Fierce (20 page)

I don’t know if I should tell Brody, or if
I’m even allowed to, but at the same time I want him to tell me more. If I
don’t say it, he probably won’t trust me with more. I should take the chance
and hope for the best.

“He’s trying to find out who the boss is.”

“Why?” Brody’s leaning on his hand, looking
terribly bored.

“I don’t know,” I say, taking a massive sip
of my coke, almost choking on it. “Why are you so interested? I thought you
guys didn’t even know each other,” I say.

“Who? Me and Hunter?” he says, swaying his
glass back and forth.

I nod.

“I’ve been in Alpha Psi for two years.
Hunter’s a freshmen. Of course I hadn’t met him before.”

“Oh, well that explains it.”

Brody puts down his glass and leans
forward, gazing at me with an intent look on his face. “You know … I still
wouldn’t trust Hunter. He seems to be hiding an awful lot from you.”

“What do you mean?” I say, my heart
throbbing in my throat when he says that. How does Brody know that?

“Jessie, his brother, was a dealer for our
frat house for years, too. Outside the grounds, of course. He wasn’t in
college.”

I gape at him. “What? Are you serious?”

“Yep. Why do you think the guy’s in jail
now? Wasn’t careful enough,” Brody says. “There’s a lot more Hunter probably
isn’t telling you.”

“I can’t believe this …” I mutter to
myself, but it slips out of my mouth too, making Brody chuckle.

“And you know what else? If Hunter goes on
the way he does, doing things out in the open, he’ll surely end up there, too.”

My lip starts to quiver.

No. It can’t be.

Hunter can’t end up in jail. He can’t.

Can he?

Just the thought of it makes my heart go
wild. I don’t want him to be put behind bars because of this. I don’t care why
he’s doing it, I don’t want to see him in there.

He said it himself, jail was a hellhole. No
way would he be okay in there.

“I have to go,” I stammer, and I get off my
seat.

“See ya around, I guess,” Brody yells after
me, as I stumble through the crowd to the exit of the building.

Tears well up in my eyes.

It’s all becoming way too clear now. I’ve
been swooning over a guy who’s so freaking bad, he even told me he was, and I
still didn’t listen. If he ended up in jail, it would break my heart.

I don’t want to see that happen. I can’t
handle it.

All I wanted was to get through college,
and now life has become so much more difficult than that.

And it’s all because of Hunter.

Secrets
and Desires

I make my way to the exit of the building and
go outside. I suddenly don’t have enough air to breathe in. It feels like I’m
suffocating in the realization that my life has been turned upside down by
Hunter.

The door slams open behind me. I turn
around. Hunter’s barging toward me with a furious look on your face.

“Are you trying to get in trouble?” he
yells. “Don’t you know how fucking dangerous it is to go without me?”

“I don’t care. I want to go home,” I say.

He grabs me by the forearm, preventing me
from going anywhere. “Why do you keep running away?”

“Fuck off!” I say, and I jerk my arm loose.

“What the fuck? Why are you so angry at
me?” he says. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Brody told me all about you and Jessie.”

His eyes widen when I say that.

“Your brother was dealing for the frat
club, too. That’s the reason he’s in jail, isn’t it?”

Hunter just stares at me, his jaws clenched
tightly.

“You’re always hiding things from me. Why
can’t you just tell me what you’re doing? Why are you dealing drugs? Is it just
for the money?” I yell.

“Partially … but it’s not the biggest
reason,” he says.

“But you’re broke all the time, just like
me! What the fuck have you been doing with that money?”

“Saving it.” The look on his face changes
from angry to offended. “I told you I’m trying to get Jessie out of jail.”

“By dealing? Doing the same thing that got
him in there?” I say, pissed.

He steps closer, and his face is now
hovering close to mine. “I’m doing what’s right,” he hisses.

“Right? Drugs?” I snort. “And here I
thought you were a good thing in my life.”

His eyes are growing dimmer by the minute.
The flame behind them is dying out slowly, and it’s my fault.

“Don’t say that. You don’t know what I’ve
been through. You don’t know how fucked up my life is. I told you it wasn’t
easy.”

“My life isn’t easy either, but now it’s
only getting harder with you doing things like this. I don’t want to see you
end up in jail. Your brother’s in there because of what he did, and you’re
going straight after him.”

“My brother is in jail because he tried to
take care of me!” Hunter snaps. “We lived in the slums for years. He was the
only one I had, the only one who cared for me. The only way he could earn
enough to support us was by dealing. He doesn’t deserve to be in jail for that.
Not when the frat club practically used him as bait.”

