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“Alex?”
It took me a second, but when I shook myself from my thoughts, I saw Hunter, Jersey, and Anthony all looking my way. “Huh?”
Jersey’s lips smirked. “I asked how you’re liking school so far,” she informed me.
“Oh…uhm…” I let out a steady breath. “It’s…it was quite intimidating when I got here, but it’s not so bad now,” I answered honestly. “I think…when you grow up in a relatively small town, the rest of the world can feel overwhelming at times.”
“Yeah, but having Hunter here with you had to have helped with that, right?” she asked, and I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.
“Hunter’s been great,” I admitted, leaving out the part about repaying him by violating him with my virginity while he’d been too intoxicated to consent. “It’s nice to have a genuine friend in a place filled with nothing but strangers.”
“So, are you the partying type or the studying type?” she asked, and while most people would claim that Jersey was overstepping, I didn’t see it that way. She’d been very honest yesterday about the type of person and employee that she was, so with this being America and me having choices, I didn’t have to answer her questions if I didn’t want to.
“A little of both, I think,” I answered. “I used to love going to a good party back in high school.” I shrugged. “I think I’m too terrified of failing here to let the partying suck me in.”
“Like I’m going to let you fail, Alexandria,” Hunter remarked, and that little sentence gave me hope. If Hunter cared about whether I failed or not, then that must mean that he didn’t hate me, and I could work with that. Though I wanted more, I’d take what I could get at this point.
Looking over Hunter’s way, Jersey asked, “So, what about you? Parties or study groups?”
“Same as Alexandria, I guess,” he answered. “Besides, I’ve done enough partying in my life to know that I’m not missing much.”
I looked back at Jersey. “Hunter used to run with an underground fighting circuit.”
Jersey’s amber-colored eyes widened. “Oh, really?”
“I placed bets for my friend,” he clarified, shooting me a look. “I didn’t fight.”
“You did a couple of times,” I reminded him.
“Not like Talon,” he replied, clearly not wanting to talk about it.
“Holy shit,” Anthony exclaimed. “You’re friends with Talon Draven?”
Hunter let out an annoyed sigh. “How in the hell does everyone know about Talon? Those damn fights were supposed to be a secret.”
“Dude, everyone that’s interested in any kind of fighting has heard of Talon Draven,” Anthony went on. “So, that means that you’retheHunter Finley.”
“I’m nottheanything,” Hunter denied. “I’m just friends with Talon.”
“Okay, I don’t like being left out of the loop,” Jersey announced as she pulled out her phone. “I’m looking up Talon Draven.”
Even though I knew that she was madly in love with Cannon, family loyalty had me saying, “He’s engaged to my cousin, Kenzlee. That’s another reason that me and Hunter hang out.”
“We knew each other way before Tal and Kenz got together, Alexandria,” Hunter pointed out, his voice a little hard.
I stared into his bright hazel eyes. “Yeah, but we didn’t become friends or start hanging out until they started dating,” I reminded him. “So, yeah, we’re friends now, but that’s because of them.”
Before Hunter could argue with me further, Jersey was saying, “Holy crap.”
I grinned as I looked back at her. “Yeah, he’s something else.”
Jersey’s brows jumped. “Your cousin is a very lucky lady.”
“Because Cannon’s not rocking a six-pack himself?” I teased.
She pretended to fan herself. “He is rather perfect.” Setting her phone down, she added, “Cannon, not Talon Draven.”
“So, are you going to tell us anything about yourself?” I asked, wanting to pull the attention off whatever relationship I had with Hunter, especially since I wasn’t sure what we were to each other right now.
