Chapter 21
Hunter
now
“It’s not so much something you have to understand,” Locke, Joey’s boyfriend—one of Joey’s boyfriends—philosophizes, “as it is something to accept. Material conditional in functional logic means that a false antecedent is a true statement, full stop.”
I’m sitting cross-legged in the middle of Joey’s bed. Beside me, Joey’s lying on her stomach, watching Locke with heart eyes and kicking her legs up like she doesn’t have a care in the world.
Pencil in hand, I gently poke her in the bum. “Are you seriously understanding all of this?”
She yawns through a serene smile, then shrugs. “You know what they say. Cs get degrees. As long as I don’t completely bomb this final, I’ll pass the class. That’s all I’m really worried about.”
I bite my tongue and hold back a snide comment about her not needing to worry about much these days. Girlfriend’s got it made living on a private isle in a lakeside mansion with her husband and three boyfriends.
Frustrated, I blow out a breath. Then I inhale slowly, trying to quell the bitchiness that loves to ride on the coattails of my anxiety.
I’m not mad at Joey. I’m never mad at Joey.
I’m just hella stressed about this exam, because it’s the one class I might not ace. Logic 200 is all that stands between me and a 4.0 GPA this semester.
Locke saunters over and splays his hands on the mattress at the end of the bed.
Arms spread wide, he leans forward and kisses Joey on the lips.
When he pulls back, he smirks. “If I had to guess, there’s at least one orgasm behind her casual demeanor.
Probably two, if Kylian was involved. She was way more stressed about this test this morning. ”
Joey grabs a pillow from behind her and throws it at him. “Jealous, Nicky?”
He tosses the pillow back onto the bed and walks backward toward the bedroom door, both hands held out in front of him.
“Nah. I’m never jealous, Hot Girl. You know I’m great at sharing.
What I am is hungry. I’ve worked up an appetite from all this studying.
I could use a snack break.” He winks at Joey.
Their flirtatious banter would make me ill if it wasn’t so damn adorable.
Locke hovers in the doorway, raising both arms to grip the doorframe. “Seriously, Hunter,” he says. “Don’t stress. You’ve got this. You’re literally the smartest person in class. There’s no way you won’t pass.”
I know I’ll pass, but I want to nail this exam and prove to myself that I can handle twenty-one credit hours.
If I maintain this pace, I can graduate in three years instead of four.
But I’m not willing to sacrifice grades for speed.
This semester was a test. A big test. I’m too competitive to give up now.
I offer him a weak smile. “Thanks for your help.”
With a huff, I flop down on the side of the bed and read over my notes. Again.
“Maybe I need a snack break, too,” Joey muses.
Deadpan, I blink over at her. “Please do not ditch me to go have sex with one of your boyfriends in a pantry right now.”
This time I’m the one with a pillow swinging toward my head.
“No, I’m serious. You could use one, too. You’re studying too hard. We both know you’ve got this. I don’t like to see you stressed.”
Easy for Miss “Cs Get Degrees” to say. Cs won’t get me into Harvard Law.
“Ooh, I have an idea,” Joey rhapsodizes. “This is your last final, right?”
“Yep, last one.”
It’s the only thing standing between me and winter break.
Joey rolls to her side and props her head on her hand. “Why don’t we plan a girls’ night? We could have a sleepover on Saturday.”
Yes. A girls’ night sounds fabulous.
I pull out my phone to look at my calendar, only to remember I’ve already committed to something this weekend, and I really want to see it through. “Raincheck. I have a friend in town, and I promised we’d do something together on Sunday morning.”
Joey wrinkles her nose. “Will you think less of me if I admit that I’m jealous I’m not your only friend?”
“He’s an old friend. Until now, I haven’t seen him since before you and I even met,” I assure her. “You’re still my number one girl.”
She grins at that, but her expression quickly turns to one of surprise. Then she pops up to sitting.
“Hold up. Your friend is a he?”
I roll my bottom lip between my teeth. “He’s a he, yes. His name is Levi. He’s a friend from high school, and he recently moved back to the area. We’re, um. Well. We’re dating. Sort of.”
“OMG!” Joey squeals. “Way to bury the lede. Why didn’t you start with the vital life update?” she demands, bouncing on the bed and making the bun on top of her head wobble. “What does he look like? I’m sure he’s hot. I can’t wait to meet him.”
I laugh at her outburst, but a niggle of trepidation seeps in and steals the easiness of the moment.
Levi and I haven’t discussed who we’re telling what to. The general population believes we’re dating. Is that version of the story what we want to share with our friends? What about our best friends?