I’m shocked by his story, but I’m horrified
as well.

“Then why in God’s name are you in the
club, too? They could do the same thing to you!”

“Because I owe it to my brother! I’d risk
everything to get him out of there. That’s why I need the money; to bail him
out.” Hunter squeezes my arm. “Wouldn’t you do the same if your family was in
jail?”

“I guess …” I stammer.

“I want my brother back … It’s because of
him that I’m in college now. He saved up every freaking coin he could so he
could get me some education, even with my learning problems.”

My God. It’s all starting to make sense
now.

He’s doing this all because of his brother.
He loves him so much, he’s even willing to risk jail time for it. And I’ve been
so ignorant, so judgmental about it. I should’ve known better.

At the same time, I’m still scared Hunter
will end up in prison. Why doesn’t he just earn it in a legal way? I know it’s
less efficient, but at least there are no risks.

“B-but there are other ways to make money
and to get someone out of jail,” I stammer.

“Maybe, but there are other reasons why I
chose to do it this way.”

“Why? Does it have something to do with
that guy you’re looking for? The boss?”

“I can’t tell you.”

I sigh, rolling my eyes. “This again.”

“Don’t you see? I’ve tried to tell you, but
you won’t listen to me. I cannot tell you, because it would put you in harm’s
way. I don’t want you to get hurt. I’ll do anything to prevent that,” he says.

Hunter wraps his arms around me and presses
me firmly to his chest, almost smothering me. His heart is beating like crazy.
He’s shivering, too. I wonder why.

“I know I’m a screw-up, but I’m trying to
get things together. You’re the only good thing that’s happened to me in my
life,” he murmurs.

Suddenly I feel all warm and fuzzy.

“College life has been hard on me, but I
want to succeed so badly. I just don’t know how. I thought that I could stand a
chance with you. I thought, if that girl helps me out, teaching me how to learn
quickly, maybe I can make it. Maybe I can make Jessie proud. Maybe the
investment he made in me won’t be in vain.”

“It’s not,” I whisper. “I’ll help you. I
promise. I want you to be okay, too.”

I look up at him, feeling glad he’s finally
given me at least a glimpse into his life. It’s more than I ever thought was
real. But now that I’ve seen how far he’s gone for his brother, how much he
cares about him, how much pressure he feels to save him because Jessie did the
same for him, I have so much respect for him. I’m in awe at his kindness and
pure will.

He smiles back at me, and I feel like I’m
the luckiest girl in the world to be in his arms right now.

“I’m sorry for …” I mutter.

“Don’t be. As long as you stay with me, I’m
not mad. I should’ve told you sooner.”

I nod, and the air feels cleared.

“Guess you wanna go back inside now,” I
say. “Look for that ‘person.’”

“Nah. I think I’ll leave it to Jaret for
now.”

“But it’s important to you, right?”

“You’re more important,” he says, and he
kisses my shoulder. “Let’s go home.”

“You sure?” I ask as I lean back.

He nods, his finger drifting up to my
cheek, caressing it softly. He cups my jaw and leans in, looking into my eyes,
asking for permission. I purse my parted lips and close my eyes as he presses
his lips down on mine. It’s soft and slow this time, unlike his voracious kisses
from before. These are long and loving, and I’m shaken to the core by the
intimacy of it. He’s so gentle, and it feels like he wants to tell me I’m
precious to him. I adore it. He’s precious to me, too.

When Hunter takes his lips off me, he leans
his head against my forehead and smiles at me. Seeing him in front of me like
this calms me down.

He’s beautiful, on the inside and out, even
if he does what he does. His soul is good.

He’s sweet, charming, sexy, handsome,
helpful, protective, and he cares for people. He’s everything I want in a guy.

“Wanna go?” he says.

He rummages in his pocket and takes out a
key.

“How? We came with Jaret.”

“I asked him to borrow his car. He said he
didn’t mind, as long as we didn’t trash it. He’s getting a ride from one of the
other dealers.”

Before I can say anything, he’s already
pulling me toward the car.

When we’re on the road, I can’t help but
glance at Hunter. He drives like a real pro, his gray eyes sometimes flicking
to me. My temperature soars each time his brooding eyes wash over me, and I can
barely breathe.

His lips curve up into half a smile when he
glances at me. When he licks and bites his lip, I gasp. He chuckles. I’m under
his spell, and he knows it.

I can’t help but let my eyes wander across
his sleek body, and what I know is underneath those clothes. The way we danced
really made me crazy for him; not even a fight can temper my feelings for him.

