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I didn’t want to deny it or be evasive. I knew that Bri wouldn’t tell Beth or Jake about Hunter and I, even though she probably thought I should, because they were more than best friends to me; they really were my family. I didn’t know what I would do without them. I would probably never obey my parents without really thinking about it, like I had for most of my life.
“I’ll put it this way; we messed around.” I felt like a major weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. When I’d caught sight of Hunter from the corner of my eye in Lasting Impressions, I’d felt like someone had stolen the breath from my lungs. I’d thought that he would’ve left work already or would’ve been with a client. But he was there in his vintage older and wiser shirt with his light wash jeans that hung off of his slim waist. And all of them had talked about Hunter the entire time we were in there.
“Is that why he didn’t wanna sit next to you at—”
“No. It happened more recently than that.”
“Does Beth know? I thought you couldn’t stand Hunter being Beth’s friend. I remember you calling him a loser,” Bri reminded me and I bit down on my lip.
I’d blurted it out, because I’d been wary of him, resentful that he could earn her friendship so fast, when it took years for Beth to confide in me. Now I was even more wary of him, but I didn’t think he was a loser. He’d been using me so he could suppress the uncertainty he had that he’d be sober forever. I think he had to really take it one day at a time and stop ruminating on what could happen and remember what he’s been doing right. But Hunter and I wouldn’t have that conversation, because I was a worthless, bitchy virgin in his eyes.
Bri hauled herself up and brought me down on my bed. She slid her arm around me and I swallowed the lump in my throat, but it didn’t make admitting my guilelessness any easier. “Beth doesn’t know this, but I saw Hunter at the car dealership first. I never liked guys with long hair, or hair silkier than me.” I paused and Bri and I tittered a laugh. “But then he turned around and I thought wow…he looks like Chase, but ten times sexier. I tried to get the thought out of my head, but never really did... And when he’d walked me out of the library a few days ago, he seemed to have a lot on his mind. I hadn’t seen him look like someone had knocked him off his feet before. Then we kissed and I was like a wanton, Bri. I didn’t think I had to hide what I wanted from him, but I guessed wrong. He found out that I am a virgin and he’d discarded everything that we shared.”
“He couldn’t stop looking at you. It may have meant more to him than he recognized. If the animosity blows up, Beth and Jake are going to know that something went down.” She shook her head. “No pun intended.” Her hand fell to her thighs. “And if he’s still a prick, promise me you’ll give him a piece of your mind.”
My chest somehow felt lighter as the guilt multiplied in my heart. It was a relief that she hadn’t made fun of me or given necessary praise for not having intercourse yet. I’d thought about losing it since my hormones had gone into over drive, but I’d known it was just a natural urge. The only thing with Hunter was that it hadn’t just been an itch that I needed to be scratched. I’d found him vulnerable. “I will. I had the last say tonight, but I have a lot more to tell him.” Clearing me throat, I flicked my gaze at her and changed the topic. “You know, I’ve barely seen Pierce this semester. Beth told me that he’s been working around the clock on with the construction of the new hotel. Did you see him in Paloma’s Edge during the Fall Break?”
The skin around Bri’s eyes crinkled. “I did. For about a minute and then he was running off to do something.” She stood up and stretched. “Uhhh. I hate that I have to leave so early because I have classes tomorrow.”
I wanted her to stay longer, too, but she did have to go to school tomorrow. When Pete came back from Mrs. Muldoon’s, I’d lost count about how many times he’d stopped by my room to see Bri. Since infancy, he’d had a major crush on Beth, which began to fade this summer. He began liking girls his own age. But, I think seeing Bri made him forget about any classmate he may have thought was cute. I’d bribed him with reading him as many stories as he wanted so that Bri and I would have more girl time, but he hadn’t fallen for it. She’d played legos with him, as if she’d been his play date and not my guest. I’d thought she would’ve become irritated with Pete but she didn’t show it if she had been. It meant a lot to me that she made Pete feel good and praised how well he spoke. Apparently, I hadn’t had to tell her about his speech impediment for her to know that it took endless work from everyone in his life to help him to get to the point where he could babble on coherently. He was a trooper.
I hoisted myself up, so I escort Bri to the front of the house. I put my hair into a ponytail and I looked at my new ear piercings through the mirror. Vince had done a great job piercing my sensitive skin. The redness wasn’t present anymore and there was no swelling. I didn’t want to wear clip-ons anymore.
“I didn’t think I’d chicken out. Maybe I’ll get my ears pierced next time we go. It looked painless when Vince did all of the piercings.”
“It did. Millie didn’t wriggle one bit,” I said.
***
AFTER I CAME OUT of the dining hall on Tuesday, Scott signaled me from all the way down the long hall. If someone hadn’t told me that they thought he was trying get my attention, I wouldn’t have seen him. He’d called me last night but I’d wanted to unpack, re-organize my binders, and read the first chapter of another romance novel in my collection.
“Did your mid-term grades turn out th
e way you wanted?” he asked we walked together to our Biology class.
“Yeah, but I could’ve done better if I’d taken a few more hours off of work. My GPA didn’t take a major dive. And my parents didn’t give me grief about it. They just said what they always say: if I’d stayed at home, I wouldn’t have to work as much, or at all.” I grinned at him. “How did you do on your mid-terms?”
“I passed all of them,” he replied. “And it’s a good thing you came here, instead of staying home.”
“Why’s that?”
“I wouldn’t get to see the chance to take you out Thursday night before we leave to our away game this weekend.”
Chapter 13
Hunter
“HOLA, HUNTER,” BLANCA SAID when she saw me sitting on the counter at La Caridad. Manny wanted lunch and the other guys wanted to have some food from outside today. “I asked Mariska and Jillian when I’d see you again.”
“I’ll be making more of an appearance,” I said with a smile.
She nodded. “The usual?”
“Two more orders of the imperial rice and an extra side order of sweet plantains.”
As Blanca went to tell my orders to the chefs, my eyes scanned the room and zeroed in on Mariska in a black dress and a cap on her head. I knew it was her by the shape of her slender waist and hips. Vince wouldn’t tell me where he’d pierced her, since I knew that she’d had something done. He’d use the client’s right to privacy excuse when he’d talked about other clients before. Manny hadn’t budged either, when I’d asked.
“Do I have to make all of the moves?” I tilted my head to look at Jill directly. I’d replied to some of her text messages, but since we’d had sex last week, the messages had doubled and now she included photos of her tits and her legs in garters. She looked on point, like she had every time I’d seen her; her blonde hair looked shiny. The La Cardidad t-shirt and black pants she had on left no inch of her tight body to the imagination.
