Hunter (Broken Bad Boys 1): A New Adult Bad Boy Romance (16 page)

“Yeah, just let me clean up around here. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Hunter nods and steps back, letting me close the door.

I don’t have anything to clean up, but I’m not eating in front of Hunter. I don’t want him to see that even though I was trying to get better, I got worse again. I force myself to eat another protein bar, flushing it down with enough water to drown a small city. But at least it’s inside and that is what counts. If I’m going to prove that I can do this myself, I need to stick to the plan. I grab my notebook and cram it into my bag with my other books and things.

When I open the door, Hunter is standing a while off, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes on the floor. As I close the door behind me, he looks up, giving me a quick smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Ready?” He starts walking.

Nothing, no reaction to what happened. No questions about how I am. No heart-melting smiles. I guess I should really take a hint. This is over. One kiss, some flirting, and now he’s locked me out of his life. I follow him out of the workshop and we make our way to the building where we have literature.

When we get there, Hanna is already waiting for me. She gives Hunter the stink-eye before she comes over to me, smiling. “Hi.”

“Hey. Did you have a good weekend?” I fall in step with her as we make our way up the stairs.

“Including or excluding our trip to the zoo?” She grins. “It was good. You’re lucky with a sister like that.”

“Twin,” I automatically answer. I hate it when people just assume that Lola is older.

“Twin? Okay.” Hanna falls silent for a moment, then she shrugs and smiles. “Still cool. I’d love to hang out together more often. Just not—” She glares at Hunter, who is walking behind us.

I feel bad. He doesn’t deserve her anger. But how can I explain that without revealing what happened? “We should. Totally.” The door opens and the previous group spills out of the room.

My phone makes a sound and I check it. It’s a message from Mum. ‘
Your father and I want to have a chat with you. Come straight home after class.’
That sounds… ominous, and my stomach curls into knots. I already know that this isn’t going to be good. There’s no way that what they want to talk about is going to make me happy, or they would have just waited for me to come home by myself.

Hunter catches my eyes and he looks my way. I’d love to do the same as we did that first week, skip class and run off. But I need to show that I’m responsible and that I can do this, that I’m not some little girl they can just lock up.

I refuse to be that little girl.

A
fter class
I go to my parents’ riding school. They need some help around the place and I need to fix the barn, as I’ve promised to do all summer… but with the colder weather coming up, it really needs to be done now.

Of course, as I’m standing there, hammering on a plank and about ready to paint it, it starts to pour. The temperature plummets and I quickly get into the barn.

Dad comes out of the storage shed, joining me in the doorway of the barn. “Right on time.”

“I wasn’t able to paint it yet. But it’s fixed.” I lean back against a box, and the horse in it nuzzles my shoulder. I reach up and run my hand over her nose. “It should keep the weather out, for now. But I’ll have to paint it over the weekend or something, we can’t keep it like this.”

“I know. Thanks anyway. I can’t do everything around here anymore. Even if I’d like to.” Dad laughs.

“Hey, you’re not allowed to overwork yourself. The doctor said so.” I shake my head. Dad’s been working at riding schools all his life, first just fixing things but later owning his own place. It does mean that he put more pressure on his body than he should have. The barn we’re in now is made by him and some friends. If he wants to keep running things a while longer, he really needs to let me do some things around here. Plus, it keeps me active. It keeps me going, even when I just want to pretend I’m an angry teen.

“Hey.” Dad comes over, looking at me. “What happened this weekend?”

“What do you mean?” So many things happened this weekend.

“You looked happy when you came back on Saturday, when you went out with Lola and the other girls. But then yesterday morning, it was different.” He shrugs. “It seemed like quite a switch.” He doesn’t look me in the eyes. “Is it because it’s been nearly a year since Tessa’s crash? Did you have memories because you used to hang out with Lola and Tessa together?”

Nearly a year. Sometimes it doesn’t feel that long, at other times it feels longer. I shake my head. “Just other stuff.”

“If you need to talk about it…” Dad shrugs, then he looks outside. “It doesn’t seem like the rain is gonna stop any time soon. Let’s get inside. I think Mum has dinner ready.”

I’m all for that. If I can’t figure out what is going on, how can I explain to my dad? We sprint from the barn to the back of the house, where Mum is waiting on us, her arms crossed.

“Like father, like son. It’s like you pay no attention to what is going on once you’re busy doing things.” She hands me a towel. “Get yourself dried up. I’ve got dinner ready.”

