"Hey, I'm Tom," he grinned. "Are you Lucas?"
"The one and only," I laughed. "Come on in."
Tom Braddock was standing in my doorway and up close he was stunning. I'd seen the college quarterback several times but never up this close. He was Adonis with perfectly sculpted brown hair, a flawless muscled body, perfect teeth and smile, and the most amazing blue eyes I'd ever seen.
"So can I come in?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm just trying to think where I've seen you before," I joked.
"I'm here for you to tutor me. We're both in the engineering department and I'm quarterback of the football team."
He was seriously thinking that I didn't know him.
"Oh, I know who you..."
"Of course you do," he laughed. "I realize I overwhelm people all the time. I'm used to them leaving me standing outside in the rain while they stare at my magnificence."
He was teasing me and I reddened.
"Sorry about that. I didn't realize you're so tall. You always seemed so much shorter from a distance."
"TouchΓ©," he grinned. "I think I've found the right tutor for my needs."
"Let's sit at the kitchen table and take a look at your course load."
"I like that, business from the start. You're not going to waste the hour session talking to me about football."
"Speaking of business, I only take cash. I've been burned before by checks and I don't have time to tutor for free. I've got a heavy workload and I only agreed to tutor you as a favor because Dr. Jurgens asked if I'd do it."
"Oh, I thought it was because you needed the money..."
I gave him an eat shit look.
"Professor Jurgens said you're worth my time. I'm through with tutoring assholes who don't study."
"I guess I should say thank you. At least I think so," he grinned. "Even though we're not majoring in the same area I've seen you in the department and Dr. Jurgens thinks you're one of the best students he's ever taught. He says if I can't learn from you then I need to quit."
"How'd you get to be a junior in the engineering..."
"And need a tutor?" he laughed. "I know what you're thinking, just another dumb ass jock sliding through a degree program because the college wants him for their team."
His smile was infectious and I flushed again. He had me dead to rights, that's exactly what I'd been thinking. He punched in the shoulder playfully.
"That's exactly what you thought!"
I don't know why my face was burning so red. Okay, so I did know but I'd never let on to him.
"Well, it's not exactly as bad as you're making it seem," I said. "I know there's no way you'd be a junior in civil engineering and be a dumb ass..."
"Jock. Go ahead and say it. There are plenty of idiots in the athletic department but I don't want you to think I'm one of them."
"So what's going on here, Tom? You and I both know you're not a moron so why are you here for my help?"
Now he blushed.
"It's all of this advanced mathematics. I started to get someone in the math department but Jurgens recommended you because you understand the application to engineering coursework. He told me he'd ask you if you'd do it and clear it with the athletic department."
"I'll try to live up to the expectations he's put in your head. How about you tell me where you're having problems?"
We spent the next half hour going over his courses and I discovered Tom was actually a good student but he was having difficulty applying the advanced math to the engineering problems, slowing his work product down. I hoped his enthusiasm for the work helped me to mask my difficulty dealing with having the campus god sitting across from me dressed in an oversized football jersey and a pair of tight blue jeans.
"I've got a worksheet of math problems for you, a sort of quiz to see exactly where you are. That way we won't waste any session time."
"Oh, we wouldn't want to do that, now would we?" he teased.
"Well, we can waste all the time you want as long as we don't go over an hour. You're paying for it so what you get out of it is up to you."
My tone was too sharp and I regretted it.
"So if I need to take a break and I ask you for a cup of coffee you're going to charge me."
"Come on, you know what I mean..."
Why the hell did I keep blushing and letting him get the upper hand with me?
"No, I don't know what you mean but I guess I'll figure it out as we go along."
Tom was enjoying this, toying with me just as he had all through the session. I'd look up from the books on the table occasionally and catch him with a strange wondering look in his eyes as he watched me. I refused to return the look, determined that he wouldn't be the one to discover the secret I'd hidden for so long.
"Look, Lucas, I'm sorry I didn't bring cash with me but I swear I'll bring it next time. Nobody said anything about cash; in fact, no one said anything about me paying you at all."
I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise and I knew he could see the steam.
"I don't care who you are, Braddock. I'm not tutoring you for free or for passes to the goddamn football games either. And I'm not waiting for those morons in the athletic department to scratch their asses and realize that either. I've tutored jocks before."
He laughed.
"Sorry, Blake, don't get your panties in a wad. Coach said they'd pay for it but I'll let them know I've got to pay cash up front. You WILL give me a cash receipt, won't you?"
"Okay, okay, of course I will. Who's the coach you're talking about?"
"Wolfe. He's a bit rough around the edges but he'll go for it."
"I know Coach Wolfe and you're right, he'll pay. I've dealt with him before but tell him I'm not going with this bullshit about getting paid at the end of the quarter. You show up with the cash for this session and the next one or don't come back."
Tom burst out laughing.
"Damn, dude, who the hell did you tutor that screwed you over?"
"I'm not going to tell you that but I know brick walls smarter than him. He's a dumb fuck wad and he still flunked after I spent all that time with his sorry ass. Then that dipshit Coach Myers refused to pay me and I had to go the president to get my fucking money."
"So, how many others have you tutored that failed anyway?"
"Just Oa...one."
Braddock screamed with laughter.
"Oates, Warren Oates," he choked out. "You're right, he's dumb as a box of rocks but man, he can do things with a basketball that nobody else in this school can."