Jock Blocked: An Enemies to Lovers Sports Romance Read online

  Jock Blocked

  An Enemies to Lovers Sports Romance

  Shae Sullivan

  Edited by

  Dani Black From Black Lotus Editing

  Contents

  Dear Reader,

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Also by Shae Sullivan

  About the Author

  Dear Reader,

  Hello there! I'm Shae (Sullivan) and I'm so excited that you're reading my book today! I've been a fan of ménage and reverse harem romance for years. I read everything from rockstar to billionaire to cowboys and everything in between! A year ago, I finally took the plunge and wrote my first book and since have written five or six more. And I’m hoping that you LOVE THEM! Stick around, because I will have lots of awesome, and devilishly sexy reads coming your way. Plus, I'm building my ARC team and looking for some loyal fans to share this journey with me!

  PS: Audiobooks are coming soon, and I can’t wait to share my stories with y’all!

  You can join in the fun here: Join Shae’s Wicked Readers!

  Sign up for my Newsletter to stay up to date on all my upcoming books and for a chance to win Advanced Copies of my books! https://www.subscribepage.com/ShaeSullivan.

  XOXO

  Shae

  Chapter 1

  Trina

  I should be used to how hot it can be in the tutoring center after working here for two years, but I still forget I don’t need to wear my hoodie when I get to my office. It may be September in Connecticut, but the tutoring center keeps the heat on high, like it’s winter year-round. It gets really bad in the spring when it’s even hotter outside.

  “This is stupid, Trina,” my student says. He’s been staring at the same math problem for twenty minutes. Every time I try to help, he brushes me off. “I’m never gonna use math. I’m playing basketball after graduation.”

  “We’ve talked about this. You’d be surprised how often you use math, even in basketball.”

  Markus rolls his eyes. “Yeah, right. You have to say that because you’re wicked smart.”

  I laugh. “True, but still. You don’t think there’s math in basketball? What about the angle you shoot the ball?”

  “You really think we put that much thought into it? We plant our feet and shoot. It’s not math.”

  “You could…”

  “You’re a nice girl, Trina, but you’re not gonna sell me. Can you help me get through this problem?”

  “Are you going to let me help this time?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Let’s take a look.”

  My Tuesday mornings with Markus go like this every week. He’s here because he can’t fail out of his class or he’ll risk his position on the basketball team come spring. Markus is only a sophomore, so it matters that he play now. He wants to make it to the NBA after graduation. From what I’ve heard, he’s well on his way.

  Most of my tutoring students are athletes. I don’t get why. My boss, Ben, loves to torture me I guess. At least he never makes me work with football players. I told him I would tutor any student on campus, except for anyone on the football team. Since I’m the only math tutor with the skills to help at every level, Ben obeys my command.

  My stomach flutters. I can’t see Ben’s desk from my office, but I wish I could. He’s tall and thin with shaggy blond hair. His blue eyes make me swoon whenever I see him. Maybe it’s a good thing I can’t see him. I’d rarely get any work done.

  Markus and I get through his homework assignment just as his tutoring session ends.

  “Thanks for the help, Trina. I’ll see you next week.”

  “See you then. Don’t forget to do the practice problems I gave you!”

  “We’ll see,” he says with a wink. Markus talks big, but he’ll do the work. He always does. That’s why I’m willing to keep working with him. There’s no point in me tutoring students who aren’t going to put in any effort. Markus always tries to do things on his own first, which I really like. I’m going to miss him when I graduate. I hope he finds someone to tutor him next year. He may not think he needs it, but I know the extra help is good for him.

  I tidy up my office. I don’t have any other students today, but I have to stick around for the next two hours, just in case I get a walk-in.

  All of the tutors here have their own offices. It makes it so there are fewer distractions.

  Since there aren’t any more students coming in right away, I pull out my own work. It’s the fall of my senior year, so my course load is pretty light. I made sure to make it that way. Not so I can party and slack off, but so I have more time to tutor. This job looks really good on my resume.

  My plan is to finish at Connecticut University next year. I’ve already started applying to grad schools, including here at UConn. Since I grew up less than twenty miles away from here, I’d love to stay. I get to visit my parents all the time. We’re very close, so that matters to me.

  After I earn my PhD, I’m going to become a math teacher at a university. Maybe I’ll end up at this university. That would be the dream. There are a few other great schools in Connecticut and southern Massachusetts I could work at, though. My goal is to stay as close to my parents and younger brothers as I can.

  Then again, Charlie and Nick, my twin younger brothers, graduate high school in spring. I don’t know where they plan on going to college, but they don’t have the same desire to stay in New England that I have. I wouldn’t be surprised if they both end up on the west coast somewhere.

