A Public Spank

Hundreds of university students were holding their breath all at once.

The spotlight was entirely on Aaron. Down on the polished hardwood, the golden boy of St. Augustine University who had just shoved the massive, gold-plated championship trophy directly into the chest of his shocked best friend, Roonie. Nobody dared to question me even if they wanted to. The unquestionable son of Mrs. Adams 

People were literally gasping. You could hear the faint squeak of sneakers as the losing team quietly scurried off the court in the background, wanting no part of this drama.

But Aaron didn't care about the game anymore. He didn't care about the cameras flashing around him like a violent lightning storm. He didn't care about the reporters, the cheerleaders, or the fact that his mother,the terrifying Mrs. Adams, was probably waiting for him to walk up to her for her hug.

He kept his dark, burning eyes solely on me.

And before my brain could even register what was happening… he started walking.

He didn't walk toward the center court for his MVP interview. He didn't walk toward his mother to let her kiss his cheek for the press. He bypassed the entire media circus and marched straight toward the student bleachers. Straight toward the shadows where I was hiding in my oversized black hoodie.

Was Aaron possessed? Because believe me, I did not know what he was trying to do. What impression was he trying to give to the entire university by walking toward me instead of playing the good, rich son?

Down in the VIP section, the tension between Aaron and Mrs. Adams was so thick you could cut it with a chainsaw. They didn't even try to hide the fact that they were on bad terms. 

He stared his mother down for a split second, and the resemblance was actually scary. Mother and child. Birds of a single feather. They both had the same cold, calculating eyes, the same sharp jawline, and the same terrifying ability to make everyone in a room feel like an absolute peasant.

But it made me wonder,where was his father?

No one ever spoke of Mr. Adams. He had never attended a single university parent forum, not even during the freshman welcome weekend. It had always been Mrs. Adams showing up with her army of bodyguards.

How on earth had I noticed all of that? Was I a freak? Why was I psychoanalyzing my blackmailer’s family tree right now? The heck was wrong with me! If I channeled this exact same energy into fixing my own mommy issues,like the fact that my own mother chose her high-powered career over me,then maybe I would be fine. I wouldn't be standing here, dripping in someone else's toxic life, watching my doom march up the stairs.

"Jess," Isabella whispered next to me, her voice trembling as she grabbed my arm. "Jess, why is he looking at you like he wants to eat you alive? Why is he walking up here? Jess, move!"

I was too deep in my own thoughts to listen to her grumbling. The sea of students was literally parting for him. The crowd stepped back, stumbling over the bleachers like Moses was parting the Red Sea, leaving a clear, empty path straight to me.

Before I could even turn around to run, I felt two massive, sweaty hands grab me by the waist.

"What the—"

Whoosh.

I felt myself lifted completely off my feet and right into the air. The stadium spun in a dizzying circle, and the next thing I knew, the blood was rushing straight to my head.

I blinked, looking down at the concrete steps. I had been hauled right over Aaron’s broad shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Oh my God! You son of a bitch!" I screamed, my voice echoing over the dead-silent crowd.

"Hey! Put her down, you sweaty King Kong!" Isabella yelled, smacking his arm, but Aaron just leveled her with a death glare that made her freeze on the spot.

"Put me down! Put me down right now!" I yelled, thrashing wildly. I grabbed a handful of his basketball jersey. The white fabric was soaked in sweat, the bold black letters ADAMS 01 practically stamped into my face.

But all my yells fell on completely deaf ears. Aaron didn't even break his stride. He adjusted his grip on the back of my thighs, holding me tight against him, and carried me right back down the bleachers, marching directly into the center of the blinding stadium spotlight.

The cameras went absolutely crazy. 

Click-click-click-flash!

I was bouncing against his rock-hard shoulder, my face burning with so much embarrassment I thought I might spontaneously combust. As he carried me down the final steps to the court, my upside-down gaze met Emilian’s.

She was standing next to the VIP section, her pom-poms hanging limp in her hands, her face a mask of absolute, horrified shock.

For some stupid, petty reason, my lips acted on their own. I couldn't help it. After everything she had done to me in that locker room,the paint, the eggs, the humiliation,the monster inside me took the wheel.

I gave Emilian the biggest, most evil smirk of the century. And while I hung upside down over Aaron's shoulder, my right hand slowly went up, and I flipped her the middle finger right in front of the entire school.

Emilian gasped like she had been shot. I watched her spin around, completely losing her mind, and run straight to Mrs. Adams. Emilian started pointing an accusing finger at me, crying and throwing a tantrum like a toddler reporting me to her mommy. Or, in this case, her godmother.

Wait. Were the Adams and the Francis families that close?

What was I thinking? If they weren't close, then why would Mrs. Adams,that old, snobbish socialite who treated everyone like trash be that accommodating to a campus cheerleader? There was definitely a connection there.

"Aaron, I swear to God, let me go!" I shrieked, snapping out of my thoughts.

I continued hitting my feet against Aaron's thighs, kicking my legs wildly, desperate to get down before the entire university caught my humiliation on video. I thrashed left, I thrashed right, and in doing so, my left foot swung hard and hit something solid.

Specifically, I kicked him right in the dick.

Aaron stopped dead in his tracks. I felt his entire massive body stiffen against me like a board.

Oh no.

"Oops," I squeaked, my thrashing coming to a sudden, terrified halt.

What he did next shocked the absolute hell out of my soul.

SMACK!

Aaron spanked me! Right there! In the middle of the basketball court, with hundreds of people watching and cameras catching every single microscopic moment!

He raised his giant hand and smacked my ass so hard the sound echoed through the microphone of a nearby sports reporter.

The asshole spanked me! Jesus! I wanted to faint. I literally prayed for the hardwood floor of the basketball court to open up and swallow me whole. What the hell?!