Hustle (Sample and Bonus Chapters)

1: Naive

I sigh, a mix of relief and disappointment filling it. "Aren't there other places?" She would be the one to know, Rose already had several tattoos scattered on her body.

The purple hair in her ponytail swishes as she shakes her head. "I wouldn't trust anyone other than Chuck to touch this skin. But looks like he's no longer my secret." Her frown turns up as she inhales, filling her tiny chest. "It's alright, another night." Her posture changes and she glances over my shoulder. "Don't turn around-"

Of course I turn around right when her command is out. But I'm not able to see anything because she hisses at me, "I said don't turn around." She plants her elbows on the counter and cradles her head in her hands. "I can't take you anywhere."

I smile and nudge her. "Look, I'm not looking now. I didn't see anything. What were you going to say?"

The look she shoots me is skeptical, but she raises back up and dips close. "The one with his hair pulled back in the bun is the guy I was telling you about, the one from my class."

"The cute guy that sits behind you or the one who picks his nose and wipes it on his papers?" I shudder at the thought.

"Ew. It's the cute one." She shifts her gaze behind me and flashes a flirty grin, maintaining eye contact. "He's definitely looking this way. Ooh, he's standing, I think he's coming over. Quick, act natural, talk to me about something."

"Some good weather we've been having, huh?" I try for natural as I lean against the counter and look around. One of the biggest of the guys is walking our way, his hair is pulled back in a bun and I can see why Rose finds him attractive, but he's not my type. I like a little more clean cut, a lot less big- that guy is scary large.

She shakes her head, not happy with my choice of conversation. "It's our defense that wins games. Today proved that, U.V.A didn't even get a chance to score."

I nod, having no clue how to respond to that.

"You were at the game today?" The big boy stops in front of us, eyes sneaking a glance up and down Rose before settling on her smile.

"I never miss a game."

I kept myself from laughing, we were freshmen, and there'd only been one game this season so far. But I'd only known Rose for two weeks, maybe she went to games in high school.

"We're initiating the freshmen with a team tattoo." He nodded at the back of the shop. "You getting a tattoo?"

"We were, but..."

"Blondie. Hey, Blondie." Another player waves and calls out, distracting me from what Rose was saying. After my earlier mishap I didn't jump to the conclusion that he was talking to me. "You."

"Me," I mouth, pressing a hand to my tank top.

"Yeah, you, Blondie. Come here."

Rose is in full flirt mode and laughing at something with her guy, so I leave her side, walking into the group of guys with nervous steps, muscles vibrating as they watch me . I liked them better when I thought they were cheering me on.

"You're that girl that came into my class?" He points the neck of his beer at me.

"Maybe." Where did they get beer?

"Yeah, you're running some sort of daycare on the weekends and want people to volunteer to work for you." He scoffs at his summary and turns to his friends for support.

Andrew, the one that had opened the door for us, the one they had really been cheering for, the one with that perfect jawline, sits on a chair next to him. And his silent stare makes the air thin and hard to breathe, even if it's only a bored stare. The others around him are reacting, questioning what I'm doing.