His Smarty Pants Read online

  Table of Contents

  His Smarty Pants

  Copyright

  Blurb

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Epilogue

  Sneak peek to Hot Tamale

  Books by Mayra Statham

  Acknowledgments

  About Mayra Statham

  Copyright © 2019 by Mayra Statham

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Editing: Julia Goda of Diamond in the Rough Editing

  Formatting: CP Smith

  Cover Image: Deposit Photos

  BLURB

  Welcome to the Kappa Sweets Sorority Series!

  Smarty pants Cora Meadows and soccer goalie Milo Clark hit it off the first time they met. Major sparks flew with a first kiss, but reality had them crash and burn their freshman year. Fast forward the start of their senior year at University of the Desert.

  He’s in trouble, and she is his only hope. When he asks for help, she finds herself striking up the deal of a lifetime. An exchange. She will help him pass Greek Mythology as long as he will pretend to be her boyfriend, so her match-making sorority sisters will leave her alone. Shouldn’t be a problem, right?

  Wrong!

  All too quickly they start to realize the fireworks from their first kiss years ago were far from a fluke. The high-voltage chemistry they share now is undeniable. Can Miss Smarty Pants and the Jock have a future? Or is it a matter of time before they fizzle out?

  DEDICATION

  You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because

  reality is finally better than your dreams.

  -Dr. Suess

  PROLOGUE

  “REMEMBER, LADIES, THIS year is your year, our year!” Allie Davenport and Kappa Sweets president shared in her bubbly way, “The new year is here, and our Halloween party might be in October, and I know to a lot of you it sounds far away, but really, it is just around the corner. Now, to our senior sisters, I can’t wait for graduation, but I have a challenge for each and every one of you. Step out of your comfort zone this year, ladies, and live it up!” Claps and cheers sounded around me as Allie smiled brightly, her eyes twinkling with mischief, and I had a bad feeling about what was coming. Allie was sweet but pushy. “Now, listen up, especially the seniors, dates are highly encouraged!” She winked, and everyone clapped as she stepped away with me in her sights.

  Step out of our comfort zones. This wasn’t going to be pleasant. She meant well, but wasn’t that how the road to hell was paved?

  “Cora! Just the sister, senior sister, I wanted to talk to.”

  “Hey, Allie.”

  “You have one of the highest GPAs of the Kappa Sweets, and we’re super proud of you, honey.”

  “Thank you,” I said cautiously. It sounded like a Kardashian-sized behind was about to slip out of her mouth.

  “But”—and there is was—“as Kappa Sweets, we have to show the rest of the school we are better than other sororities. Especially those pesky Zetas.” Zetas were not pesky. She just had a long going feud with their president, Janelle, since before they stepped foot on U of D campus.

  “Kappa Sweets has an amazing Alumni, Allie. We have a long list of accomplished women out in the world who are part of the sisterhood,” I shared, my argument getting old with her. Like I said, she meant well, and I knew where she was going with this. I just wasn’t interested.

  “We have to be more… well rounded!”

  “And dating is going to make me well rounded?” I challenged, and she squinted at me. The girl was determined, that was for sure.

  “It wouldn’t hurt. You live in the library, Cora. Between you, Catalina, Winnie, Ivey, and me, our seniors are all…” She looked around the empty office and whispered, “Boyfriend-less.”

  “And this is a bad thing why?”

  “Cora, the future of Kappa Sweets is on our shoulders.” She exhaled, and I wasn’t sure how I wasn’t laughing in her face. She didn’t mean to sound crazy, and in my heart of hearts I knew she meant well, but she was a nut.

  “And that future depends on us having men by our sides?” I groaned, and she wrapped her annoyingly toned arm around my shoulder.

  “When was the last time you went on a date?”

  “That doesn’t mean anything.” I groaned.

  “That’s what I thought.” She smiled. “Look, I know a guy. He’s great—”

  “Then why aren’t you dating him?” I smarted off, and she held a tight smile.

  “He’s not the one for me.”

  “Oh, A’s,” I sighed. “You’re a hopeless romantic,” I shared, and she laughed.

  “I’ve been told that once or twice. But I don’t care.” She shrugged with a smile playing over her pretty face. She wasn’t going to drop this, and honestly, curiosity got the best of me.

  “Fine.” I groaned. “Who is he?”

  “He’s really cute. He’s from Delta—“

  “Oh god, no. A frat boy, Allie? A Delta Ep?” I said with weariness clear in my voice. I was sure there were perfectly nice frat guys; I just hadn’t met one who wasn’t a walking cliché. And Delta Epsilons were that to the T. Great fun guys, but the only things they were committed to were parties, beer, and getting laid.

  “Would a jock be better?” she asked. Hope sparkled in her eyes. “I have a couple in mind,” she encouraged excitedly, and I shook my head wishing the one jock who popped in my mind would shoo away.

  I had no reason to think about the thick-calved, handsome soccer goalie with killer lips.

  Nope.

  No reason at all.

