Fantasy Boyfriend #2 (A Tattooed Bad Boy Romance) Read Free Page B

becoming a surgical nurse. "Oh hey, Vivian, sorry about
that." I followed her into the classroom and we sat together near the back
corner.
    "You've been pretty distracted the last couple of
days."
    It wasn't a question. It was a comment. I could only
shrug in agreement. "I guess you could say that."
    “Rumor has it that you went out with Luke Bradford
last weekend."
    I nodded. No sense in denying it.
    "Everyone knows he's a womanizer," she
commented.
    I looked at her, eyebrow raised.
    "Oh, don't misunderstand, I didn't go out with
the guy," she said, shaking her head with a look of distaste. "While
he certainly is something to look at, his reputation precedes him."
    Reputation? How come I had never heard of Luke
Bradford before the first day of class? I frowned. "Isn't he new to the
school?"
    "Well, sort of. From what I understand, he did
take his freshman year here and then last year he attended part of a semester
before he up and disappeared. Now he's back again. But
I'll tell you one thing, he does have the reputation of being a player and a
womanizer."
    I gathered that much based on my own experiences.
Vivian continued to elaborate.
    "Not only is he a womanizer, but he's also got a
bad reputation-"
    "Bad as in how?" At first I wondered if he
was an abuser or one of the types that got insanely jealous. Worse yet, could
he be a stalker? My imagination began to run wild.
    "Nothing physical," she said. "Just
that he’s broken more than a few of his share of hearts, I can tell you
that."
    "Nothing abusive? Physically, emotionally, or
otherwise?" I asked.
    She shook her head. "Not that I know of. But
still, you're lucky you got out when you did. You could've gotten hurt a lot
worse if things had gone much farther."
    Farther? Farther than what, I wondered. Did she know?
"What do you know about it?" I asked. I saw a flash of embarrassment
darken Vivian's cheeks, and then she tried to backtrack. "Go ahead,
spill," I told her. I braced for the worst.
    "Sorry, Jessica, I don't want to be the one to
tell you this, but rumor has it that you guys went to a sushi restaurant, made
out on the table, and then he took you up into the foothills…"
    Oh my God, I thought. Not only was he with jerk, but
he was a loose-lipped jerk. He obviously didn't adhere to the gentleman's code
of kissing and not telling. I felt a brief surge of panic. "Everyone
knows?" I was horrified and felt my own flush of embarrassment heat my
cheeks. "Oh God."
    "I'm sorry, Jessica," Vivian repeated.
"I just thought you should know. If it makes you feel any better, this is
not the first time that this has happened. That's what I meant by him having a
bad reputation. It's not that he goes around bragging, but from what I
understand, he has a few friends and they're not that hesitant about talking about
their sexual exploits. Unfortunately, none of them understand the concept of
privacy."
    I glanced around the room, wondering who else knew.
Now every time someone looked at me, I would wonder if they knew about Luke and
me – about our sex in the woods. How many details had he let slip, purposely or
otherwise? I swear, if I could get my hands on him right now, I think I would
throttle him. How dare he !
    Later that afternoon after I got back home, I stomped
up to my room. Before I could even open my bedroom door, however, Becky opened
her door and gestured for me to come inside. I did. They were all there. I
could tell by the looks on their faces – sympathetic, understanding, and
flustered – that they had heard the same rumors today. I decided to make it easy
on them. "Don't worry, I know all about the rumors that are going around
campus about Luke and me."
    Selena was the first to speak. "Jessica, this is
horrible. I'm so sorry. Well, if it wasn't clear before, it is certainly clear
now that Luke is a jerk…more than a jerk. He's a bastard. And the next time I
see him, I'm not going to hesitate to tell him so, not that it would matter to
someone as stuck up and