Manipulative Attraction

20. ⚛️ Opportunity Knocks

Thorne made as much noise as possible when he entered the apartment building. He dropped his keys several times, hacked out a cough, and opened and closed the outside door.

Twice.

Each time harder than the last, hoping to draw Jeannie from her apartment to see what was going on.

Thorne cocked his ear when a chain scraped back. His heart leapt into his throat. A wave of disappointment hit his stomach when Judge Winston poked his head out, eyeing Thorne suspiciously.

"What's all that racket for, boy?"

Judge Winston was shorter than Thorne by more than a foot, but the beady-eyed stare from the judge's watery blue eyes put Thorne in his place.

"Sorry, Judge Winston. The wind caught the door."

"Uh, huh," the judge said, looking Thorne up and down. "She's gone, boy. Left about ten minutes before you got here. That other suitor picked her up."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't be coy, boy. You know what I'm talking about."

How could the old man know what was going on? Thorne thought.

Thorne looked into the Judge's eyes. He saw keen intelligence there and ... knowing. Thorne rightly figured little got past the Honorable Judge Winston.

"Do you know where they went?"

Ms. Cox opened her door, peeking timidly around it. Her wire-framed glasses perched delicately on the end of her small nose. "I heard them say they were going to El Chico's."

Ms. Cox clutched her pink terry bathrobe to her neck as Thorne eyed her incredulously.

Both of them knew? Was he that off his game?

"How did you two know Jeannie and I—"

Thorne and Ms. Cox startled in surprise at Judge Winston's bark of laughter. "Boy, I may be old, but not stupid. Anytime you meet a girl to help her with her bike, day after day, rain or shine, you must want something more than a 'good morning.'" The Judge gave Thorne an exaggerated wink. "You probably want a good piece."

"Judge!" Ms. Cox said, her face flushing red. She quickly closed her door, the chain rattling in her haste to shut out the Judge's depravity.

"Piece of cake! Cake is what I meant, Martha," Judge Winston shouted to his neighbor across the hall. Turning his attention back to Thorne, he winked again.

"Isn't that right, boy?"

"Yes, sir," Thorne said. "That's all I want."

"Thanks for coming out with me Jeannie," Shon said, beaming at her.

After a month of not seeing her outside of class, Jeannie had finally allowed him to take her out to dinner. Shon wouldn't ruin this chance. He would win Jeannie back. He had an offer she wouldn't be able to resist.

Shon had sorely missed Jeannie every day they'd been apart. To combat his heartache, he'd lost himself in Bekka. True, Bekka was a poor substitute, but as long as the lights were off and she didn't talk, Shon could imagine she was Jeannie every time.

"We're still friends," Jeannie said, picking up her menu. "I have no problem going out with friends."

Shon's smile slipped at her mention of friends. He wanted to be more than that to her. Jeannie was everything he wanted in a woman, smart, beautiful, funny, and her body ...

Shon's blood boiled remembering the times she'd come to his water volleyball games. His teammates, jealousy dripping from their voices, had asked incessantly about his cheerleader.

Yo, who is that, Shon?

Can I get a slice of that heaven?

Shon, when you're done, can I have a go?

Shon appeared affronted by their locker room banter, but secretly he'd enjoyed it. His teammates had envied him Jeannie. Shon had gotten a high off their attention, and it was a hard come down when Jeannie no longer turned up at his games.

In his life, no one had denied Shon anything. The pressure of not having his wishes satisfactorily fulfilled had played havoc on his life. He was losing sleep, daydreaming, and his skin was breaking out.

He had to do everything in his power to get Jeannie back.

Jeannie's face glowed with happiness. "So, Professor Longborn asked you, to ask me, to become your partner for the Student Collaboration Project?" The Student Collaboration Project or SCP was a conglomeration of the world's most brilliant minds under twenty-five years of age.

"Yes, she did," Shon said, his eyes dipping down briefly to Jeannie's chest and then back up again. "She first wanted to see if I would help and then asked me to bring you on board."

"Of course, I will, Shon. It's a great opportunity."

Jeannie was ecstatic. Working on the Student Collaboration Project with Shon would give her a chance to do what she had set out to do—prove herself.

Daddy will be so pleased, she thought.

"What will you have, Jeannie?" Shon asked, watching her over the top of his menu.

"I'll have the egg, bacon and hash brown breakfast burrito." The same dish she'd ordered when she came to El Chico's the first time...with Thorne. Jeannie smiled at the memory. Yes, it would take time to get over her neighbor, but she had duties and real opportunities to focus on now.

"That's what I've been waiting to see," Shon said, setting down his menu to gaze at her fully. "I've missed your smile."

Sure, Shon. Sure, Jeannie thought with a mental roll of her eyes.

She was tired of all the deception. Hers and Shon's. It was high time the real Jeannie emerged. To start off, she let her loose on Shon. "Is that so?" Jeannie said, placing her menu on the table. "I bet you think Bekka has a nice smile, too. Right?"

Shon's face turned pale under his spray tan. The way Jeannie was looking at him, speculative, almost as if she knew ...

He kept up the pretense and see where that led him. "Yes, Bekka is interested in me, but I have no feelings for her." Sweat trickled down from his underarms and rolled down his back. He tried to give her his million-dollar grin, but it came out lopsided.

Jeannie laughed. "Shon, Shon. Just be honest. You're sleeping with her."

His mouth gaped like a fish on the line. "How, how ... how—"

"How did I know?" Jeannie interrupted, raising her eyebrow and pursing her lips. "You just told me."