Greedy is Levi’s best friend, and he knows our arrangement is a ruse. So why am I hesitating to share that same truth with my bestie?
A sharp knock on the door garners our attention.
“Josephine,” a stern voice calls from the hallway.
“Yes, dear,” my bestie calls toward the door, her lips turned up in an amused smile.
“Mrs. Lansbury is asking if Hunter plans to stay for dinner.”
“Why don’t you come in and ask her yourself,” she goads.
The handle turns, then the door swings open. Standing at the threshold is Joey’s husband, Decker Crusade.
He smiles warmly at me, then sets his sights on his wife and strides into the room, all stern and uptight.
Joey calls it his “Big Decker Energy,” but considering I’ve known this guy since elementary school and he’s married to my closest girlfriend, I refuse to even think the words “big anything energy” where he’s concerned.
He walks to the side of the bed closest to Joey. “I tried texting you twice,” he murmurs.
Brows pulled low, Joey twists at the waist, searching the surface of the mattress. “Shit on a crumbly cracker…” She smooths her hands over her duvet to check for lumps. “I don’t even know where my phone is.”
Decker purses his lips in amusement. “Want me to text Kylian and ask him to track it?”
“No, no,” she insists, clearly unbothered and unsurprised by the notion that her guys can track her phone. “It’s around here somewhere. I might have left it in Kendrick’s room earlier.”
Turning to me, she circles back to Decker’s original question. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”
I shake my head. “No, thanks. I promised the guys I’d eat with them tonight.”
“The guys?” Joey asks.
Oh. I guess I left out the part where Levi and I are also cohabitating.
“Greedy and the friend I was telling you about,” I answer casually.
The unimpressed look she shoots me tells me I have a lot of explaining to do about my new “boyfriend” and our arrangement when the two of us are alone again.
It hits me then, that Decker knows Levi. Heck, Decker’s the one who introduced me to Greedy and Levi.
“Oh, Decker. You know who I’m talking about. Levi Moore is back in town.”
“You don’t say?” Decker arches a brow like he’s genuinely pleased to hear it. “Levi’s a great guy. Is he home for the holidays?”
“Not exactly,” I hedge.
I tread lightly as I attempt to explain his unceremonious return to South Chapel. “He’s home indefinitely. Because of a football injury.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Decker offers, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Give him my number if you see him. I’d love to catch up.”
“Oh, she’ll be seeing him, all right,” Joey teases. “Hunter and Levi are dating.”
Her husband’s brows raise again, but this time in question. “You’re dating Levi Moore?”
“Mm-hmm.” Lips pursed, I lower my focus to my Logic notes and act concerned with a smudge on the paper.
“Huh. Okay, then. Where’s he staying?” Decker asks. “With his mom in South Chapel?”
Gaze still averted, I shuffle through my papers, but after several beats of silence, the discomfort settling over me is enough to force me to look up. Naturally, Decker and Joey are both staring at me.
Flovely.
There’s no getting out of this one without telling a bald-faced lie. I might as well give them some semblance of the truth.
“Levi is actually staying with us. With Greedy and me.”
Decker’s brows descend into a scowl. He crosses his arms over his chest as he considers me.
“You’re living in South Chapel, at the Ferguson residence, with Greedy and Levi Moore, the latter of whom you’re currently dating?”
“Mm-hmm,” I confirm, focusing on my notes once again to avoid his look of scrutiny.
At the rate I’m going, I’ll have unconsciously memorized everything on the page before my Logic exam. Not a bad strategy, all things considered.
Joey’s watching me, too. Her stare is so intense I worry she’ll singe my hair with the way she’s zeroed in on the side of my skull.
I don’t dare look over and meet her eyes. I also ignore Decker’s impatient stance.
“Right. Okay,” he finally declares. “So you’re intentionally being aloof and evasive. Got it.”
His natural intensity wanes a little as he sits on the edge of the bed and opens one arm to Joey.
Without hesitation, she scoots over and snuggles against his chest, then sighs contently.
“I was going to make dessert,” he tells her softly. “Any requests?”
Humming, she rests her head on his shoulder. In return, he brushes a stray hair off her forehead. It’s a sweet moment: intimate and assured in the way people dream of experiencing with a partner.
But then Joey has to go and ruin it.
In a tone that is pure innuendo, she says, “You know what I like.”
His onyx eyes widen for a heartbeat, but then he clenches his jaw and scowls.
Shaking his head, he shoots me an apologetic look.
“I don’t think Hunter needs or wants to be let in on those specific details between me and my wife.”
“It’s fine,” I insist with a wave of my hand. “She’s been like this all afternoon.”