Page 41 of In the Net (Sin Bin Stories #5)
HARPER
I can feel the hostility simmering in my gaze as I scan the room. A competitive feeling fires through me while I find my way to an empty seat among the rows of chairs in front of the stage.
All these girls are going to be bidding for a date with Sebastian. Too bad for them, they’re going to have to go home disappointed. Or settle on winning a date with one of the players who’s not my fake boyfriend. Two options, ladies.
With my GPA, it was easy for me to get approved as a bidder for this event.
Sebastian tried to mollify me by reminding me how platonic this whole thing is. I don’t buy it. Any girl giving up hours of her life in exchange for a date with one of the most lusted-after men on campus doesn’t have platonic thoughts running through her head.
I didn’t tell Sebastian that I was showing up to bid on him. I didn’t want to deal with days of him teasing me for being jealous.
I’ll just have to deal with that after I win. Because even if it is just ending up in a group dinner or something, no girl is going to claim my fake boyfriend in public.
The lights dim, and high-pitched cheers and clapping fill the room as the heavy curtain slowly draws back to reveal the stage.
A woman who I recognize as Dr. Harver, the assistant director of the tutoring center, steps onto the stage with a microphone in her hand.
“Welcome to the tenth annual Player Auction!” she exclaims enthusiastically into the microphone, drawing more cheers.
My nose twitches. These girls sound downright feral. Platonic my ass.
Possessiveness has the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I feel like a feline with my claws drawn, ready to pounce on a source of threat.
“Instead of money, you’ll be bidding with volunteer tutoring time in the subjects you qualify for,” Dr. Harver explains. “But you all already know that. Enough with the preamble, let’s bring out the players!”
More hungry cheers. I’m surprised I don’t hear any of these girls smacking their lips.
“We’re starting this evening with a guy who hasn’t been at Brumehill College for long, but he’s already made a big splash. Felix Marshall!”
Felix struts onto the stage, reeking of confidence.
An arrogant smile dances on his handsome face, and he carries himself like he’s the biggest movie star in the world walking down the red carpet.
He tosses out winks to girls in the crowd, drawing more cheers as he strikes poses while slowly making his way to the center of the stage, milking every second of his time in the spotlight.
“Let’s be realistic and skip right past one hour,” Dr. Harver says into the mic, like an experienced auctioneer. “Do we have three tutoring hours?”
Every hand in the crowd but mine shoots up.
By the time the bid is up to ten hours, only the most determined girls are still in the game. The winner ends up pledging twenty hours of her time to the tutoring center in exchange for the date with Felix.
Twenty hours! These girls are all students here who study hard enough to meet the GPA requirements. Adding an extra twenty hours of volunteering? That’s like an entire week at a part-time job.
Sure, Felix is one of the best-looking guys in the whole school, but Sebastian’s been a Black Bear for four years.
He was part of the championship-winning team last year.
If a newbie commands twenty hours, I shudder to think how much time I’m going to have to give up to keep any of these other girls from sinking their claws into Sebastian.
I sit through a couple more players’ auctions. Jamie ends up commanding thirty-one hours. His face was red as a tomato the entire time.
When Jamie walks off the stage, Dr. Harver gets back on the mic. “Last, but certainly not least, here’s a player with brains as well as brawn. Sebastian Lawrence!”
Sebastian’s expression is full of amusement as he saunters to the center of the stage. Then his eyes find me, and his face twists in confusion.
What are you doing here? I see him mouth.
I only respond with a steely, determined gaze that should leave no question.
He presses his lips together to keep from laughing. Jealous , he mouths again.
I hold back as the bidding quickly rises.
I get fed up, though, as Dr. Harver is content to keep going up in tiny increments, drawing this thing out for the drama.
Everyone seems to be having fun, and I don’t want to rain cold water all over them, but seeing all these girls fighting over my man has me bristling.
I mean, seeing all these girls fighting over my fake boyfriend has me bristling.
“Twenty hours,” I call out, cutting to the chase.
Sebastian’s eyebrows bounce, amusement glittering behind his glasses.
Dr. Harver smiles. “Well, it appears we have a big-ticket item on our hands. Do we have twenty-five?”
Another girl immediately takes the bid. I slice my gaze to her. Wavey brunette hair. Long lashes. Lips to die for.
She is not winning a date with Sebastian.
“Thirty,” I say. My chest feels tight as soon as the number comes out of my mouth. I don’t have that much time to spare with how demanding my courses are this semester. But losing isn’t an option.
“Thirty-one,” another girl pounces.
“Thirty-two,” another counters
“Thirty-three,” I declare.
“We’re in record territory,” Dr. Harver says, clearly pleased. “Do we have thirty-four?”
“Thirty-four,” the girl with the perfect lips bids.
My stomach tightens into a hard ball. If she wants this date so bad, I don’t think she’s going to be content with a group dinner. From where I’m sitting, I can see the look in her eyes as she gazes up at Sebastian, and I can tell it’s him she’s hungry for.
“Thirty-five,” I say.
“Thirty-eight,” she ups the ante.
I set my jaw hard. “Forty.”
A hush descends on the room. My back muscles are rigid as I wait to hear another number called out by a girl who wants to steal my rightful date with my fake boyfriend.
But the next voice I hear is Dr. Harver after a long pause.
“Sebastian Lawrence is claimed, for forty hours of tutoring!”
Impressed applause sounds across the room. Sebastian beams a conceited grin at me from the stage. He wiggles his brows and mouths one more time, Jealous .
Why even try to deny it?