Dating the Quarterback (The Bet Duet #2)

This loner will have to face her greatest fear...and say yes to a date with the quarterback.

After years of being bullied and ignored at her old school, Harley isn’t about to make waves at Talmore High.

She knows better than to mess with the cocky jerks on the football team. When the lead alpha starts to single her out, she’s sure that it’s just a joke at her expense. There's no way he could really be interested in a geeky art nerd like her.

After all, Tristan isn't just a quarterback, he's larger than life. He's the school's most revered athlete, the guy all the girls drool over. He might as well be a superhero in disguise. An ancient god come back to live among mere mortals...

The guy was basically Thor.

But the more she gets to know him, the more she has to wonder just how wrong she's been about the guy she'd thought was an untouchable god among men.

Maybe he wasn't what she'd thought at all. Wonders of wonders, the handsome hottie quarterback might just be...nice.

And somehow that's the scariest thought of all. A jerk she could handle. But a good guy? He might just be the one to break her heart.

Author's Note: This is the second part of a duet. While this romance is standalone, it's filled with spoilers for book one.

Harley

The smell of cleaning products and sweaty socks had me wrinkling my nose as I walked the halls of what would be my new school come Monday morning. A locker slammed somewhere in the distance and I picked up my pace. 

I hadn’t even started at this new high school yet and I already hated it. 

It was too big, for one. I’d made my dad drive around the monstrosity of a building three times as I’d waited for the last students to leave after the final bell had rung so I could go to the office and pick up my class assignments. When he’d informed me that I couldn’t dally any longer—‘dally’ was obviously his word—I’d chosen this entrance. The main entrance would have the most stragglers coming out, and I was very much opposed to meeting my new classmates any sooner than I had to. This had seemed like the best side entrance to take, but now…

I eyed the long hallway in front of me with its many side halls and baffling signs that were not even remotely helpful. E75-83. What did this tell me? Classrooms, maybe? 

Man, this place was huge. I was definitely going to get lost on Monday. 

I hadn’t even started yet and I was already lost. Something embarrassingly close to hysteria had me clenching and unclenching my fists as I took a deep breath. 

Do not panic. Just find the office, get the class assignments, and get out.

Like I’d said, there was no way I was walking into my first day unprepared. It was bad enough that I had to start a new school mid-school year—it was even worse that I had to start with my new stepbrother, Conner, a guy who had that sort of natural charisma that made everyone love him.

It made me want to gag, for the record.

My black combat boots made a squeaking sound on the linoleum that put me on edge. Might as well have had a bell around my neck announcing my presence. 

“Go Bulldogs!” A banner next to me read. It was signed with girls’ names that had hearts over their i’s and lipstick kisses beside them.

Gross.

This was an athletics school. I supposed all high schools had sports, but not all of them took it seriously. Talmore High, my illustrious new school? It took its sports very seriously. I’d already known that from the research I’d done online, but seeing it with my own eyes made it hit home.

I swallowed down nausea. Sports people didn’t like me. Yeah, sure, that was a sweeping generalization, but it was also a proven fact. People who got swept up in that sort of mass entertainment were typically joiners. I was not. They liked to laugh and drink beer and look alike and share the same thoughts and… 

Okay, fine, maybe I was just a little bit jaded for a sixteen-year-old. But jaded or not, I’d learned the hard way that I didn’t fit in with most people my age, and that was just fine by me.

I jumped at the sound of a shout somewhere in the distance. The voice had a distinct ‘bro’ quality and the echoing effect made it sound like it was coming from a locker room. 

Which would explain the dirty feet smell in this hallway.

Great, just great, I’d picked the entrance by the gym.

As if on cue, a door swung open behind me with a loud clang and I let out a squeak of surprise. Deep male voices echoed off the tiles behind me. I couldn’t even look back. It was like one of those nightmares where you’re just frozen in fear and so I—Oh man, I don’t even want to admit to this. 

I dove into the nearest doorway.

This was admittedly not my finest moment. I was panting. Like a dog. Also, this room I’d bolted into? It was not empty.

Have I mentioned that this was not a proud moment for me?

A giant, shirtless, wall of muscle sat upright on a bench a few feet away and the adrenaline in my system increased by one hundred percent. I could have sworn I heard a pop sound as my brain shorted out. My heart was pounding painfully in fear and embarrassment and…

Okay, maybe something else contributed to the crazy tripping of my heart in my chest. But seriously, I was human. More than that, I was a teenager. Science will tell you that it wasn’t really my fault that my hormones reacted the way they did to the sight of this guy. 

This god.

Seriously. Picture Thor, but with shorter hair and bright blue eyes.

Did I mention he was shirtless? 

“Are you lost?” He was also clearly confused. And possibly amused. And oh holy cow, his voice was lovely. No, no. Lovely wasn’t right. It was hot. All low baritone with a hint of a rumble to it which made my hormones think of wicked dukes and wolves and shifters and—

Yeah, okay fine, I’ve read a few romance novels in my day. 

Or a few thousand. Whatever.