“You could have told us it was going to rain,” Dad mumbles as he gets out of his shoes and follows Mum into the kitchen.

I don’t hear her reply, but I can’t help but smile. Mum’s right though, if we were paying attention to what was going on, we would have seen the rain coming in. I climb the stairs to the upper level and open the door to my room. I probably sleep at least one or two nights a week here. I throw my wet clothes in the hamper and pull on clean and dry ones. I stretch as I grab my phone and put it in my pocket.

“Hunter, dinner is getting cold,” Dad calls from downstairs.

I open the door on the other side and make my way down there. I have two doors in my room—maybe it’s weird, but it helps with keeping things clean around the house. This way I don’t spread mud all over the house, or have to get to the main house through the dirt. It also helps with trying to sneak out at night. Not that I’ve ever tried, of course.

* * *

M
y phone starts ringing
for the third time in five minutes and Mum and Dad are starting to glare at me. We’re not supposed to have our phone on during dinner, but I forgot to turn it off.

“Can you make it stop?” Mum sighs.

“Yeah, yeah.” I grab my phone, only to see that the first two calls were from Lola and the last one from Tamara. Then it starts to ring again, my heart constricts and I lift it. “I have to take this. Sorry.”

I step out of the kitchen and take the call. “Hunter here.”

“Have you seen Lizzy?” Tamara’s voice is on edge.

“Not since class.” Lizzy is missing?

“So she
was
in class?”

“Yeah. I saw her. I went home afterward, so I don’t know if she went to the workshop after or not.” It didn’t look like she would though, she didn’t seem in the mood to do so.

“Okay, so that gives a better time line. Thanks.” She’s about to hang up, but I need to know.

“What’s going on?”

“Lizzy’s parents are worried. She didn’t come home after class, and it’s nine now. She’s still not back.”

Fuck. Sure, there seemed to be something on her mind today. But I’ve not been without my own distractions today. Though I didn’t expect this of her. “Does anyone know where she could be?”

“Well, Lola thought maybe with you. But apparently not.”

“No. I haven’t seen her. Is there anything I can do?”

“Let Lola know if you hear from her, please?”

“I will. Thanks for letting me know.” I hang up and go through all the times I saw Lizzy today. Sure, she didn’t look too happy, especially around me. But I wasn’t in the mood for anything either. Did I miss something? I text Lizzy out of the sheer hope that she’ll reply to me. But after I ignored her message from this weekend… I’m not expecting much.

“Hunter?” Mum comes into the kitchen. When she sees my face, she frowns. “What’s wrong?”

“A friend is missing. They can’t seem to find her.” I’m eyeing my helmet and jacket that are waiting for me.

“And you want to look for her?”

“I don’t know.” Sure, I’d love to go look for her, but where would I start?

“Is there a reason why you’d be able to find her?”

I nod, my heart heavy. There definitely is a reason why people suspect she’d be with me.

“Does she know about your studio in the city?”

“Fuck.” I try to remember if I ever told Lizzy. Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t. I can’t remember. “Maybe.” If she’s waiting for me there, there isn’t anyone around. Nobody to let her in while it’s pouring outside. “Dammit.” I turn to Mum. “I’m sorry. Can you let me know if she shows up here? It’s Lola’s sister.” I start putting on my jacket, quickly figuring out what else I’ll need to take with me.

“You’re not waiting until it has stopped raining?” Mum hands me my bag.

“No. If she’s out there in the rain, I need to find her right now.”

“Okay. Just… take an extra helmet. You never know.”

That stops me, my heart going into overdrive. “I can’t.” I can’t let someone else on my bike. I can’t let anyone I care for on a bike. Anyone I…
Fuck.

“Of course you can. It’s the fastest way to get around if needed. Take it.” Mum stretches and hands me the helmet from the top of the shelves. “Go.”

I take the helmet, one of my old ones, and put my own on. I guess it can’t be helped. I put the extra helmet at the back of the bike and put on my gloves. Then I push off and drive down the gravel path. Where could she be? Where could she have gone? Should I have asked her what was wrong? I know that she got a message that she didn’t like this afternoon. Was that what made her decide not to go home?

Was there anything I could have done?

Dammit. I turn onto the road. It’s nearly empty, which is no surprise—it’s getting late and this isn’t the main road that most people take. The lights at the side of the road keep illuminating and then drowning me in darkness: light, dark, light, dark.