When we finally reach the dorm, I’m
actually sad I have to get out of the car. It means I can’t peek at him anymore,
and I know we’ll eventually part ways at our rooms.

I don’t want to sleep alone tonight. I want
to stay with him.

He looks at me, squinting his eyes, and
then he leans forward. At first I freeze, but then when he puts his lips on my
cheek I relax. His lips slowly drag down to my neck, and he leaves sultry
kisses everywhere. Blood rushes through my body as he groans against my skin.

“I just can’t
not
kiss you,” he
murmurs.

His hands move from the steering wheel to
my face, and he cups my jaw. Sucking my skin, he leaves red marks. Damn. I’m
getting all hot and bothered again.

Then he takes his lips off my skin, and I
suddenly feel cold.

“Why are you stopping?” I say, confused.

He chuckles. “We’re still in Jaret’s car.
Better get to the dorm, don’t you think?”

“Ah … Yeah. Right.”

We step out of the car. My wobbly legs can
barely hold me up, and I struggle to stay on two feet. Hunter comes to my side,
and I clear my throat when he throws me a wicked smile. God, I hate him when he
does that. It’s like he’s flaunting off his goods in front of my nose, but
doesn’t want to give them to me.

Hunter puts his hand on my back. As we walk
into the dorm, his hand slips down to my ass. A blush spreads across my cheeks
when he squeezes my flesh.

A soft humming sound comes from his mouth,
like he’s enjoying the fact that he can touch me like that without
repercussions.

The moment I spot my door, I’m devastated.
“Wait,” I say, and I turn around toward him. I grab his hand and place it on my
waist.

“What are you doing?” he says.

“I want a goodnight kiss,” I say, pursing
my lips.

A sexy smile appears on his face. I suck on
the bottom part of my lip, and his eyes flick right down to see me do it.
Biting his lip in return, he chuckles a little. “You’re seducing me.”

“I just want a kiss. Nothing wrong with
that, is there?” I say with one eyebrow raised.

“You’ve really changed,” he says, leaning
forward. “I like it.”

His hot mouth crashes into mine, and he
starts kissing me fervently. I wrap my arms around his neck as he puts both his
hands on my ass. He’s voracious, and pushes himself up against me. A loud thud
is audible as we bump into the wall. We’re in the middle of the hallway, making
out like crazed teens, and I love it.

We drift to our rooms, stumbling over each
other’s feet. I can’t take my mouth off his, he’s that delicious.

But then he does.

My lips feel raw and swollen, and I need
his kisses to soothe the pain, but he inches back.

“Don’t stop,” I say, but he grabs my wrists
and drapes them off his shoulder.

“You’re tired. I’m tired.” He fakes a yawn.

“No I’m not. You’re just making this up.
You don’t want to kiss me.”

I cross my arms below my boobs, making sure
they’re nice and perky for him to see. Of course, when his eyes sink to my
chest area, I muffle a laugh, feeling victorious.

“Hmm … You don’t even know how much I want
to kiss you. I want it so goddamn much, I dream about it. Ever since I met you
I’ve been waking up with a huge hard-on.”

I gulp at those words.

“I also know that when I do put my mouth on
yours, I can’t stop,” he continues.

“Then don’t,” I say, hooking my fingers in
his pants, urging him to come closer.

“No, I’m holding myself back already, don’t
make it so hard on me, please,” he mutters.

“I don’t want you to hold back anymore,” I
say.

“I told you before, I don’t do sweet sex.
You’re a virgin. Sort of,” he grins, probably thinking about our other night
together. “I don’t want to mess this up with you.”

“Why are you so afraid?” I ask, leaning
forward to kiss the corner of his lip.

I’ve never been so bold before, but I feel
different today. Changed. He’s turned me into a more confident girl. A girl who
can handle herself. A girl who goes after what she wants. A woman. Fierce.

He gasps when I kiss his jawline. “God,
you’re making this really hard,” he says.

He makes a deep, rumbling sound, alerting
all my senses. My hand drifts up his shirt, and I feel my way across his
amazingly tight abs that just scream to be touched.

“I don’t think that’s the only thing I’m
getting hard,” I whisper close to his ears.

He lets out an exasperated breath. “Fuck.
Do you know how hot you sound when you say those dirty things?” he says,
chuckling.

“I’ve always wanted you. I’m ready for
you,” I say.

My hand searches for the doorknob behind
me, and when I find it, I open the door to my room.

Hunter’s everything I dream about. He’s the
bad boy that keeps me alert. The guy who awakens my inner desires. The person
who makes me overcome my fears and fight. We’re complete opposites, and now I
finally understand why they say opposites attract.