The bell dings, and the doors open all too quickly. Danielle leads the way down the hall, and every step is another letter on my death note.
When she knocks on his door, I can’t control my panic anymore.
“I’m sorry, but he can’t come,” I blurt out, feeling beads of sweat against my hairline.
“What? Why? He’s driving, so we don’t have to pay for anything. He’ll even stop to buy snacks and drinks along the way, too; he hates being cramped in the car for too long.” She shrugs, unbothered.
“No, he can’t come. Danielle—” I pause, because… “We had met when I was moving in, but afterward we ran into each other again at a café, he was studying and I started complaining about one of my classes, and he offered to let me borrow his notes. But he ended up freaking out on me and he kicked me out of his room. I feel so awkward right now, and I’m sure it’ll be even more awkward for him.” I cringe, tweaking reality a little bit so she doesn’t know the whole truth about how much of a loser I really am. But how the heck was I supposed to know he was herboyfriend?I’m just the weird kid that people sometimes tolerate but most of the time ignore. I didn’t expect to make friends with her, let alone make an enemy out of her boyfriend. I didn’t know how to react when I went to his dorm room, but I do know that it wasn’t very nice of him to treat me like that.
“What?” she hisses, glaring at the closed door in front of us. “Adam did that?”
“Well, I didn’t know it was an important piece of information to share at the time. I didn’t realize you knew each other.” Danielle pushes the door open, holding it wide so I can walk in behind her. I stand with my feet planted, shoulder width apart. Refusing to budge.
“Come on, we’ll get this all cleared up in no time. I’ll even make him buy you a birthday present.”
“That’s really not…” She lets go of the door, and I watch as it slowly and dramatically closes. At the last second, I grab it andopen it wide enough for me to be able to pass through. “Really the point,” I finish my sentence under my breath.
Danielle quickly turns, and our faces are close enough for our noses to touch. “Listen to me, and listen good, Hunter. You are my friend.Youare stuck with me. So by default, Adam is your friend too. If he’s rude, mean, an asshole, anything, you tell me. Okay? Because I don’t give a shit about hurting his feelings, but I don’t want him to hurt yours.” It feels a lot like pity, but it feels like reassurance as well. And maybe that’s what I needed. Someone to reassure me that my feelings matter, and they want to be my friend and stand beside me, even when the rest of the world might not understand.
A figure appears out of the bedroom; Danielle turns her head and smiles that devious smile. I follow suit, and when my eyes catch his, my mind goes blank.
No one has any business looking as good as he does, even in casual wear.
A screen-printed T-shirt with a popular rock band on the front. I’ve heard a few of their songs, mostly from playlists on Spotify. The deep tones and loud lyrics are so different from what I expected from him. A pair of light gray joggers covers his thighs, subtly showing off the strong muscles. And I need to quit looking because I’m making this weird. I can’t help it, though, he’s hot.
His face is perfectly proportionate, and his dark hair is neatly styled. I wonder if it’s soft. It looks soft. I’ve been thinking about his blue eyes more than I should, especially now that I know his girlfriend is my one and only friend. His pouty pink lips are slightly opened, showing off a hint of his pearly white teeth.
This is going to be a long weekend.
14
ADAM
Whythe fuckdid I have to butt in to Danielle’s business? She’s a grown woman; she can take care of herself. As soon as she told me she had run a check on herfriend,I should have left it alone. Normally, I would have left it alone. So why did I push so hard this time? And why did this have to be with him?
Hunter follows behind, trying to keep a brisk pace with me on the way to my car. I’m seething with every step, my annoyance growing stronger and stronger with every inch we get closer to my car.
It’s not his fault, logically I know that. There’s no way he could have predicted that I would strong-arm my way into their plans. And if I had known it was Hunter that Danielle was spending the weekend with, I would have pushed Danielle into staying with him longer. Maybe convincing him to drop out of college and go to one closer to his home so I won’t have to see him. Distance would be good for me and my fucked-up thoughts. Because the thoughts I have about him right now are not normal.
I’m straight, but sometimes when I dream of the scar on his lip or what his eyes would look like while he is on his knees, I go into crisis mode. I can’t afford to deal with… whatever this is.
“You don’t have to go,” he says so quietly I almost don’t hear it. Whipping my head to the side to look at him over my shoulder, I see he’s fallen behind. Dragging two rolling suitcases now with a duffel precariously positioned on one. It’s going to fall off.
I should help him.
I scratch that thought from my head because he’s a guy; if he can’t carry it, he should have thought about that before he dragged it all the way out here.
His eyes are downcast, and I feel a pitiful thump in my chest; the dejected stance of his body and his soft words make me want to comfort him. To hold him close and protect him from anything. To see if he smells as good as he does in my dreams. Coconut and honey, something soothing, but at the same time, tart. I want to taste his skin for myself and satisfy this hunger inside of me that yearns for him.
“What?” I snap, trying to keep myself away from the road my thoughts are going down. I have a girlfriend. Danielle is my girlfriend. She’s going on this trip with us, and I can’t have anything go awry.
“I said you don’t have to go. My dad was going to pick me up tomorrow.” He’s still not looking at me. Why won’t he raise his eyes and look me in the face?
“Well, that was then and this is now,” I remark, clicking the unlock button for my Mercedes G Wagon. The lights flash, and the back hatch opens. I throw my bag in and extend my hand to reach for the ones in Hunter’s hands.
He stands there, staring at his shoes on the pavement. Not making a sound.
“Give me the bags, Collins,” I bark impatiently. The faster we get on the road, the faster we get this weekend over with, and I can go back to living my normal life.