My phone buzzes in my jacket, but I can’t get it now. I’ll see whatever it is when I get home. I need to focus, there is no reason for me to put myself in any danger just because I’m looking for Lizzy.

I’m nearing where Tessa crashed, though it isn’t very visible, apart from a couple of flowers and other things that people still put there. My heart starts beating faster and I need to slow down. Normally I’m pretty good going past here, but with the weekend and then Dad’s comment… It’s bringing back memories, painful memories. I stop at the side of the road and take my helmet off. I take deep and careful breaths. I need to calm down.

For a moment, it seems like my eyes are deceiving me, but then I see something move at the edge of one of the street lights. I look up, trying to see who it is better. My heart jumps.

Lizzy. She’s walking at the side of the road, drenched, her arms wrapped closely around her. Fuck.

I check both ways and then cross to the other side, leaving the bike behind for a moment. “Lizzy!”

She looks up, her face streaked with make-up, but I can see the gratitude in her eyes. “Hunter.” She tries to smile but stumbles.

I grab her before she can fall. When I touch her, she’s so cold. I shrug out of my jacket and wrap it around her. “Everyone is worried.”

“Everyone can go and die.” Her eyes go wide as she looks up at me. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Sorry.”

I let out a slow breath and I force my anger down. She definitely shouldn’t have said that. We’re only a short distance away from where Tessa crashed. “Come on, let’s get you home.” I try to move her to the other side of the road, but she fights me.

“I’m not going home. They’re going to lock me up. I can’t go home.” Her tears mix with the rain that is still pouring down.

Her answer makes no sense, but at least she’s safe. “Let’s at least get you some warm and dry clothes. My parents live just up the road.”

She shakes her head. “No. No parents. I’ll go elsewhere.” She starts shrugging off the jacket and I quickly wrap my arms around her.

“I’ve got a studio in the city, we can go there. Okay?” I look at her, and she nods. “Okay.” I look around. Walking to the bus stop at my parents’ house will take us at least fifteen minutes, and after that we still have to wait for the bus, which only goes once an hour at this time of the day. I eye the bike. I guess that’s the only solution. I guide her to the bike. Her steps are only small and I’m wondering how long she has been out in the rain. It’s been raining for a while now, at least over an hour. I grab the helmet from the back and hand it to her. “Put it on.”

“You want me to ride on the back?” She eyes the bike, frowning.

“Yeah. Unless you want to walk.” I put my helmet on and get on the bike. She’s cold, I’m cold. I don’t have a lot of patience right now.

“Do you need…” She holds out her arms.

“You keep the jacket on. You need it more.” I can drive like this, without a jacket, but she’s already so cold. Both good reasons to get us out of the rain as soon as possible, also a sign that maybe I shouldn’t be driving her anywhere at all. “Get on.”

Lizzy stumbles as she tries to get on, but when I hold out my arm for her to hold on to, she gets on easier.

“Wrap your arms around me.” I reach for her, and she wraps both her arms around me. It feels strange to have the leather jacket pushing into my skin as her arms grasp onto me. “You good?” I try to look back at her, but that is no use.

I feel her squeeze around my waist, so I assume it’s all good. I start the bike and slowly start to drive. It’s been a long time since I had a passenger on my bike, and it doesn’t help that I constantly want to check that she is still holding on. Though her fingers keep moving in my shirt, at least she’s trying to keep on. Now, if I could get home without the cops spotting us, that would be great…

* * *

M
y building comes
into view and I take a corner so I can drive the bike in the parking space below. Lizzy grabs hold of me tighter and I’m hoping that she can actually get off. I remember that the one time I was on the back of one of these things I got really sore, especially in my arms. We slowly go down the slope, into the underground parking. I drive to the back, to my parking spot.

When I stop, I lean the bike some, hoping to make it easier for Lizzy to get off. She moves and then I feel the weight shift and she’s standing next to me, sort of. She stumbles and I grab onto her immediately. When she stands still I get off the bike too.

I take off my helmet and put it on the bike, then I turn to Lizzy. Through the face shield of the helmet I can see that her lips have turned blue, and her fingers that stick out the sleeves of my jacket don’t fare much better. I step closer and open the chin strap of her helmet before I take it off. “Are you okay?” It’s a stupid question. She’s not okay, that’s obvious.