Bully (The Fall Away Series Book 1)

My muscles tensed. I immediately started scanning the hallway to see if anyone was laughing, a sign that this was all a joke.

But none of Madoc’s pals were around to witness the prank, and Jared was nowhere in sight.

Turning back to Madoc, I fixed him with a glare. “Did you really expect me to fall for that?”

“Fall for what? My charm and amazing body? Absolutely.”

His sarcasm did nothing to ease my distrust. I rolled my eyes, already wondering why the hell I’d stood here listening to him. “Enough. I’m going to lunch. Tell Jared that I’m not that stupid.”

I turned around and headed for the cafeteria.

“Wait.” Madoc jogged up beside me. “You think this is a setup?”

Ignoring him, I kept walking. Of course, this was a setup. Why would Madoc want to go to Homecoming with me? And why would he think that I’d say “yes?” We’d been at each other’s throats for years.

“Tate, Jared would probably set fire to my hair if he knew I was talking to you, let alone asking you out. I’m being serious here. No pranks. No jokes. I really want to take you to the dance.”

I pushed on towards the cafeteria hoping he’d get the hint. I started to feel like I was suffocating. He needed to get away from me.

“Tate, please stop.” Madoc touched my arm.

I whirled around to face him, hot with anger. “Even if you are being serious, did you really think I’d ever trust you? You’ve groped me, and I’ve broken your nose. You’re asking me out? Really?”

This was the dumbest turn of events I’d never anticipated, and what’s more? It was a waste of my time.

“I realize we have an interesting history,” Madoc started, holding up his hands, “and I want to assure you that I’m not asking you out in a romantic way. Jared will have my balls as it is. I’ve been a jerk, and I want to make amends. If you don’t already have a date, I’d love to take you and show you that I can be a good guy.”

Aww, what a nice little speech.

“No,” I replied.

His charm didn’t work on me the way it worked on others, but the shocked look on his face gave me a little pause. Part of me wanted to laugh, because he actually looked disappointed. And part of me was troubled, because he actually looked disappointed.

I owed Madoc nothing. I told myself.

After everything, I shouldn’t even be speaking to him. But then again, after overhearing his talk with Jared last week in the hall, it seemed like he never was fully on board when it came to trying to hurt me. Maybe he really did want to make amends.

Doesn’t matter. It’s not going to happen.

Twisting around, I headed for the cafeteria again when I really just wanted to run out the front door. It was only Monday morning, and I was already climbing the walls to get out of here.

It was true that I wanted to go to the dance, and I didn’t yet have a date. And going with Madoc would make Jared jealous. Maybe I wanted to see him twisted up in knots over me.

I shook the thoughts from my mind. Don’t go there, Tate.

***

“Are you thinking of trying for an athletic scholarship?” Jess asked me as we threw away the remains of our lunches.

“Not really. I like running, but I’m not sure if I want to make that kind of commitment while I’m in college,” I answered.

K.C. and Liam had joined us for lunch but had disappeared a while ago, probably underneath the bleachers near the football field to talk. She seemed happy, and Liam had been even sweeter than usual. It would be a long time before I could look at him without thinking about his betrayal, but I was glad they were together again.

After they’d left, I barely ate any of my chicken burrito. Madoc kept smiling at me from across the cafeteria.

Ben kept texting me, too. He wanted to talk before lunch was over, but thanks to my friends, I had an excuse not to be alone with him. He’d been stupid, and while I was aggravated, I knew I’d have to talk to him some time. Even if it’s just to say “let’s be friends.”

“Well, you were awesome on Saturday.” Jess finished off her juice before tossing the bottle. “Oh, and Friday, too. I didn’t see the race, but the school’s been buzzing about it. You made people a lot of money. Derek Roman was pretty pissed, I hear.”

“I’m sure he was.” I swept my long hair up into a ponytail and felt a flash of heat bore into the back of my neck.

It was crazy how my awareness of Jared worked, but I was pretty sure he was in here somewhere.

He’d been AWOL all morning, no sign of his car or him. I kept my attention on Jess, even though the pull to turn around vibrated all over my body. After the two kisses and the dream, not to mention his apology, I’d thought about him a lot this weekend.

Before I could give in and search for him, I made my way to the doors with Jess. A moment later, I halted when I heard someone calling my name.

“Tatum Brandt!”

I jumped, instantly embarrassed that the person yelling made me the focus of the entire lunchroom.

“Will you please go to the Homecoming dance with me?” the idiot’s voice asked behind me.

I closed my eyes. I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Him.

I spun around slowly to see that Madoc was kneeling a few of feet away. He stared up at me with big, blue, puppy dog eyes, and I noticed that the lunchroom had gotten very quiet as people hushed others and looked at us wide-eyed and breathless.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mumbled out and offered an apologetic smile to Jess. Walking on his knees in short, hilarious steps, he came flush with my shoes and cocked his head all the way back to peer up at me. He took my hand in his.

Girls were giggling, and everyone was staring at us. Only Madoc could get away with this flamboyant display and still be considered manly.

“Please, please! Don’t say no. I need you.” His dramatic tone caused an uproar of laughter and chants encouraging him further.

My heart was pounding. Any second now I was going to go ballistic on him, and I probably wouldn’t be lucky enough to stay out of the Dean’s office a second time.

“Get up,” I snapped, pulling on my hand. My head swam with ideas of how I was going to hurt this kid. They’d never find the body.

“Please, let’s make this work. I’m sorry for everything.” He was deliberately speaking above the laughter so that everyone knew our business.

“I said no.”

“But the baby needs a father!” he implored.

My heart sunk at his words. Oh, my God. No, no, no…

Hoots and hollers erupted from every corner of the room, and heat rose up my neck and face. I felt like I was having an out of body experience. This could not be happening. Is this how he was making amends? By embarrassing me more?

He grabbed my hips and pressed his face into my stomach. “I promise I’ll love our kid,” he whispered for only me to hear. “I can say it louder if you want.”

“Fine, I’ll go. For now,” I said through clenched teeth. “But if you pull any more shit, I’ll break your arm.”

He popped up, wrapped his arms around me and pulled me off my feet into a hug. Swinging me around, everyone clapped and whistled, and I felt like throwing up. Once I was back on my feet, I slapped him on the arm and stalked out of the cafeteria, knowing I did not want to catch the expressions on Jess’s or Jared’s faces.