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LATER ON IN THE night, when I was back on campus, after I’d attempted to complete one of my assignments, I left my dorm, drove to the closest pet shop, and bought Riley the treats that she enjoyed. Then, I nervously began my drive to Hunter’s house. He hadn’t responded to the messages I’d sent him, but I also knew that he had a busy day. He might not be at his house yet and I recalled where Beth had gotten the spare key to get inside: underneath one of the pots of plants she’d bought for him on the side of his house.
As I opened the door, Riley barreled to the door and raised her front legs on my thighs. Her paws were hooked to my skirt. She was happy to see me. I teased her ears with my thumbs. After she brought her paws to the ground, she began licking all over my hands and I lifted my gaze. There was a female who was a little bit taller than Beth, with jet black hair in pig-tails, shimmery lip gloss, and a arrogant expression on her face. She was in a pair of low-rise shorts and wore the kind of thin cotton top that I’d wear. Any guy would find her easy on the eyes, but I wanted to walk her out of Hunter’s house.
She clapped her hands and Riley trotted over to her. “And you are?” Her mousy voice seemed out of place with her sexy, mature come hither appearance.
“Here to see Hunter and Riley,” I said and hung my stuff on the coat hanger.
She clucked her tongue. “What’s your name?” she asked, glaring at me.
“I don’t answer to you.” I made some steps to his couch and sank down on it. I signaled Riley to join me like she wanted to and she complied. “I should be asking you why you’re still doing here, but this isn’t my house. I don’t do things like make demands of others who come into a house that I am a guest at.”
“Well,” her voice rose, “Hunter wasn’t expecting you. Therefore, I’ll ask again: what’s your name?”
I gave a dry laugh and rolled my eyes. “That’s classier than asking me ‘and you are’. I am Mariska, in case you haven’t figured it out.” Riley raised her head and jerked her greenish-blue eyes from me to this girl, who had to be Annette.
Light came on from the hallway, on the same side of the house where Hunter’s room and the bathroom were located. He came out, drying his hair with a towel. My eyes landed on his bare chest and I realized that he only had boxers on. My heart sped up as I took in his sinewy chest and abs. I shook off my thoughts and the warmth spreading all over me. Hunter was next to Riley and I in a minute. The feel of his strong and damp arm touching mine was reassuring. However, I wasn’t thrilled by him wearing close to nothing around her.
“Annette,” he said. “I see you’ve met Mariska. I told you that you could head out. Your check is on the counter, remember?” He sounded genuinely confused.
“I was going to get it when…Mariska unlocked the door. I asked her who she was, but she wouldn’t tell me.” She made a face. “I thought she was an intruder.”
Hunter
FROM THE SEVRE EXPRESSIONS on Annette and Mariska’s faces, I knew that they’d had some words with each other. But Annette knew, for damn sure, that Mariska wasn’t an intruder. “Nah, Annette,” I said and drifted my hand to Mariska’s knee. Goose bumps formed all over her soft, dark, tanned skin. She melted under the contact, leaning the side of her body into mine. “Mariska’s mine. She’s the reason we don’t mess around anymore. We had a talk about this.”
A tight grin creased Annette’s
ordinarily attractive face. “I kind of had the feeling your fling ended.” She didn’t say anything for a second and I heard a low harsh sound from Mariska. “You know, sorta like how the weather changes,” she added saucily and sent Mariska a mocking look.
As Mariska shot up from the couch, Riley stood next to me and I moved in between the both of them. “Get your check from the counter and wait for me outside.”
Annette paused momentarily. She must have detected, from the twitch working my jaw and the knots that formed in my shoulders, that my patience with her was winding down. She snatched the envelope from the counter and stalked to the front door, leaving it wide open.
“She’s a cattier bitch than me,” Mariska muttered and it made me chuckle. I trapped her beautiful face in my hands, hovering over her so my lips briefly cruised hers.
“Give Riley some of those delicious treats you brought her while I talk to Annette,” I told her.
Mariska’s gaze roamed over my disheveled hair and traveled down to my crotch when she said, “Put some pants on first.”
I jogged over to my room and got into a pair of my jeans quickly.
***
“YOU’RE FOOLING YOURSELF, IF you think that you can be with her like you were with me,” Annette said in a tone that betrayed her concern for me. She’d been in a situation in which she’d given into her feelings, and the outcome had been rough on her.
I heaved in a deep breath and titled my head to meet her gaze. “I don’t think I could have a casual arrangement with Mariska,” I responded honestly.
She shook her head and a look of disbelief flickered over her features. “Then what is it that you think you’re doing, Hunter? Good girls like her,” she lowered her voice, so that Mariska wouldn’t hear us, “will only ever see you as their run with the bad boy. And when she gets it out of her system, you’re going to wanna go in again. You’ve come so far in your life to...”
I shot my gaze to Mariska and Riley on the couch. She wouldn’t keep her eyes off of me, and neither would Riley. After tattooing one client after another all afternoon into the night, my focus had been on whether or not Riley’s was okay. It may sound dependent, but, without Riley, I’d be too preoccupied with where I could be in my life, or how else it could’ve turned out, instead of the strides I’d made to do right. Annette understood that she didn’t have the power to break me. Mariska, however, did.
“I am no bad boy, Annette,” I said. “I could go in any second of the day or night—I am always conscious of that—I can go in and throw my life down the drain, but there are moments when I feel like a normal guy. With Mariska. If I keep thinking that I’ll repeat the past, then I just might. Will it be a problem for you to be Riley’s sitter?”
“Riley’s not just another dog to me,” she answered after she cleared her throat. “So, no, there isn’t a problem. But, I will miss how it was.”
Annette paced toward her car and halted for a split second to eye Riley or Mariska, or probably the two of them in my house. She and I hadn’t spent leisure time together. Either she’d stayed at my house so we could both exercise our restlessness for some hours, or because she was about to walk or sit Riley.
When Annette was in her car, I closed the door and Mariska cracked a smile at me as Riley snored. The bag of treats were empty when I settled on the couch with them and pulled it out from underneath me.
