Romance: SCREWED (An Arranged Marriage to the NFL Bad Boy) (A New Adult Contemporary Athlete Sports Football Romance) Read Online Free

proud, standing on the sidewalk in front of my dorm. I - awkward, mousy Claire Donnelly - was about to go on a date with the most beloved man on campus. I was shivering with excitement.
    I saw Jett’s old, ragged Cadillac coming down the street just on time, and my heart skipped a beat. I took a deep breath and put on a winning smile.
    That’s when the first egg hit.
    It exploded against my shoulder, and I gasped from the impact. For a second, I didn’t know what had happened. Then, I saw two more cars following Jett’s, and I understood.
    Eggs came at me from all directions, cracking against every inch of my dress, a dress that I loved so much, the one I saved for special occasions only, shells sliding through my hair. Balloons joined the eggs, hard and full of paint. They stung when they popped against my skin, and at least a few were thrown so hard at my stomach they knocked the wind out of me. I stood, motionless and stunned, and heard wild laughter. “Looking good, Titless Wonder!” I heard Jett shout, and the laughter only increased.
    I stood and watched them drive away. The humiliation was so deep and sudden that I couldn’t even cry. Instead, I slowly turned around, looking up at my building. I saw several lights come on in previously darkened room, heads popping out of windows, and I could hear a chorus of poorly-stifled giggles from every corner of the street. After a minute, I slowly - painfully - uprooted my feet and walked, stiff-legged, back to my dorm room. My roommate was horrified and immediately offered to help, but there was nothing she could do. I walked straight into the bathroom and into the shower, and avoided looking into the mirror until every scrap of egg and paint was cleaned off my skin. Later, I found a piece of eggshell in my braces when I brushed my teeth.
    The rest of the year had been an awful continuation of that night. It became a legendary story around campus, and everywhere I went, I was followed by shouts of “Titless Wonder!” Pictures of me standing dumbfounded somehow made their way around campus. The lack of respect Jett had for me during our tutoring sessions turned into open contempt.
    In short, Jett Lang fucking ruined college for me.
    Here I sit, six years later, in a diner watching the jackass shovel food into the gaping hole that he’d used to scream mocking insults at me.
    “What’ll it be?” he asks thickly through a mouthful of beef.
    Stay with a guy who beats the hell out of me for the next year or so until I get enough money to leave or he murders me, or marry Jett Lang.
    “Well?” he prompts.
    “Give me a minute,” I say. “I’m still thinking about it.”
     

Chapter 4 JETT
     
    I don’t think I’ve ever been more relieved than I am when Claire agrees to marry me. I promise her she won’t regret it, which she snorts at- actually snorts, and call Larry before the check even arrives.
    “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Larry breathes. I picture him gesturing a sign of a cross, “This woman is a saint. She’s an angel. Hell, I want to marry her now.”
    “Hey, marrying me is a pretty good bargain,” I argue.
    “Sure. You keep telling yourself that.”
    “Fuck you.” I pause. “You still my agent?”
    “As long as this girl doesn’t come to her senses before she’s wearing your ring,” Larry says. “I’m getting you both a flight to Vegas now. You can use the manager’s private jet. Get your ass to his place in thirty minutes. And Jett… Don’t screw this up.”
    “How can I screw it up?”
    “By being you.” I hear the dial tone in my ear and hang up, rolling my eyes. The guy is being a real ass, but at least he’s an ass who will keep me as his client. That’s probably more than I have a right to expect. I know I’ve put him through some shit.
    I turn to Claire and smile. “Alright, let’s get going!”
    “What?” she frowns. “You mean - now?”
    “You know what they say. There’s no time like the present.” I throw a