Page 14 of Ruining Him

“I want to pass this class, too, you know. Not everything is as black and white as you seem to think it is, little menace. So, yeah. I guess you’re just gonna have to trust me.”

“If we fail, Iwillstrangle you, pretty boy.”

He shakes his head. “At this point, I can’t tell if you’re flirting with me or fucking with me.”

I let out a snort. “Cole, angel, sweetie,” I drawl. “I’d rather fuck all three of your friends at once than flirt with you.”

“Oh yeah? And what would Jake think of that?” he says, and my mind blanks, confusion swirling in my brain.

“Who the fuck is Jake?”

He snorts. “Jake Thoms. The fucker who let you wear his jersey yesterday.”

Aw, is he jealous?

“Don’t worry, nothing is going on between Thoms and me,” I say with a grin.

“I don’t care who you fuck, Lana.”

“Keep telling yourself that, pretty boy.”

NINE

COLE

The courtyard is quiet as I sit and stare at the building in front of me. There were workers here earlier this morning, adding a plaque to the front of the building.

This is the newest addition to campus, with it only being built in the last couple of years.

And of course, the plaque takes up half of the entrance, my family’s name right there for everyone to see.

I sigh and refresh the student portal on my phone, waiting for the results to come in for mine and Lana’s econ project.

After the fourth refresh, they finally show up, and I breathe a sigh of relief when I see that we passed. We didn’t get the highest grade we could have got, but it’s better than failing.

That would have been a disaster.

Just as I’m exiting out the app, my phone starts vibrating in my hand, and I roll my eyes as I see my father’s caller ID flash up on the screen. I’d ignore it, but he’d only keep calling until I eventually picked up.

I swipe and bring the phone to my ear.

“Hello, Fath?—”

“Cole,” he says sternly, cutting me off mid word. “We talked about this. You need to get the highest grades possible in all of your classes if I’m going to hand the business down to you one day.”

I frown. I’ve only just gotten my grade, so how the hell does he know already?

It hits me then: my father is friends with a few of the professors who teach here, so he no doubt talked them into giving him access to the portal that’s only meant to be for students.

I clear my throat. “It was a partnered assignment. I can only do so much…”when my partner refuses to be alone in the same vicinity with me for longer than five minutes. “And it only counts for a portion of my overall grade. There was nothing I could do.”

In truth, Lana’s portion of the assignment was really good, and if we had actually bothered to work together on it, our grade would have been a lot better, but I’m not about to tell him that.

“So, you got a shitty partner. Is that what you’re saying?”

I hum, not wanting to confirm or deny his theory. Neither will work out in my favor, and I’ve found it’s just easier to go along with whatever he says.

I zone out as his voice starts filling my ear with his usual talk of responsibility and living up to the family name. It’s the same speech every time, and I could probably recite it word for word by now.