Chapter 7
It’s Friday night, and we just returned from dinner with Cassandra.
I want to crawl into bed and sleep for the entire weekend. Between my training sessions with Hunter, monitoring the screens, attending classes, and playing a “dating game” with Eric, I am exhausted.
Even though I don’t want to go, Eric and I will meet again tomorrow night. Now that I know what Eric wants from me, his saccharine behavior grates on my nerves. But it’s not only that. Apparently, I am into broody guys who challenge me at every turn. (a.k.a. Hunter)
Though there haven’t been any more “bathing sessions,” I replay that one time in my mind over and over. I am still astounded by how I behaved. He undressed me, and I didn’t stop him—I stood there naked. Maybe he didn’t like what he saw, considering how quickly he turned away. That depressing thought saddens me, drowning my heart in sorrow. I should have stuck with my vibrator, but I am usually too exhausted to even use it.
I wanted his eyes and hands on me—but just once, in a different way. I own all his attention when he’s teaching me to fight. I see it in the way he watches over me.
“Bailey?” Abi snaps her fingers in front of my face. She’s parked the car in front of the house, and all three girls are eyeing me curiously.
“Yeah, what?”
“Is my brother taking it too far?” Mia asks, worry laced in her soft voice.
I shake my head. Not far enough for my liking.
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?” Celine presses.
I let out a deep sigh, staring out the window. I should let my thoughts run free.Then I could rewire my brain and delete the one virus responsible for the glitch in my system—him.
“It’s just too much.”
“I call for a girls’ night out,” Abi says in a decisive tone.
“I’m tired.”
“Please,” she pouts. Abi always has a way of getting what she wants.
“Fine, but not for long,” I give in, then we climb out of the car and head inside.
They all squeal, and we go to the Lady Boss Lair—our sanctuary. We get ready for the night while sipping bubbly champagne. I down my second glass while waiting for the girls to finish dressing. I’m in a skintight red dress, my hair falling in loose curls down my back. Bold, fierce—that’s the look I’m going for, and this outfit should do the trick.
“Wow,” my friends say in unison.
Abi places her hands on my shoulders. “Red always does the job, doesn’t it?”
I nod at her. Between her pink dress and her hair pulled back in a ponytail with a bow, she looks like a real-life Barbie.
“That’s going to get attention,” Mia says, sending me a knowing look. She’s in a purple dress, with a hair clip adorned with stones that match perfectly.
“When our men need a push, we have to give it to them, don’t we?” Celine says, smiling at me, looking amazing in a blue mini dress.
We steal a last glance in the big mirror and take a selfie, then walk downstairs, our giggles trailing behind us. The guys are in the living room, engaged in a racing video game. As soon as they see us, they pause it immediately.
“Sky?”
“We’re just heading to The Cave,” Celine says, approaching Kaden. After two years apart, it’s as if they want to bend the laws of time to get it back. I catch the longing there, her wanting him to come with us. It’s the same with the other two. Abi sits on Dane’s lap, and they kiss, ignoring the world around them. Blake gazes at Mia as he tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. They’re in their own world as he presses her close to his chest.
I fail to ignore Hunter, especially since he hasn’t taken his eyes off me since I entered the room. I watch him watching me, and a ball of heat forms in my belly. His attention is so intense I can barely breathe.
“We can stay in,” I suggest. I know they’re doing this for me, but I am fine, and I have a lot to do.
As soon as I say that, all three girls wrench themselves from their guys, kissing and waving at them one more time before we head out.
Abi loops her elbow around mine. “If we stayed in, you’d lock yourself in the room.”
I send her an intent look. “Felix hasn’t contacted Eric again, but he could…”
Celine purses her lips. “I could wring his neck. The asshole.”
Mia’s brows scrunch up in concern. “We can’t underestimate him. He’s obsessed with you.”
“I got this.” Or at least, that is what I keep telling myself.
“When are you going on a second date?” Mia asks.
“Tomorrow.”
“This shouldn’t be happening like this,” Abi sighs.
I shrug. It is what it is. It helps that I keep telling myself they aren’t dates—it’s just a mission.
“He will want more at some point,” Celine says, voicing what I fear.
I shudder at the thought. I can barely tolerate being in the same room.
“Play coy and ask him to take it easy. If he takes it too far, we’ll torture the answer from him and be done,” Abi suggests.
“And lose our only chance at finding Felix?”
“Your well-being matters more. He will retaliate sooner than later,” Celine says.
I doubt Felix is still in the States. Over the last two months, Cassandra has sent teams to scout every underground spot we could find, and there’s been nothing.
This limbo is nerve-racking, but every challenge has made our group stronger. After this, we can finally start living without looking over our shoulders, stuck in permanent survival mode. But then, Hunter and I wouldn’t have a reason to continue my fighting lessons. Those are the only moments when it’s just the two of us, and the thought saddens me.
