Legally Brawn (Rom-Com Reboot), page 2
Guilt flickered. I knew I hadn’t shown enough enthusiasm.
“I helped him study,” I hedged. “He just feels grateful to me.”
Chase looked skeptical. “Maybe.”
The microwave dinged, saving me from the painful conversation. I wanted to stop thinking about all the things I wanted with Ellis. It was better to focus on what was realistic. I could be his friend. I could be supportive and encouraging. Fuck knew his ex would never be those things for him.
If all I got was friendship in return, it would be enough. It had to be. Because Ellis was too precious to sacrifice in the name of jealousy.
While I dumped the popcorn in the bowl and salted it, I worked to put on a happy face. I was so damn proud of Ellis. He’d worked incredibly hard. For someone who’d had no interest in the law to pass the LSATs on his first try…
I shook my head. It just showed what Ellis was trying so hard to prove. He wasn’t just a muscle head. He was damn smart. Of course, I’d always known that.
He was sweet, sort of naive at times, but Ellis wasn’t dumb.
That would be me. Because I was the one in love with a man who’d never look at me as more than a friend.
Still, it was time to show I deserved that friendship.
I walked back into the living room, where our friends sat around chatting while they waited to start the movie.
Ellis looked up from the footstool, happiness sparkling in his eyes. He’d left the armchair open for me.
“Can you believe it, Jordie? I’ll get to go to school with you.”
His happiness boosted my own, and I didn’t have to fake it as I smiled down at him.
“I knew you’d get there. You’re going to take that law school by storm.”
He gave a nervous wiggle as I took the seat behind him. “I hope so. This is a big step, and I have no idea what I’m doing.”
I squeezed his shoulder. “You know I’m here to help you.”
“I know.” He glanced back at me. “You’re the best friend. I couldn’t do any of this without you.”
“Well, luckily, you won’t have to,” I said lightly, ignoring the pain that flared at being called his friend.
Friendship wasn’t a consolation prize. It might not be everything I wanted, but it had a priceless value.
Just like Ellis.
CHAPTER 2
Ellis
I made my way into the lecture hall for my first official law class, gym bag full of books thumping my hip as I took the stairs two at a time to find an open seat.
I’d come straight from the gym, and my muscles felt pleasantly warm and loose. Now, it was time to work my brain, and I was so, so ready!
Clayton sat in the third row, and my heart skipped with excitement.
“Clayton!” I called, waving madly as I scooted between rows of seats. “How cool. We’re in the same class!”
I hadn’t been sure how much overlap we’d have in courses since it was my first year and his second. Clearly, fate was on my side.
A slender guy seated on Clayton’s right elbowed him, then nodded toward my row.
Clayton glanced over his shoulder just as I settled into the very small desk behind him, cramming my large thighs up against cool metal.
He did a double-take, eyes bugging. “Ellis?”
I smiled wide, the excitement fizzing in my veins as good as any exercise endorphin rush. “Hi.”
“What are you doing here? This class is for law students.”
“I know.” I straightened in my seat, warmth bursting in my chest. “I’m a law student now.”
“What?”
The student next to him, a guy with a delicate bone structure, pretty gray eyes, and wearing a neatly tailored blue suit, snorted. “Should someone tell him this class doesn’t involve a workout?”
“Oh, this?” I waved to my pink tank top with the Beast Mode Gym logo. “I had to work out a client right before I got here. I’m a personal trainer. But don’t worry. I showered the sweat off.”
“Clayton!” He snickered with a wrinkled nose. “He had to shower the sweat off.”
“Yeah, Vic, I heard,” Clayton mumbled, gaze sliding over my exposed biceps as I bent to unzip my bag and withdraw a thick textbook and syllabus.
Vic’s smile grew nastier when he noticed where Clayton was looking. “Oh shit, you keep your books in a gym bag too?”
He laughed at me. Right in front of my face!