  I force myself not to think about that. I hate the idea that my family is going to be spread across the United States. I can’t imagine not getting to have dinner with them on Sundays. I guess we could video chat with the boys, but it won’t be the same.

  Thankfully, I have my math work to keep me distracted from the future. This is actually work for next semester. I’m going to be an undergraduate assistant for a pre-calculus class. I haven’t taken the course since I was a freshman, so I’m trying to refresh myself on the work. My problem is that I’ve gotten so high in math courses, sometimes I make lower level work more difficult than it needs to be. I have to reel myself in when I’m tutoring algebra courses or I might start getting into differential equations. The last thing I want to do is confuse my students and turn them off of math forever.

  The gig next semester means this might be my last semester as a tutor. Ben and I haven’t really talked about it, but it’ll be hard to keep up with four classes, my UA job, and tutoring. I’ll be sad to leave, but obviously being a UA is way more important to my future than tutoring. It’ll make me look great on applications after I earn my PhD.

  I get through the chapter I’ve been working on. It’s only the beginning of the semester, so I don’t want to get too far in the textbook and then lose all the progress I’ve made over time. I’ll read it again over winter break, anyway. I put the textbook away and mess around on my computer for a bit.

  Nothing interesting is happening. It rarely is. My social media accounts are generally used to keep up with math people
across the world. I’m even in some groups for future math professors. It’s nice to connect with like-minded people. There aren’t a lot of academics at my school. Most plan on going into professions like accounting or engineering. I’m one of the few trying to become a professor.

  I close my laptop. All the other tutors are in session, but Ben is probably just sitting at his desk out front. I check my hair in my small pocket mirror and head over to talk to him.

  “Hey, Ben,” I say, giving him my best smile.

  He smiles back. “Hi, Trina. I was actually just about to come see you.”

  I take a seat across from his desk. “Oh?”

  “Yeah, I have a student coming in to talk to you in a little bit. He’s going to become a regular.”

  “Oh, sounds good. When is he coming in?”

  Ben checks his watch. “We have about a half hour. You can hang out with me, if you’d like. I’m just filing paperwork.”

  “Yuck.”

  “Yeah, it sucks, but it’s the only way we get our budget every year.”

  “I get that. How are things looking?”

  “Good. We’re actually up this semester from last year.”

  “Nice!”

  I may be leaving the tutoring center behind next semester, but I want it to succeed. I’ve seen so many students pass classes because of the help they get here. It’s a great resource that the school needs to keep around.

  “Thankfully, Grace left things in good shape.”

  Grace was in Ben’s position last year. She left when she finished grad school. Ben is a grad student at UConn. He didn’t go here for his undergrad, but he’s been here all summer. I tutor over the summer, too, since UConn has summer classes and I live so close. Ben and I got to know each other really well since there were only four of us total the whole summer.

  Unfortunately, he hasn’t asked me out yet. I thought he was going to right before the semester started, but he didn’t. I’m still disappointed. I’m hoping he will once I leave the tutoring center. He might be hesitant since he’s technically my boss. I get it. There’s no fraternization policy in the tutoring center since the boss is always a grad student, so the age difference isn’t ever that big, but still. It might be weird for Ben to boss me around at work and in the bedroom.

  My cheeks flush. I should not be thinking about that right now, as much as I’d love to drag Ben into my office and have my way with him.

  “Are you okay, Trina? Your cheeks are a littles splotchy.”

  I cover my face with my hands. “Sorry, it’s just a little hot in here.”

  Ben looks towards the thermostat by the door. We can turn it down all we want, but it won’t change how hot it is in the tutoring center. I don’t know why they bother leaving it there when it’s just for show.

  “Yeah, it does get stuffy. I’ll try asking the office about getting that fixed.”

  “Good luck. Grace fought that fight for her entire time here.”

  Ben laughs. “If Grace couldn’t get what she wanted, I doubt I’ll succeed. I’ve heard stories about that woman.”

  “She’s a force to be reckoned with.”

  I miss Grace sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, Ben is a great boss and he’s quite easy on the eyes. But Grace and I had a connection. She’s a math girl, too. Ben is getting his PhD in English. Our academic lives are different, even though we get along in other ways. I like talking to Ben, but I really miss getting to geek out about math with Grace.

  She left me her number, but I haven’t used it. She started a job right after graduation and I don’t want to distract her from anything.

  A student walks into the tutoring center, ending the conversation between Ben and me. It’s a young girl, probably a freshman. I walk over, assuming she’s the student Ben told me about.

  “Hi, I’m Trina. How can I help you?”

  The girl bites her lip. “Um, yeah, I heard you guys can help with writing papers? I’m stuck on this assignment for my intro to lit class.”

