Fierce (9 page)

She sits down on her bed and changes into
her pajamas. “Well, I still think it’s risky to hang out with him.”

I sigh, closing my eyes. “I don’t think
he’s that bad. There’s just a lot we don’t know about him.” I sit down on my
own bed and start changing, too.

“Like what? You saw who he hangs out with,”
she says, crawling under her blanket.

“So? Maybe he has a good reason.” I lie
down in bed and pull up the covers.

She shakes her head. “Look, I’m just
worried about you, okay? After what happened with Brody … I don’t want to see
you go in the same direction.”

I turn around and face her. “I know. And I
won’t. I promise.”

She smiles at me, and even though I can see
it’s fake, I smile back. I want to reassure her that everything’s going to be
all right.

At least, I hope it will.

Too
Close for Comfort

I’m only just getting out of bed when
someone knocks on the door. Evie springs up from her bed, seemingly already
dressed, and opens the door.

“Who is it?” I say, yawning.

I pick up some clothes from the floor and
put them on while I hear Evie talking. And then I hear Scarlet’s voice.

Frowning, I get up and walk up to them.

“What is she doing here?” I say.

“Evie and I are going to study together
today,” she says.

My face contorts. I haven’t heard about
this before. Since when is she making plans without me?

“Sorry, Autumn, I forgot to tell you.”

“Thanks for mentioning,” I snarl.

“She practically forced me to,” Evie says,
shrugging.

“No, I didn’t,” Scarlet says.

“Hold on a second,” Evie says, and she
closes the door in front of Scarlet’s face. She comes close to my ear and
starts to whisper. “I bumped into her and Brody last night when you were still
at work. They were fighting, big time, and she could really use some girl time
right now. She doesn’t have any other friends here.”

I cross my arms. “Oh, really? And since
when are you so interested in doing charity work?”

“I’m not. Look, she offered me some cash in
exchange, and I could really use some.”

“But you never work! Your parents support
you all the way.”

Evie shushes me. “Look, I didn’t tell you
this before, because I didn’t think it was important, but they cut me off a
bit.”

“What?” I gape at her. “Why?”

“Well, you know, ever since …” She purses
her lips and rolls her eyes.

It’s enough to let me know what’s the
matter. I’ve known about her likes and dislikes for ages, but I guess her
parents never saw it coming. They don’t accept her for the way she is.

“Look, I don’t want to go into that right
now. Scarlet needs help, she offered me cash, I could use the money … one plus
one equals two, right?”

“Right …” I say. I’m still reluctant to say
I like the idea, but I don’t want to be a bitch either. I don’t want to claim
her as my study buddy, but at the same time I don’t want to lose her either.

“Everything all right in there?” Scarlet
yells through the door.

“Yeah, we’re fine. Just discussing some
things before we go.”

“Okay. Let me know when you’re done.” She
laughs awkwardly, and it makes me chuckle.

Evie puts her hand on my shoulder. “You
okay with this?”

I sigh and nod. “Yeah.”

“You sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I
can study on my own.”

She smiles and then pulls me in for her big
bear hug, making me choke. After a while she lets go again and opens the door.

“Ready.” Evie turns her head to me again. “See
you tonight.”

“Yeah, see you later,” Scarlet says.

I really have to do my best not to roll my
eyes at her. They hurry down the hall, and it surprises me they’re not hooking
arms yet.

I sigh and turn around, but before I can
close the door behind my back, someone pushes it back open.

With furrowed brows I look down at a foot
that’s jammed in front of the door. What the …

“Got a minute?”

My eyes widen as I hear his voice.

I turn around and stare straight into his
fierce gray eyes. Hunter. He looks much better than yesterday. Less blood.
Still a lot of bruises, though. But his face is no longer swollen.

However, that smile of his hasn’t changed a
bit. It still makes me giggly.

I open the door maybe a little too
recklessly, because it slams into the wall. I immediately feel embarrassed, and
it shows on my skin. Hunter laughs. The sound of it makes me quiver.

“Hey,” I say with a chirpy voice.

“Hey yourself.” He puts his hand on the
door frame, and it makes him even larger than before, even though I thought
that wasn’t possible. He’s so tall and masculine. My eyes feel glued to his
skin. It’s like when he’s around, I can’t look at anything else anymore.

“What’s up?” I say, clearing my throat. I
have to ask something. Otherwise I’ll come across like a stammering, drooling
chick. And I don’t want to lower myself to that state. Although I know I
already have, plenty of times.

“Hmmm, nothing. Just thought I’d come
visit.”

I laugh, but my eyebrows draw together in
confusion. “For no reason?”

“Yeah? Why? Can’t I come visit the girl who
patched me up?”

“That’s not it, I just …” I stammer.

He lets go of the door frame and steps
forward, so I step back. “You want me to leave?”

 “No, no, no,” I say.

Each step he takes closer, I step one back,
but the moment my back hits the wall, I have nowhere else to go. I’m trapped
between the wall and his delicious body that towers above me.

A coy smile appears on his lips. “I think
you do. You just don’t want to say it. You’re scared of me.”

He leans forward and puts his hand on the
wall beside me. I shudder from the predatory look in his eyes. Those damn
mesmerizing eyes that turn me into liquid.

God, I could stare at those for ages.

But at the same time, I want to run.

My heart is throbbing in my throat. He’s
right. I’m terrified.

“That’s it, right?” he says with a voice so
gruff it makes my pussy clench. And it’s just his voice. Just the sound of it
is doing this to me. I don’t understand why.