  Not the fact he’d blown my socks off and chipped my ego our freshmen year, all in less than an hour at the first Greek party I had ever been to. Or the fact that for the last three years, I couldn’t find a way to forget that kiss. My first kiss. It sounds dorky, I know, not being kissed until you’re eighteen and in college, but it happened. To make it worse, those who came afterwards never seemed to measure up.

  Nope.

  Milo Clark and his sexy soccer goalie self was not for me.

  No thanks.

  I reached into my jeans pocket and took out a roll of smarties I always had with me, my one true vice, and popped one in my mouth before offering one to Allie. I knew I would live to regret the next words that slipped out of my mouth, but maybe she was right. I was a senior. Real life was just down the road. It was time to get out of my comfort zone and try to put myself out there.

  “Fine, tell me about this Delta Ep.”

  Oh yeah, I would soon regret asking for more info, for sure.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Milo Clark

  I KNOCKED ON the door and sighed.

  She was going to have a shit fit when she saw me, no doubt about that. But there was no other choice. The Smarty Pants who lived in the giant pale blue house was my only hope.

  “Coming!” someone called out, and despite being on the other side of the heavy door of a house filled with dozens of girls, I knew it was her.
I had to bite back a smartass retort about how I probably could make her come. She hated me for a reason. I had, and I quote, ‘the maturity of a dumb twelve-year-old.’ But she always smirked when I said stupid shit, so she wasn’t above enjoying my humor.

  She just didn’t like me knowing it.

  “I didn’t expect you guys to deliver so quick—“ The words died on her tongue the moment her eyes met mine. Whatever warm enthusiasm she had for whoever she thought it could be melted away and froze up at the sight of me. “What do you want?” she bit off, slight disgust in her tone. Oh yeah. Cora Meadows was definitely not happy about seeing me.

  “Your help,” I said quickly. I knew from experience it was better to go to the quick with Cora.

  “I don’t think so.” She rolled her eyes, about to shut the door on my face, but I put my hand on the cool wood.

  “Cora, please.”

  “Seriously, I don’t have time for… shenanigans.” Shenanigans. Fuck, she was funny. “So—”

  “I’m serious. Look, you’re my only hope.”

  “Only hope? Okay, Princess Leia, calm your tits and spit it out.” Fuck me double time. Only Cora Meadows would Star Wars me. I hated how cute I thought she was. Standing before me was the one girl on campus I couldn’t seem to charm. Or re-charm, as the case might be.

  Petite with a great rack I wished I didn’t notice, Cora was gorgeous. Amazing, thick, dirty blonde hair that lightened in the summer and darkened in the winter. Eyes the color of the sweetest caramel. Jesus. I needed to get my head checked. Cora was the one girl who busted my chops. I didn’t need to be waxing poetics about her.

  We’d met freshman year, here at U of D, or University of the Desert, in Southern California. The girl hated me. Loathed, to be exact. Though, if you asked her, she would probably tell you I didn’t know what loathe meant. To her, I was just some dumb jock on Greek row. Something about me rubbed her the wrong way. Too bad all I could seem to think about was figuring out the right way to rub her.

  “Milo, did you come here for a reason or—”

  “I need your help.”

  “Oh, this is going to be good.” She opened the door wider and stepped out of the house, making the scent of her perfume waft toward me. It made me very aware of her and her feminine wiles. “Wait. Let me guess.” She placed a finger on her face, drawing my attention to her pretty lips, and I fought my body from reacting. Cora had a great set of lips. Naturally pink. Not light pink but a tint you would get after drinking fruit punch, almost red. “What sorority sister of mine do you wanna help me hook you up with? And if you say one of the new pledges, you’re seriously sick. They’re way too young for you.”

  “Sorority sister?” I shook my head, the disgust clear in my voice. “No. I don’t need you to hook me up with anyone.” I hadn’t been with anyone in months.

  “So, what the hell do you need help with?” She cocked her hip out, attitude clear in her stance, and I sighed. Like a Band-Aid, I reminded myself.

  “Greek mythology.”

  “Greek… Do I look like a tutor to you?”

  “Cor—“ I stopped and took a breath. Begging wasn’t going to get me anywhere. “I know I’m not your favorite person on campus, but—”

  “Pfft. It’s not like you like me all that much either.”

  “That’s not true,” I clipped, and her eyes widened for a split second before she erased it, turning her face to stone.

  “Whatever. Why me? Why can’t you just go to the library and request—”

  “I could get benched,” I admitted. My stomach twisted at the idea of not playing.

  I was the goalie for our school’s soccer team. We were a division one school, nothing to shrug your nose at, and as my senior year, this was my year. My year to get seen one last time and maybe, god, just maybe, get picked up by a scout from any team in the MLS, Major League Soccer. “If Coach sees I hired a tutor, it could set a whole thing in motion and fuck me over. All I need is someone to help me. We have the same class, and you’re rocking it in there,” I explained.

  “You just need help?” she asked suspiciously.

  “That’s all. What else would it be?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe some kind of frat prank.” She crossed her arms across her chest, and I felt a pang of guilt about our stupid, stupid past and my even stupider mistake.

