the field, not knowing why my heart is thumping in my chest, but coach Jim sees me and stops me. He asks me if I’m up to embarrass some of his freshmen into working harder, and I nod vigorously.

Coach tells Brent to suit me up, and I see him make a face before nodding and dragging me back to the men's locker room. I come back out in full football gear, and all the guys are laughing at me. I look ridiculous and I know it.

Coach brings me a helmet and tells me that I will be a quarterback. I pick up the ball, and I’m instructed to get it to Raul. Coach blows his whistle, and Raul bolts. A first-year student is following him because he will be trying to intercept the pass. 

Raul is far when I decide to throw him the ball, and when the pass completes, several people gasp in shock.

“B that was nearly fifty yards,” Mike says.

“Is that bad?”

“Nothing you do is bad,” Mike replies, and I feel my face go red, so I turn away.

Coach Jim calls Mike up; he too is throwing to Raul and his pass also completes. I’m starting to feel bad for the freshman who is trying his best to intercept, but Coach tells me that failure is good for their drive. 

“Angel!” Coach screams, and he hands him the ball. It suddenly occurs to me that if Angel can prove he’s better than the second string, he will probably take Mike's place next year. 

Coach Jim blows the whistle, and Raul bolts again, but unlike the first two passes, Angel’s does not complete. I can tell he’s angry, and he insists it’s because Raul is tired, so Coach has him do it again, this time throwing to another receiver; the results duplicate.

“Maybe you should give your jersey to Miss Talons,” Coach says, and I feel terrible that I volunteered to do this.

“I’ll give her anything she wants,” Angel says flirtatiously. “If she can pass under pressure.”