Chapter 2: You Don't Have A Choice

Roxanne's POV 

"Why would you be looking for me?"

He didn't answer right away. He just looked at me with those green eyes, steady and unbothered, like I hadn't just walked face first into his chest in front of half the corridor.

Behind me I could feel Charlotte's eyes burning a hole in the back of my head.

"I need to talk to you," he spoke, finally. "Alone."

"Whatever you have to say, you can say it here." I said.

"I really can't." His voice was sharp.

I stared at him and he stared back. I glanced back at Charlotte, she had her brows raised, her eyes were wide, she was clearly fighting the urge to say something.

Following him felt like a terrible idea, but standing here with Charlotte watching while he waited me out felt worse.

"Fine," I said flatly. "You've got two minutes."

I followed him down the side hall and into an empty seminar room, which was one of the old ones near the Pack governance wing that nobody used before noon. It smelt like dusty textbooks.

I crossed my arms and turned to face him. "Okay, we're alone. Talk."

He leaned against the desk at the front like he owned the room, like he owned every room he walked into.

"You know I broke up with Skylar," he started.

I blinked. "You mean she broke up with you."

He rolled his eyes. "Anyways," he said "I need to get her back. I can't lose her."

I stared at him. Of all the things I'd expected him to say, this hadn't made the list. He looked... almost serious.

"Okay," I said slowly. "What does that have to do with me?"

"I was getting to that part." He said 

"Then get to it." My voice was sharp.

You're going to help me get her back." He said looking at me.

"I'm going to What?" I asked. 

"You're going to be my girlfriend." His expression didn't change.

I stared at him. "You've lost your mind."

"It's fake girlfriend." He added. "We date publicly, she sees it, realizes what she lost and she comes back." He said it like it was a perfectly reasonable Tuesday morning proposal. "Simple."

I looked at him for a long moment, then I laughed. "You've got to be joking." I shook my head. "Tell me this is a joke, Tyson."

"I'm serious." His voice was flat.

"You're insane." My voice rose slightly.

"I need her to be jealous." He said. "You're going to help with that."

"No."I pressed my hand flat to my forehead. "Absolutely not. Are you kidding me? No."

"Roxie..."

"Why would I do?" I dropped my hand. "Why would I do anything for you? I hate and you know that, right? Like it's not a secret. You're a big jerk, you've always been a big jerk. Plus you're the reason David and I broke up."

"That's wasn't my fault." His voice was rough.

"Excuse me?" I asked, shocked.

"What happened with you and David..."

"Was a hundred percent your fault." I stepped forward. "You know what you did."

"It was an accident." He said flatly.

"An accident." I laughed again. "You blew up my entire relationship and you're calling it an accident?"

"Whatever." He said simply it made my blood boil. "It's in the past. That's not what we're talking about."

"Whatever?!" My voice rose. "You seriously just said whatever to me?"

"I need you to be my girlfriend," he said, changing the topic. "Date me publicly so Skylar sees it, gets jealous and realizes how much she still wants me. That's all."

I stared at him, the audacity of him to say stuff like this.

"Let me be very clear." I said finally. "I am not going to be your girlfriend. Fake, real or anything else. I don't care about Skylar, I don't care about your reputation and I especially don't care about your feelings. The answer is no. It's going to stay no. You can leave now."

I turned toward the door.

"You don't have a choice." He said and I stopped.

"What did you just say to me?" I turned around and looked at him.

"You don't have a choice," he repeated.

"Oh, I absolutely have a choice to..."

"You've been writing papers." He said quietly, cutting me off. "For the Alpha track students. Governance essays, Pack history breakdowns, coursework they don't have time for or can't be bothered with. You've been doing this for awhile and you've been paid well for it."

My mouth went dry, I didn't say anything.

"I know who your clients are," he continued. "I know what they paid you. I know which assignments, which professors, which submission windows, and I know you've been using that money to cover your suppressants because your scholarship doesn't actually stretch that far."

I could feel the cold going through my body, the room felt very still.

"So here's how this goes," he said quietly. "You walked out of here and say no, and I go straight to the scholarship board and tell them everything." He paused. "Or you say yes. Skylar comes back. We end the whole thing and you go back to your life like none of this happened."

"You've got to be kidding me." I said finally, voice shaking.

"I really I'm not." He said.

"This is blackmail..."

"Call it whatever you want." He pushed off the desk and straightened up. "Think about it, Pumpkin. But don't think too long."

My hands were shaking. I pressed them flat against my thighs so he wouldn't see it.

"If you don't agree," he said, in that infuriating calm voice. "I'll reveal everything about your scholarship fraud."