“So, are you two just fighting in the gym for hours?” Abi asks. “Hunter looks at you—”
“You mean glares at me?”
Celine turns her head to Mia. “Actually, have you seen him with a girl since we came to Greenville?”
“He was always with one girl or another back in London.”
I swallow the grunt, mumbling, “There are always girls around him.”
“Yeah, but more?” Celine asks.
Maybe he’s just being discreet . He still goes out almost every night, though I know where he is because I track his phone. What? I just want to make sure he’s safe . I can’t believe I’m fighting with myself in my own head. He’s at the training complex at the compound, but he could take a girl there. The thought fists my heart, leaving bruises on the organ. No, we have a pact, and he’s an honorable guy.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say. It’s enough that he’s stuck in my head. I don’t need to talk about him too.
“I think you two like each other but have no idea how to broach that,” Abi says, gauging my reaction. Mia and Celine nod their agreement, and I pause.
“Don’t deny it, Bailey. I know how it is to want to lie to yourself, but the heart wants what it wants,” Abi says.
“He doesn’t like me. Not like that.”
“They’re both too damn stubborn,” says Celine.
“And guarded,” concludes Mia.
“Is this an intervention?” I ask them.
“We love you, and we want you to be happy. We have been facing death for a while now, so when you find something good, enjoy and savor it to the fullest,” says Celine.
“Don’t let Kaden hear your dark thoughts,” I tell her.
“He knows because we recognize each other’s souls… and that makes him antsy.”
“Dane is so unfocused at practice.” Abi sighs. “I don’t know how to make it better. He’s like, ‘I don’t fucking care about racing when Felix is out there wanting to kill you.’”
“Blake was sleeping more, and that has gone to shit now,” says Mia. “I check him every night for injuries, even though I know there’s nothing.”
“So love makes you paranoid?” I ask.
“Yes,” Celine replies. “And yet, it’s the only thing keeping me strong.”
When we reach the club, the music pumps so loud it drowns my thoughts. Tyson and his best friend Xander have turned the school’s old, abandoned sports facility into the go-to night spot. The thrill of the forbidden, knowing it’s illegal, makes the experience even better. Maybe this was a good idea after all.
Tyson welcomes us with hugs, but there’s no more playful flirtation. Interesting. I wonder if it has something to do with his stepsister, Ivy.
At the bar, Xander pours us each a shot, and we drink them in one go. Tyson and Xander make a great duo. These two are always together, best friends since childhood. While Tyson is outgoing and basks in attention, Xander is the silent, more mysterious type. His bottomless blue eyes hide loss. It seems like he doesn’t allow anyone near him. It’s always on his terms. We all have a story, and I bet his is interesting. I also wonder why guys like them, with endless options, chose our college. Maybe they want to make it on their own, or maybe they’re simply running from something. In most cases, for heirs away from home, it’s a combination of the two.
“Where are your men?” Tyson asks.
“They should be here any moment,” Celine says while the others shrug. There’s no need to explain. They’ll come, and the girls secretly enjoy it.
“It’s getting boring around here with no more racing,” he says with a nostalgic gleam.
Personally, I’m relieved that my friends stopped racing. They stopped chasing their demons once they settled down and realized what they had. Occasionally, they do it for fun, though they don’t need an audience for that. But it was that audience that filled Tyson’s pockets.
“We’re trying to stay alive, but my apologies for inconveniencing you,” Abi snickers.
“Still no word?”
Mia shakes her head.
“I’m here if you need me,” he says, and his entire body stiffens when his stepsister saunters to the bar.
Abi chuckles.
“What’s so funny?” he snaps.
“How’s staying away from temptation working out?” Mia asks him.
“I don’t fucking know what you’re talking about,” he grumbles.
Ivy stares at his back and tips back a shot.
“Are you desperate for attention?” he yells at her, and she glares back at him. She’s wearing a skirt that barely covers her ass, high heels, and a shirt with a deep V-neckline.
He storms away, and she sighs, eyeing us as we watch her.
“Hi, I’m Abigail.”
We have seen each other around, but it’s our first interaction.
She extends her hand, then moves down the line to the rest of us, holding Mia’s hand longer.
A remix of “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” blasts out the speakers. Abi decided it was our song, so now we have to sing and dance along every time it plays.
Out on the dance floor, I lose myself in the beat, moving with the rhythm, until I feel someone watching me. The baby hairs on my nape stand up, and I glance around, spotting Eric at the bar, gawking right at me.
I push through the unease and turn my back to him, instantly chilled.
“The fucking creep,” Abi says and moves in front of me. “I’m here, Bailey.”
“Thank you.”
