Chapter 2 The Probation Notice

• I stayed in bed all Saturday morning with the blanket pulled over my head. My eyes felt swollen and heavy from crying. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard Liam's voice echoing through that back room, laughing with his friends while holding my letter.
• By Monday morning, I forced myself to go to class. I put on my hood, kept my chin down, and sat in the far corner of the biology lecture hall.
• I did not look at Liam once.
• When he walked past my desk with his friends, he did not even look at me.
• To him, I was just a joke he had already finished telling.
• After my afternoon class, I walked toward the campus library. All I wanted was to sit in my quiet corner, open my textbooks, and pretend the rest of the world did not exist.
• "Evelyn?"
• A woman in a sharp navy suit stepped out of the athletic office near the main hall.
• It was Dean Vance, the head of student athletics.
• "Yes?" I asked softly, stopping in my tracks.
• "Come inside for a moment, please," she said, holding the door open. "We need to talk."
• My stomach dropped into a hard knot.
• I had never been called into the athletic office before. I walked inside, clutching my heavy backpack against my chest like a shield.
• The office was large and smelled of old leather and polish. Sitting in a leather chair near the window, with his long legs stretched out in front of him, was Nathan.
• He wore his dark team jacket with the silver dragon logo on the chest. His hair was messy, and his sharp jaw looked even harder in the bright daylight.
• He did not look like he was in trouble.
• He looked like he owned the whole room.
• When I walked in, Nathan lifted his head. His dark eyes locked onto mine, calm and steady.
• "Sit down, Evelyn," Dean Vance said, sliding a thick yellow folder across her oak desk.
• "I will be direct with you. You are the top student in the science department. You have a perfect grade point average."
• "Thank you," I murmured, sitting on the edge of a chair far away from Nathan.
• "Nathan here is our team captain," Dean Vance continued, looking over her glasses at him with a sharp frown. "He is leading the league in goals. Professional scouts are coming to watch him in the championships next month. But he is currently failing his core classes. If his grades do not improve by Friday next week, he gets benched. He will not play in the finals."
• I blinked and looked over at Nathan.
• Nathan did not flinch.
• He simply leaned back in his chair, resting his chin on his fist while watching my face.
• "He needs a tutor," Dean Vance said flatly. "A serious one who will not just sign his attendance sheets. I asked around, and your name was at the top of every professor's list. I want you to tutor him three nights a week until the finals."
• "No," I said instantly.
• The word came out before I could stop it.
• Dean Vance looked surprised.
• "Excuse me?"
• "I am sorry," I said quickly, squeezing my backpack tightly. "I am very busy with my own honors project. I don't have time to tutor anyone right now. Especially not... a hockey player."
• "Evelyn, the athletic department can pay you double the standard tutoring rate—"
• "It is not about the money," I said, standing from the chair. "I just want to focus on my studies. Please find someone else."
• I turned toward the door, eager to escape.
• "Five minutes."
• Nathan's low voice stopped me.
• I froze.
• Nathan stood from his chair. He was huge, his broad shoulders blocking half the light coming through the window.
• He looked at Dean Vance.
• "Give us five minutes in the hall, Dean."
• Dean Vance sighed and rubbed her forehead.
• "Five minutes, Nathan. Make her say yes, or you are sitting on the bench next week."
• Nathan stepped into the hallway first, holding the heavy wooden door open for me.
• I walked out, keeping my back against the wall, three feet away from him.
• "I am not changing my mind, Nathan," I said, looking straight at his chest so I would not have to meet his eyes. "I don't care about hockey. I don't care if you play in the finals."
• "I know you don't," Nathan said softly.
• He took one step closer.
• His shadow fell over me, making the large hallway suddenly feel very small.
• "I saw what happened on Friday night, Evelyn," Nathan said, his voice dropping into that low, flat drawl. "I saw that bench-warmer Liam laugh at you. I saw him show your letter to half the team."
• My face burned with painful shame. Tears pricked my eyes again.
• "If you are here to make fun of me too, you can save your breath."
• "I am not making fun of you," Nathan said firmly. "I think Liam is a fool. And I think you are letting him win."
• I snapped my head up, glaring at him.
• "What does that have to do with anything?"
• "You are hiding," Nathan said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder toward the library doors. "You are running away to sit in the dark because a fake guy hurt your feelings. You want him to feel sorry? You want him to see what he threw away?"
• I swallowed hard, my chest aching.
• "How?"
• Nathan leaned down slightly, bringing his face closer to mine.
• "Tutor me," Nathan whispered, his dark eyes burning with a dangerous light. "You fix my grades so I can play. In return, I will make sure everyone on that ice team sees you with me. I will take you to the team events. I will sit with you at lunch. By next week, Liam will look like a nobody, and he will regret every single word he said about you."
• My heart pounded like a wild drum.
• "Fake?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly.
• "Fake," Nathan agreed, a small, dangerous smile touching the corner of his lips. "A deal. My social standing for your brain. Do we have a deal, shorty?"
• I looked at his open hand between us.
• His palm was broad and calloused from holding a hockey stick.
• I thought about Liam laughing in that back room. I thought about how small I had felt walking into class that morning.
• Slowly, I reached out and placed my small palm in his.
• "We have a deal," I said.