Free Need You Tonight by Roni Loren Page A

Kaden’s. “Leave him
     alone. The bell’s about to ring.”
    “No, babe,” Doug said with that smarmy, I’m-better-than-you tone that seemed to be
     his default. “I need to look out for you. I don’t want some freak staring you down
     and thinking God knows what. You see the kind of books he’s always carrying, how he
     dresses. Sick fuck.”
    Her jaw clenched. “He doesn’t look at me like anything.”
    That was a lie. He did. But he wasn’t thinking
sick
thoughts. Well . . . depended on one’s definition of sick he supposed. “Why would
     y-you care if I look at her? Threatened?”
    Quincy snorted, and Doug gave Kaden a curled-lip once-over. “By a fucking fag with
     long hair and thrift store clothes? Hardly.”
    Kaden smirked. “Well, if I’m a f-f-fag, then you have nothing to worry about. And
     maybe I’m l-l-looking at her because I feel bad for her. She has to deal with your
     sorry ass.”
    With that, Kaden shoved past Quincy and made his way through the group. If they were
     smart, they’d let him go. Because he worked hard to stay out of trouble. Dealing with
     his stepdad any time he stepped out of line was more trouble than it was worth. But
     if those pricks laid their hands on him, he’d fight back. And though he probably wouldn’t
     win since he didn’t push weights every afternoon like those guys, he was feeling mean
     enough to fight dirty and inflict some damage before they took him down. Part of him
     hoped they’d try.
    He walked to the main doors without looking back. No one came after him.
    Maybe those douchebags had a few brain cells left after all.
     
    Tessa looked toward the far end of the library then back down to the note Mrs. Rombach
     had given her after Tessa had earned her third
D
in English. “You’ve gotta be freaking kidding me.”
    “Can I help you find something, Tessa?”
    Tessa turned to find the librarian, Ms. Solis, sending her a pleasant smile from behind
     her fortress of a desk. “Um, Mrs. Rombach wants me to sign up for tutoring in English.”
    The woman’s smile turned a tad sympathetic—
oh my, the poor cheerleader who got the looks but not the brains
. That’s what she was probably thinking. Tessa had seen that look before. She wanted
     to correct her, wanted to tell the librarian that she had
A
s in math. But all this poetry and Shakespeare crap just didn’t make sense. How was
     she supposed to understand stories in a language that didn’t even resemble her version
     of English?
    “She’s matched you up with Kaden Fowler, dear,” Ms. Solis said, pointing toward the
     tutoring room in the back of the library. The walls of the room were clear glass and
     soundproof, so there was no mistaking the shaggy blond head bent over a book. “And
     don’t worry. I know he’s a little quiet, but that Kaden is sharp as a tack. Goes through
     at least three books on his own a week.”
    Tessa forced her face to form some version of a smile. “Is there someone else available?
     I mean, not that I doubt Kaden’s skills or whatever, but I don’t think he likes me
     very much.”
    “I’m sure that’s not the case,” she said, a little glint in her dark eyes. “Just give
     it a chance. If you feel he’s not the right tutor for you, you can talk to Mrs. Rombach.”
    Well, crap. Mrs. Rombach was
not
her biggest fan. She had a feeling the woman had some sort of vendetta against the
     cheer squad and would simply fail her if she complained about which tutor she’d been
     assigned. Plus, if word got back to her foster parents that she was making waves,
     everything could go to hell. The
D
s were going to be hard enough to explain.
    With a heavy sigh, Tessa hefted her schoolbag higher on her shoulder and headed toward
     the back, determined not to make this a big deal. She tapped on the door before swinging
     it open, and Kaden lifted his head. The
oh-shit
expression on his face probably mirrored the one she’d worn when she’d walked into
     the