Read Online Stroker: A Bad Boy Sports Romance by Teagan Kade - Free Book Online Page B

you pulled in here on a scholarship.”
    “But did he tell you where he found me swimming?”
    “He told me it was a public pool.”
    Blake puts his chin to his chest, laughing. “Oh, man. In a way I guess the pool at juvenile detention was public, at least paid for by the public.”
    “He did not mention that.” Play it carefully, Tia. I run a strand of hair around a finger. “What were you in for?”
    He comes straight out with it. “Dealing. They start you out young where I’m from. My Uncle Benny was straight, but I reckon he was the only one left in the entire neighborhood. He passed years ago. I’ve heard it’s nothing but cartel land now.”
    “And where’s that? Columbia?” It’s a bad joke.
    “Little mid-west shithole called Millertown.”
    “But you’re reformed, right? You don’t,” I can’t think how to put it, “ use any more, do you?”
    “No,” comes the simple reply. “Besides, it would show up in a second in screening.”
    “And if you weren’t here?”
    “Probably wasting away in some gutter, bullet hole in the back of the head.”
    “That’s a little grim, isn’t it?”
    He rubs his arms. “It’s the truth. That’s how my parents went out, not that it was any surprise—motorcycle gang politics and all that fuckery. I barely knew them.”
    I’m surprised by this frankness, this trust. “I had no idea.”
    If he feels pain at his past, he doesn’t show it. “No one except Coach does. If this place found out about my background, well… you can paint the picture.”
    “They don’t know?”
    “Sealed records.”
    “Why tell me then? What makes you think I can keep it a secret?”
    He pushes off the desk. “Call it a gut feeling. Enough of this depressing shit. You up for lunch?”
    “Only if you’re buying.”
    *
    I’ve been here four weeks now and still haven’t been to the campus food court.
    I’m conscious of the eyes on us as we walk. Blake has a presence. I have to give him that. He walks with confidence, power, like he damn well owns the place. He probably does in many ways. What does that make me by his side?
    You’re more than good enough for him. You’re too good.
    Maybe, but I can’t deny the little flutter of excitement it gives me to think people see us and assume we’re together, that the mighty Blake Johnson is finally giving up his womanizing ways and settling down. And I was the girl to do it—little ol’ Tia Reed.
    Blake leans over to my ear, his breath hot on the lobe. “Avoid the flapjacks at all costs. They’re wholegrain, but trust me, you’ll be in a ‘whole’ lot of pain the next day.”
    I point over to the sandwich stall. “Surely the sandwiches are okay.”
    “There’s a rule here at Carver: Add meat, you’re off your feet. Add chicken, you’ll be sickin’.”
    I crack up. “It can’t be that bad. Have you seen the fees for this place?”
    He waves his hands around. “And yet you’d find better food on an airplane.”
    “So why bring me here at all?”
    He nods in the direction of the burger stand. “I know. The grill looks like it hasn’t seen a cleaning cloth since Reagan, but that’s all part of the magic. Best burger you’ll ever have.”
    Judging by the line, maybe he’s right. “I’m surprised they let you guys eat that kind of stuff. I thought athletes only ate twice-toasted muesli and goji berries, superfoods, body is a temple and all that?”
    He shrugs, giant shoulders hulking. “I don’t know if you’ve seen the wrestling team yet, but those guys know how to put away meat. Besides, you know they have McDonalds in the Athlete’s Village at the Games, right?”
    I lick my lips. “I could murder a Big Mac right now.”
    Blake sniggers. “My kind of girl, but try the burgers here first. Trust me.”
    So I do. True to his word, the burgers are amazeballs—smoky, soft buns, hint of spice, a little like Blake, come to think of it.
    He’s wearing the same smug look I gave him the night we finished