I get a similar feeling of being watched, but this time it’s different—like an embrace, warming me from within and pebbling my heated skin with goose bumps. Hunter is here, so that means the other guys are here too. I notice them walking to the far end of the bar to chat with Tyson and Xander.
Hunter keeps his eyes on me as he sips from a glass of what is likely whiskey. My throat goes dry. He must possess the gravitational pull of a black hole—inescapable—because, before I know it, I’m moving toward the bar, asking for a shot.
My arm brushes his, and he leans into me. “Water, Bailey. I won’t take it easy on you tomorrow.”
“You never do, and I have a date tomorrow night.”
His gunmetal gray eyes turn fiery, liquefying his pupils and sending an electric current through me, zapping every atom inside me.
I toss back the shot, not able to look anywhere but at him. Not even all the alcohol in the world could help me drown him out. I still try because I’m crazy like that.
His brows furrow. “The second one.” He snaps his head to Eric, sending him a death glare. The other takes it as an invitation to come over, and Hunter’s body ripples with aggravation.
Turning my back to Hunter, his breath fans my neck. “Don’t give me your back, kitten.”
“Why?” I ask, licking my suddenly dry lips.
“That’s how you get pounced on.”
I am short of hyperventilating, losing my mind a bit more with every interaction.
“Maybe I want to make good use of everything you taught me.”
Shut up already.
“That mouth of yours will get you into serious trouble one day.”
One day… Can it be sooner?
“What kind?”
“The one where you’re screaming my name.” His fingers brush up my sides. “While I have my way with you. But you won’t like it.”
His touch fires me up; I might just self-combust. “I won’t?”
“Because I’d have to punish you first,” he says, digging his fingers into my waist.
But then Eric reaches us, interrupting our combustive moment. I don’t know whether to be annoyed or grateful. This guy’s timing sucks. I plaster on the fakest smile I can conjure while my body and mind are aware of Hunter’s presence at my back.
Suddenly, I feel a ghost of a touch. Surely, I am imagining things, but then it’s there again, trailing down my back and lower, making me gulp.
“I thought you’d be here,” Eric says.
“Fucking stalker,” I hear Hunter grumble behind me, but Eric keeps leering at me, unaware.
“Do you have a moment?”
In that instant, Hunter grips my ass cheek. I bite my bottom lip hard to keep the yelp in. I jerk my thumb toward the dance floor, hoping to appear unaffected while Hunter’s touch ravishes my insides. “I am out with the girls tonight.”
Eric’s smile slips, and he narrows his eyes at Hunter.
“But I’ll see you tomorrow,” I add quickly, looking at Hunter over my shoulder. He stares at Eric with his palm still on my ass in a blatant show of possession.
What is happening here?
“Do you have a problem with me, man?” Eric asks while Hunter kneads my ass cheek.
Someone spiked my shots. Or maybe my limit is three. Is this really happening?
“I don’t know. Do I?”
“I don’t like how you’re always looking at my girlfriend.”
“Your girlfriend, huh?” Hunter asks so low. Something dangerous lurks beneath the surface, stoking the flames his touch ignites in me.
“We’re not there yet.” I add the last part to pacify Hunter but only make it worse because he gets into Eric’s face.
“Let’s get one thing straight. You touch her, I’ll cut off every finger of yours and then shove them into that big mouth of yours.”
“I knew you fucking had a thing for her, but she’s mine now.” Eric says the last part as a sneer mixed with determination. And that doesn’t sit well with me at all.
In one swift move, Hunter wraps his hand around Eric’s throat, squeezing so hard his eyes bu l ge.
“This is not a bloody competition. And Bailey sure as fuck is not a possession. Especially not yours,” Hunter says through gritted teeth.
My irritation flares at the idiot who thinks he owns me while my heart opens up to Hunter. Turning my back to Eric, I place my hand on Hunter’s arm, whispering, “He’s not worth it.”
Hunter calms down and pushes him away. He stumbles back but recovers quickly.
“Eric, don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“I’m sorry. I am jealous and don’t like how he looks at you.”
I do. I do so badly that I want his eyes on me every second of every day and no one else’s.
Hunter, what did you turn me into? I am alone in the mess you caused.
“See you tomorrow,” I say to Eric and ask Xander for a bottle of water.
As I swallow it down, my head clears. I am no longer that little girl who lied to herself and made excuses for her parents to feel better. I am an adult now. I like Hunter, and that’s an undeniable truth. I think I more than like him. For months, something has been building between us. I feel it’s reaching its crescendo, and I am finally prepared to face it.
I shoved all those feelings deep inside to protect myself, but I can’t ignore them much longer. They threaten to burst out of me, and he’s always calling them out.
This will end in disaster, probably with my heart butchered at his indifferent feet.