Reckless

Hunter raised an eyebrow. He still had some fight left in him.

“I’m totally available,” Romeo said nervously. “On the market. Seeing nobody.”

Hunter was temporarily distracted by Romeo’s antics.

I took that as my opportunity to escape. I started walking away quickly.

Hunter followed a second later. When he caught up to me, he flashed his sharkish grin, “We can still hang out, as friends, right?”

Wow, he sounded desperate. “No,” I said firmly, walking fast.

Romeo trotted to catch up with us. “I’m right here!” he hollered to Hunter, who ignored him. “Totally willing to be more than friends!”

Poor Romeo. I stopped, waiting for him to catch up.

Romeo caught his foot on a bump in the pavement and nearly blundered into Hunter.

Hunter’s brows clenched together and he growled at Romeo, “Dude, back the fuck off!! I’m not a fag!!”

Romeo regained his footing and stopped beside me. He was totally taken aback by Hunter’s words. For the first time since I’d met him, the constant glee went out of his eyes. He straightened stiffly, and pretended to examine his fingernails.

“What’s wrong with you?” I demanded of Hunter. “Don’t talk to my friend that way!”

Hunter’s brows relaxed and his lips widened into an easy smile. The way he went from angry to smiling his shark-smile reminded me of Lame Damian. Why was I not surprised?

Hunter ran his hand through his shaggy hair. “Sorry, dude, I didn’t mean that,” Hunter said smoothly, as if it was no big deal.

“We should go,” I said to Romeo. I held out my hand to him, almost like a parent. I needed to get him out of here.

“Okay,” Romeo said softly.

I took his hand and led him around Hunter.

“Wait, I’m sorry!” Hunter called, trotting to catch up. “Samantha, hold on a second!”

He clapped a hand on Romeo’s shoulder.

Romeo flinched.

“I’m sorry, man,” Hunter said. “I didn’t mean to call you a fah—” He stopped himself, flustered. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

Romeo stopped and stared at Hunter. Romeo’s face was tight. He and I both looked at Hunter expectantly.

“Ahh, I don’t know what to say,” Hunter stammered. “Uh, I apologize?”

Romeo was still stone cold.

“Try it a different way,” I said to Hunter.

He was confused. “Try what a different way?”

“Your apology?”

He growled petulantly, “How many different ways do I have to say it?”

“As many ways as I had to tell you I had a boyfriend?” I sneered.

“Huh?” Hunter was dumbfounded.

I rolled my eyes, “Don’t you remember how many times I’ve had to say ‘no’ to you over the last two months, Hunter? I was starting to think I was going to have to file a restraining order against you. Because you never give up.” I suddenly realized what I was saying to Hunter was what I had wanted to say to Damian Wolfram for the last three years, but never got to. Lecturing Damian in effigy felt great. I wanted to do more of it. I smiled inwardly. No more stupid jerks were going to walk over me. “Hunter, maybe you should try apologizing to people you hurt at least as often as you try to get in a girl’s pants.”

Hunter chuckled. “No way.”

Like that was a surprise. “Let’s go,” I said to Romeo.

I turned down the path with Romeo and walked right into Christos.

“Christos!” I was so happy to see him. “What are you doing on campus?”

“I decided to hit the Rec Center gym. I haven’t worked out in a couple weeks. Needed to blow off some stress,” he smiled as he slid his thumb across my cheek. “More importantly, I knew you’d be coming out of class about the time I finished up.”

I liked the sound of that.

Christos wore a heather-gray hoodie, the hood pulled over his head. The sweatshirt was unzipped, revealing his naked chest and Fearless tattoo, and his stunning abs. He glistened with sweat, sexy as hell.

Yeah, Christos put Hunter to shame in the looks department. Pretty was nice, but ruggedly sexy was ten times better.

“Where’s your shirt?” I asked Christos.

“Too hot,” he smirked.

Too hot was right. His blue eyes beamed into my heart. I noticed his jeans rode low on his narrow hips, revealing the tapering wedge of his lower abs. Shiver.

“Do you work out dressed like this?” I asked.

“No,” he chuckled. “Too many of the women at the gym were having heart attacks, so the management makes me keep my hoodie zipped while I’m lifting.”

That was my Christos.

“Hey, C-Man,” Romeo said abjectly.

“What up, Romeo,” Christos smiled, obviously happy to see him. “How you been, my man?”

“Oh, uh,” Romeo still sounded distraught after the blow from Hunter. “I’m okay.”

I felt terrible for Romeo. I wasn’t sure what might cheer him up. He was always so energetic and happy, I’d never seen this side of him before. Maybe he needed ice cream. It always worked for me.

“Is this your boyfriend?” Hunter demanded petulantly.

I’d forgotten he was there. Damn. Too bad. “Yes, Hunter, this is my boyfriend Christos.”

Christos extended a hand without a second thought. “What up, man. You must be the model from Samantha’s sculpting class?” He was smiling at Hunter. “She says you do good work.”

Hunter stared at Christos’ extended hand, but didn’t shake it. “Yeah, I’m the model.”

I could tell Christos sensed Hunter’s edginess, so he lowered his arm. “Samantha told me you’re a friend of Marjorie Bittinger?”

“She did, did she? What else did she tell you?” Hunter sounded like a spoiled baby. Was he intimidated by Christos?

Christos chuckled confidently. “She also mentioned that Marjorie has a thing for you.”

Hunter scoffed. “So?”

“So?” Christos grinned. “Marjorie is a total cougar fox. Why aren’t you hitting that shit?”

I suddenly realized what Christos was doing to Hunter. He was a freakin’ genius. Rather than confronting Hunter like a defensive silver-back gorilla who only knew how to jump around and bang his chest or fight, Christos was trying to steer Hunter toward the path of least resistance. No matter how much I disliked Marjorie Bittinger, I could honestly say that she was an attractive woman, and she couldn’t have been older than 40. I thought every guy had an older woman fantasy.

With Marjorie literally begging for Hunter’s attention, I couldn’t figure out why Hunter was wasting his time on me. Thrill of the hunt? Maybe that was all. Hunter liked hard-to-get. Sadly, impossible to get was all I could ever be for him. Did that mean he would try harder? I hoped not. I really didn’t want to deal with him anymore, not after how he’d treated Romeo.

I leaned into Christos, nuzzling my cheek against his chest. Wow, even straight out of the gym he smelled like man-candy to me. I inhaled deeply.

Hunter chewed his lower lip, flashing some canine as he glanced between me and Christos.

“Dude,” Christos offered to Hunter, “if I wasn’t totally in love with Samantha, I’d be knocking on Marjorie’s door myself.”

“Be my guest,” Hunter said. “You take Marjorie, I’ll take your girlfriend.”