  “I apologized about freshman year,” I said as sincerely as I could tell her. Maybe she did have a reason to hate me, but I had been a dumb kid. A dumb kid who had been ordered to kiss two girls at the same party, all to get in a frat. Pledge week had been a bitch, and that had been the last thing on the list. “I’ve apologized over and over about that.”

  “Whatever. Why didn’t you think about asking Gemma for help?” she asked, and the tone in her voice made me want to smile if it weren’t for the fact of who she was talking about. Cora almost sounded jealous. If she only knew.

  Gemma Livingston.

  A living, walking pain in the ass and jock bunny.

  She was also the bane of my existence and the major reason Cora thought I was scum. Gemma had been the hot brunette I had kissed first at that party. She might have been eye candy, but in reality, she’d tasted of cigarettes and beer. The lip gloss on her lips had felt like a gross coat of Vaseline. That kiss had been the worst.

  “There is nothing going on with Gemma and me. There never was.”

  “Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, but I could see it.

  The flicker of interest. It had been there that night too.

  We’d met over warm beer and a stale bowl of pretzels. I’d been trying to get the taste out of my mouth and off my lips when she’d walked in. Shy and hesitant, asking for a beer from the tap. She’d taken my breath away. We had spent the night talking and laughing. Then, when I’d gone in to kiss her, the pledge requirement far from my mind, her lips had been soft, her taste sweet. If I closed my eyes, even after all this time, I could still hear the soft moan she made when I’d gripped her silky strands in my hand before deepening the kiss.

  It’d been great.

  Perfect first kiss.

  Until it wasn’t.

  One of the upper classmen snapped a pic and then yelled out how I’d done my due diligence. She’d asked what they meant, and the upperclassmen informed her before I could explain. She’d looked wounded and confused for all of two point five seconds. She stood up, threw the little beer she had left in her cup all over me, and walked out.

  Rightfully so.

  She never let me explain. Not once. And I didn’t blame her. She had no idea how much that kiss had been more than a stupid order. She’d let me apologize, and that had been it. Though that hadn’t been the only times our paths had crossed. The campus was huge, but we were closely tied with our fraternity and sorority. Sigma O’s and Kappa Sweets were tight. We held events together. But that was for another day. I had to focus and get her to agree.

  “Please, Cor, I need help. I can’t go through other channels. If I do and Coach catches wind of it, that could be it for me. My starting position would be gone, and after my injury last year, I doubt any scouts would bother to see me. This is the last chance for me to go pro.”

  “Milo…”

  “Please, I’ll do anything.”

  “Hey, Cora.” We both turned, and my jaw clenched.

  Colt Conway.

  Frat boy from Delta Ep and a major sleazeball.

  “This guy giving you trouble?” He jerked his chin toward me, and I scowled. Like he’d give a shit if I was. The guy was a douchebag and a half.

  “No. We’re just deciding…”

  “Oh, on?” Colt asked, his nosy ass worse than my grandma’s book club.

  “On what movie we were gonna watch after dinner,” I said, taking my life into my hand as I moved in closer to her, wrapping my arm around Cora’s slim shoulder, praying she wouldn’t knee me in the balls.

  To my surprise she didn’t.

  Instead, she leaned into me. Instantly r
eminding me of how good she felt in my arms. My breathing stalled when she looked up at me, and it was the evil smirk that had me waiting for her evil side to show.

  “Yeah, my Milo here really wants to watch The Notebook, but I’m not in the mood,” she added sweetly, and my brows narrowed. My Milo?

  “The Notebook?” Colts brows rose, and my head tipped upward as I tried not to flinch. So, this is her play, huh?

  “Yeah. The Notebook. Right, honey? It’s one of your favorites?” Her eyes glittered, and I wasn’t sure if she was hoping I’d call bullshit, or if she literally wanted me to play along.

  “Honey?” Colt repeated, the little weasel’s face turning a slight shade lighter than his usually pale ass as he looked back and forth between Cora and me. “Wait, are you two a thing?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Her fingers dug into my side, and I nodded.

  “Oh. Shit, man. I didn’t know, or else I wouldn’t have been asking her out.”

  “Pestering,” she corrected with a tight smile, and a lightbulb flickered.

  Colt Conway had been trying to start something with her, not getting the hint to shove off, and I was the lesser of two evils.

  “Yeah. I’ve been meaning to talk to you, man.” I stood straighter, puffing my broad chest out. “She didn’t wanna tell me, but we don’t keep shit from one another. She really doesn’t appreciate you coming at her. And I really don’t appreciate you not taking no for an answer.” I stepped up closer to him. The idea of Colt sniffing around Cora started to make me see red. Especially if she had already told him she wasn’t interested. “No means no, Colt.”

  “Man, it wasn’t—”

  “So, how about you keep your distance from here on out,” I said, not as a question but as an order.

  “Baby,” she said, her hand on my waist, her body behind me. It was like a balm to soothe my angry edges

  “No more calls. No more dropping by out of nowhere. No more texts,” I ticked off on my fingers, and by the nervous energy radiating off Colt, I knew I’d hit the nail on the head as I stood right in front of him. “Take a girl at her word when she says she’s not interested.”