I glanced down at the hot pink duffel, also with the gym logo across it. “I have a proper satchel. I was just running late and didn’t think it was a big deal.”
Clayton grimaced, tone apologetic as he said, “It’s just a bit more formal in law school than undergrad.”
“Oh.”
I glanced around the classroom. Not everyone wore a suit like Clay and Vic, but I was the only one in shorts and a tank top.
“Professor Callahan is going to tear you apart,” Vic said gleefully.
“Clayby?” I said tentatively, my smile slipping. “How did you meet this…charming friend of yours?”
“Uh…”
“Yes, Clayby,” Vic said. “Please introduce us.”
“I’ve known Vic a long time,” Clayton muttered. “Our parents are friends.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, a long time.” Vic thrust his hand under my nose. “But this summer we made it official. We’re engaged! Isn’t that right, Clayby?”
My heart tumbled to my toes.
“Engaged?” I said weakly. “No, that’s not…”
“Yep!” Vic’s eyes sparkled. Suddenly, I realized he’d known who I was all along. Known that I was Clayton’s ex.
He’d been catty to me on purpose.
But people were never really mean to their core. They lashed out in fear or insecurity. That meant Victor saw me as a threat.
Which he should. Because here I was, in law school just like him, ready to prove that I had brains as well as the brawn Clayton couldn’t stop staring at.
“Clayton?” Victor gritted out. “Aren’t you excited to get married?”
“What? Sorry, I was just noticing the professor is about to start.” Clayton turned toward the front of the room. “Let’s just focus on class. Callahan won’t tolerate any distractions. Last year only four students managed to pull an A in this class, and I want to be one of them.”
One of four students? I was going to have to study hard. Not that I couldn’t. I’d passed the LSATS, hadn’t I?
“Good morning,” Professor Callahan boomed from the front of the room, his gaze sweeping across the rows of seats on risers that went all the way to the top of the lecture hall. “Welcome to Legal Writing 101. In this course, you’ll be learning the basics of legal research, reading, analysis, and writing. This is essential to build cases and make policy arguments, regardless of what kind of law you go into, civil, corporate, or criminal.” He paused. “Well, what are you waiting for? Take notes, for Christ’s sake. You might as well know now, I will never repeat myself.”
I grabbed my tablet, wincing as I caught sight of my Mondo energy drink sticker. Vic would just love to mock me over that too, I was sure.
I opened a Google doc and began typing as fast as I could, taking notes while Professor Callahan prowled the room, eyes narrowed on us.
He kicked the foot of a sleepy-looking guy in the front row. “Straighten up, Monroe. You barely passed my torts course last semester.”
“Sorry, Professor,” he mumbled, straightening.
“You look sloppy as hell,” Callahan went on. “This is the first class, so I won’t dock points, even though you should have all read the syllabus. And if you had—” He paused, his gaze landing directly on me—“then you’d know that I require a level of professionalism from my students. You will show up on time, you will dress like a lawyer, and you will prepare like a lawyer, or you will fail.”
I slid down as much as my tiny desk allowed, cheeks heating. A glance at my syllabus confirmed that Professor Callahan had outlined his expectations, and like an unprepared idiot, I’d skimmed right past it.
There’d been so much to do before school started. I had to transfer dorms, rearrange my work schedule—which I’d have to rearrange further to allow more time to change for class—buy books, and color code my folders.
I’d assumed there would be time to read over the syllabus in class.
Clearly, I’d been wrong.
And if that weren’t bad enough, Professor Callahan launched into a case study that we apparently were supposed to read before school even started?
Victor’s hand shot up, looking smug as he spouted off the answer.
Of course.
Professor Callahan’s gaze shot to me. “And what about you, Mr.…”
“Just call him Gym Rat,” Vic said with a chortle.
Callahan narrowed his eyes but waited for my answer. “Woods,” I said. “I’m Ellis Woods.”