He laughs, but it sounds more like a low
groan. It’s a guttural sound, turning me into a puddle. For some reason I want
to hear more of it.

“Even if you told me, I still wouldn’t
leave. I always go against the rules.” He leans in closer, and my breath
hitches in my throat the moment I feel his hot breath against my ears. “That’s
why you want me.”

He moves away again. He steps back, giving
me room to breathe, but all it does is make this space suddenly feel very
empty. Quivering, I just stand there, as he stares at me with a devilish look
on that pretty face of his.

God, I want to jump his bones and kiss him.

Fuck, he’s right. I really am attracted to
him.

I don’t want to be, though.

Shit. I’m seriously glowing for a guy that
breaks all the rules, ignores everything that he’s told, and goes against
everything I was ever taught. He’s the epitome of a bad boy; a cocky, confident
fighter, who likes to get girls worked up for no reason.

Especially girls like me.

Goddammit, he knows. He knows what he does
to me. And still he continues.

“Stop being such a jerk!”

He chuckles. “Me? A jerk? Never.”

In a fit, I pick up a pillow lying on my
bed and throw it at his face, but he catches it in time. He’s still laughing,
and it’s making me even more pissed. “Stop laughing!”

“I can’t. You’re too funny when you’re mad
at me.”

“Goddammit, I hate that.”

“Hate what? I just came here to talk to
you.”

“I hate it that you come in here and … and
…”

“And what? That I show you the truth about
yourself? That you secretly enjoy breaking the rules and don’t want to admit
it?”

My breath falters, and I close my mouth. I
don’t know what to say. Part of me wants to shout and tell him to leave.
Another part wants to tell him he’s right, and that I’m so goddamn into him I
can’t stand it.

He throws the pillow aside. “Stop being
such a snoot and open your eyes. You saw what happened yesterday. That’s the
real world. You can’t hide behind your innocence forever.”

The more he says, the more I want to forget
about everything.

“You can’t shut it out. You have to deal
with what happened. Face it head on. It’s the only way to stop it from happening
again.”

“And you think I can face it head on?” I
say, crossing my arms, feeling very vulnerable all of a sudden. “How can you
say that? You make it sound so easy. Like I should just get over it. I was
almost raped last night!” I scream.

It’s the first time the world rolls over my
lips. Tears well up in my eyes.

He steps closer again, and I draw back into
my shell as usual. It’s the only way I know how to deal with things. I’m the
girl who runs away. Who doesn’t even defend herself when she’s teased. The girl
who hopes things will just go away as long as she ignores them. I’m not a
fighter.

He is.

Hunter puts his hands on my arms, and
suddenly they’re not that tough anymore. He’s gentle, and he tugs me closer
until I give in.

He pulls me in for a hug. My face presses
against his broad chest as I wheeze. Anxiety. This is how my body responds to
all the fear and pain that was suppressed after last night. Now it’s all
spilling out.

I’m crying, my tears making his shirt wet,
and he’s petting my hair. Shushing me, he caresses the top of my head until I
calm down.

“Shit …” I say.

“What?”

“I didn’t want to cry.”

He muffles a laugh. “Sometimes you have
to.”

“Do you?”

He sniffs. “When things happen, yes. You’ve
seen it.”

Somehow his confession makes this better. It
makes me remember that everybody has moments of weakness.

We’re quiet for some time. I’m not sure if
it’s because of our awkward conversation or because he’s holding me. Either
way, it feels good, and I don’t want him to let me go.

I never knew a guy’s arms could be so
comforting.

“I could help you, you know,” he says
softly.

“With what?” I say, drying my tears with my
hands.

I look up into his face, and he cocks his
eyebrows. “Teach you some moves.”

I frown. “What … you mean …” The thought
alone makes me laugh. “You want me to learn how to fight?”

He grabs my arms and pushes me forward. His
grip is harsh and it forces me back into the moment. “Do you want to stop those
assholes from taking advantage of you again or not? I’m not always going to be
there to save you,” he says.

I nod, still wiping the tears from my eyes.

“At least … not unless you want me to.” He
wriggles his eyebrows, and it makes me blush. For a moment I forget all about
the fact that I was just bawling my eyes out.

“Anyway, I know just how,” he says. The
left side of his lips curls up into a sly smile. “But it’ll cost you
something.” His eyes move down my shirt, and he licks his lips in the process.

Oh my God. Is he checking me out?

My panties are already getting wet just from
seeing his eyes skim over me like I’m worth looking at. As if I’m sexy.

But then I realize what he just said.

“I’m not some kind of―”

“Bookworm?”

“Excuse me?” I stammer.

“That’s what I need.”

“You. You need me?” I say, befuddled.

A short, cute laugh comes out of his mouth,
and he wipes his finger along his lip. Oh, how I wish I could be that finger.

“Help me with studying.”

My jaw drops. I’m shocked. He wants to
study? Hunter Bane actually cares about his college degree?

“Well … this is new,” I say.

“Don’t look so surprised. I told you, I
think it’s important, but there are other … things in my life right now that
make it … difficult, to say the least.” He clears his throat. “So, are you in
or not?”

“Uh … Yeah, sure.”

Hunter grabs a book lying on my bedside
table and dangles it in front of me. “If you help me with this, I’ll teach you
how to defend yourself.”

“All right. Deal.” I try to snatch away the
book, but he skillfully avoids me.

With a devious smile he turns around and
starts walking toward the door. “Great. Then let’s get started.”