  “Oh. Uh. Yeah, we can help with that. I’ll bring you over to Ben and he can get you an appointment.”

  I guess this isn’t my new student. Ben gets busy setting the girl up with one of our English tutors. He’ll be distracted for a while, so I head back to my office. As I sit down, I realize Ben mentioned my student is a guy, anyway. I should have known the mousy girl who arrived wasn’t here for me.

  Ben will send the guy back when he arrives. Until then, I get ready for my first session with a new student. I try to get notebooks, notecards, and other supplies prepared to make the session run smoothly.

  I’m fully prepared for this new session. It’ll be nice to get another regular in. I only have four this semester. Last year, I ended up with twenty-three regular students. It kept me busy.

  I miss those days. Plus, having a fuller load of students is better for the tutoring center. They look at our numbers, and we’re pretty low so far.

  It’s still early in the semester, so I’m not too worried. Things will pick up in the next couple of weeks.

  Until then, I’m about to land a new regular student for myself.

  Chapter 2

  Carter

  This is embarrassing.

  I want to kick Coach’s ass. Who does he think he is, sending all the guys to tutoring? Doesn’t he get we have a reputation to uphold?

  The last thing I expected at the beginning of the season is to be relegated to tutoring. My schedule is busy enough without the added hourly sessions every week. I could spend this time in the gym but instead, I’m walking through campus on my way to meet with my new tutor.

  It’s stupid that Coach even thinks I need tutoring. I’ve always been good at math. I’ve been taking high level math courses since I was in middle school and I never needed a tutor.

  This year is no different. I’m about to start the highest level I’ve ever taken, but I’m not concerned with how well I’ll do. Math comes naturally to me. I don’t need some pretentious asshole tutor acting like they know more than me. Hell, I could probably be the tutor if I wasn’t so busy with football.

  It drives Coach crazy I take upper level courses. Most of the other guys stick with the basics. They take whatever they need to graduate, but they never go above and beyond. Hell, most guys only take a few gen eds every semester to stay enrolled. They’re not trying to get a degree.

  That isn’t my style. If I’m going to college, I’m going to make the most of it. I’d like to go into engineering someday. Football is the ultimate goal, but anything can happen. I could get injured or just decide I want to retire early. After that, I’ll need a job to fall back on. My post-football career goal is to become an engineer. It seems like a good back up plan.

  Coach doesn’t care about my back up plan. He cares about this season. Our team has done well over the last few years and we’re on track to make it to a bowl game. We’re also ranked highest to get into the NCAA football championship. Our school has never made it to playoffs, let alone to the championship. Coach is trying to change that.

  If my grades slip, then I could go into academic probation and I won’t be able to play. That’s why we all have to go to tutoring. Coach isn’t taking any chances, especially on the few guys who are taking difficult classes this semester. If we’re going to make it all the way, we’re going to do it as a team. No one gets left behind.

  I check my phone as I walk from my on-campus apartment to the tutoring center. I’m hoping for a text saying my appointment is canceled or a message from Coach saying he was just kidding about the tutoring shit. I wouldn’t have taken him seriously if he didn’t give us these forms our tutors have to fill out. It’s ridiculous.

  “Why couldn’t we get into study groups or some shit?” my buddy and teammate, Dennis, asks. We live next door to each other and our appointments are at the same time, so we’re walking to the tutoring center together.

  Walking in as a duo is less embarrassing than walking in alone.

  “I don’t kn
ow. Some of the guys got off easy. This is what we get for taking 3000 level courses.”

  “Mine is just an English composition class. I write papers I can bullshit my way through. I could go to office hours and be fine, but Coach signed me up for this session.”

  I laugh. “He did the same for me.”

  “Well, you’re taking super smart math. I’m not surprised he’s worried.”

  “I’m not an idiot. I can handle a math class.”

  “I’m sure you can. The tutor will help.”

  I roll my eyes. “No, he won’t. I don’t need his help.”

  “Why are you assuming your tutor is a dude?”

  “I don’t know. I guess it could be a girl. Either way, my plan is to use the hour as a study hall. I’ll figure out how to get through my work on my own.”

  “Why not get some help since it’s there?”

  “Because I don’t really need it.”

  That might not entirely be true. I can figure things out on my own, but I’ve been struggling with my assignments. It’s mostly that my teacher sucks. I have to basically teach myself how to do everything. If I had a better teacher, I’d be killing it in class already. Not that my grades are bad. I have a perfect score so far. I’m just worried that come midterms, I might fall down to a B. I’ve never gotten a B in a math class before and I’m not about to start now.

  I’m not about to start accepting help from a tutor, either. I’m going to the tutoring center under duress. Coach’s form is in my pocket. My tutor will fill it out every week after I sit next to them in a desk for an hour. Not much work required for them.