“All right, Mr. Woods. Care to tell us the next point in the study.”
I winced. “I apologize, Mr. Callahan. This is my first day in law school, and I didn’t know—”
He raised his hand. “Say no more. You were unprepared.”
I nodded, feeling about two inches tall. I braced for an evisceration. Victor looked as if he were salivating. Instead, the professor moved on, as if I wasn’t important enough to scold.
“Ms. Bergman? What say you?”
She knew the answer too, because of course I had to be the biggest fool in the room. So much for impressing Clayton.
I dutifully took notes, eyes burning, throat tight. When class ended, Victor turned in his seat, ready to humiliate me. To my surprise, Clayton put a hand on his arm. “Come on, Vic, we’ll have to hustle if we want that coffee date before the next class.”
Victor reached for his perfectly respectable leather satchel and slid his laptop inside it. “Good idea, babe. I am dying for a mocha latte.”
I shuddered at the thought of how much sugar he was pouring into his veins. Clayton paused as he got to his feet, his bag clutched in one hand.
“This isn’t you, Ellis.”
I raised my chin. “Maybe it is now.”
“We both know you’re only here because of me, and as you can see, I’ve moved on.” He shook his head. “Just go home before you embarrass us both.”
CHAPTER 3
Jordan
I arrived at A-Plus Java, the campus coffee kiosk in the courtyard where I met Ellis every day we both had classes. I got there a few minutes early, too eager, but this was the highlight of my day. Especially today.
Now that I was in my last year of law school, Callahan had tapped me to intern at his corporate law firm. I’d spend the next several hours there.
Great experience, I reminded myself for the hundredth time. Exactly what you need.
The lawyers at his firm were all smooth and polished, not to mention ambitious and a little cutthroat. I didn’t really fit in, but the firm would be the most logical place to put my MBA and law degree to work.
Why go through all this schooling if not to use it, right? Right.
I stepped forward in the line just as one of my business classmates, a frat bro named Mark, hip checked me to the side. “Me first, loser.”
“Nice,” I said. “Is that how you plan to impress your future employers?”
“Yep. Survival of the fittest, my man.”
Well, there went my chances. No one had ever accused me of being the fittest at anything. My freshman fifteen had morphed into a senior thirty.
“What’s with that research project in Anderson’s class, huh?” Mark said. “Such a pain in the ass.”
“I like research.”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course you do. You’re such a geek.”
“Guilty,” I said easily. Mark sounded like an asshole, but it was all an act. He was a decent guy. Smarter than he looked. Nice too beneath his brash persona. As someone who could be a touch tactless, I didn’t mind his rough edges.
“What’re you getting? I’ll buy,” he said.
“That’s okay. I’m meeting a friend.”
Mark shrugged and placed his order. While the barista started making the frozen sugary vanilla frappe, he turned to me.
“So a friend or a date?”
“Friend.”
My face must have given something away, because Mark smirked at me. “You wish it was a date.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to say anything. It’s obvious.”
The cashier was ready to take my order, so I rattled off my order of a chai latte and a coconut water.
“Ah, it’s Ellis,” Mark said.
“Where?” I turned my head, expecting to see him.
“The crush,” he said.
“How did you—”
“Just a guess. He’s a gym rat, so I figured he’d be the one passing up on caffeine and sugar.”
I grimaced. “Don’t call him that. It’s rude.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. Ellis is cool, man. I’m not judging your man.”
“He’s not my man,” I said. “We’re just meeting to talk about how his first law class went.”
“He’s in law school?”
Mark’s eyebrows flew up, and I didn’t care for his surprise. Everyone underestimated Ellis.
“Yep. He’s smart as hell.”
“Wow, you got him over to the dark side. Poor innocent soul will be chugging down coffee and energy drinks in no time.”
I chuckled. “I hope not. I’m hoping his good influence will rub off on me, not the other way around.”
“Oh, I just bet you do want him to rub off on you,” he teased.
“Dude, shut up,” I said, face heating.
It was no secret I was gay, and our campus was fairly liberal, but I didn’t want Ellis to come up and hear him talking that way.
Mark just grinned and picked up his drink from the counter. “I gotta jet. I’ll see you later. Don’t study too hard, geek.”
“Don’t fuck off too much, bro,” I shot back.
He laughed and took his leave. My drinks were ready, so I picked them up and carried them to a concrete table. There were benches attached to it, all of it affixed to the ground so no one could carry them off. Probably a good thing, given how restless bored students could get.
I sat down and sipped my drink, content to watch students walk to and from class, small groups stopping to gossip here and there. I wasn’t part of those groups, but I’d gotten over the wish to be.
I was happy with the few good friends I had—most of whom didn’t go to this college—and focusing on my studies. What did people always say? Lean into your strengths?
Ellis threw himself into the chair opposite me when he arrived.
A smile instantly bloomed on my face. “Hey, there. I got drinks—”
He slumped over the table, muttering his thanks to the concrete, golden blond hair ruffling in the breeze.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, alarmed. Ellis normally had perfect posture.
“What’s not wrong?” he asked in a gloomy tone. “I showed up for my first class like this.” He sat up and gestured to the pink tank top that molded over his pecs and exposed his strong shoulders and biceps. “Why didn’t you tell me there was some sort of dress code in law school?”
“There’s not a—”
“Clayton was there!” he continued. “And so was his fiancé. Both in suits. And there’s me, looking like a slob.”
Before I could respond, he added, “Did you know he got engaged? Engaged, Jordan!”
Ellis’s eyes gleamed. Oh god, was he going to cry? I didn’t think I could take it.
I shifted to his side of the table, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He sagged into me, all that muscle heavy as fuck against my chest. I took shallow breaths because I wasn’t about to ask him to move.
“I didn’t know,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t want me to get back with him, anyway.”
“Well, no. He doesn’t deserve you, but I would never want this.”
“It was so humiliating. His snarky little fiancé made fun of my clothes, and then Professor Callahan called on me and I wasn’t prepared. The whole class was a disaster.”
“Yeah, Callahan’s stricter than some of the professors.”
“Great,” he said morosely. “I’ve got two classes with him.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t warn you.”
He sat back with a sigh. “It’s not your fault. I should have read the syllabus better. I thought I’d have time to skim it at the start of class. Stupid idea. Maybe I’m in over my head.”
“It’s your first day. Cut yourself some slack.”
“Maybe Clayton’s right,” Ellis said, straightening up and allowing my lungs to fully inflate again. “Maybe I should go home before I embarrass us both.”
“Oh, fuck that!” I snapped.
El’s eyes widened.
“You could never be an embarrassment,” I forced myself to say more calmly. “You passed the LSATs. You worked hard to get in. You deserve to be here just as much as any other law student, even that snarky as fuck Victor.”
Ellis barked a surprised laugh. “You know Victor?”
“We’ve met,” I said darkly. “I’m not a fan.”
Ellis blew out a breath. “Yeah, I’ve never met someone so mean. I think he’s threatened by me, though. Clayton looked at me like…”
My stomach clenched. “Like what?”
“Like he still wanted me.” Ellis met my eyes. “That’s good, right? Maybe I still have a chance to win him back. He said his family and Vic’s family were close. This is probably an arranged setup. He probably needs me to rescue him from an unloving relationship.”
Ellis was gaining a spark back in his eye as he spoke.
I didn’t want to crush his spirit again, not right after I’d seen how heartbroken he was over Clayton’s engagement. I never agreed that Ellis should push himself to go to law school just to win back Clayton, but when he’d studied for the LSATs, I’d realized just how bright he really was.
Now he was here, and I didn’t want to see him quit on Day 1.
So I gave him the best smile I could dredge up. “Maybe?”
