Professor Collins and Hunter spent the next half hour canvassing the room and making comments on the sketches. Professor Collins nodded several times as he viewed her work. “You have a great eye, Amber,” he said. “I like how you captured the lines so quickly in these. Keep an eye out on your proportions though. See how this arm is too short here? Overall, though, good work.”
Amber was glowing as Professor Collins moved on to the next student. By the time class was over, Hunter was busy with several students. Oh, well, she really didn't have time to stay late today. She was anxious to get to the Financial Aid Office.
After a brief stand in line, she was happily surprised when the student worker let her know that the loan had been processed.
“Great!” Amber gushed. “Can I get a check for it?”
“The money got placed in your account,” the guy said. “You'll have to see one of the Financial Aid Officers to have some of it taken out.”
“I have to have the money,” Amber insisted. “Can I see somebody now?”
A few minutes later, a harried woman checked over her account. “Your classes and fees are all paid for the semester. Let me see how much you have left that can be withdrawn.”
When told the amount, Amber's face fell. “That's it?” she moaned. That only covers my rent. Can I get more?”
“You've taken out the maximum government loan already. You can take out a private loan but you would need your parents to co-sign. I don't see any information in your file for them. Are they deceased?”
Amber was tempted to say yes, but she knew that they would only ask for proof. “No, just estranged,” she admitted in a small voice. “I no longer have contact with them.”
“Well, my dear, I'm sure that things can be smoothed over!” the woman exclaimed. “Why don't you talk to them? I'm sure you can work things out.”
“Thank you for your help,” Amber said curtly, standing.
This always happened. Nobody wanted to believe that your parents could be anything but helpful and loving. Hannah's parents had been nice enough to co-sign on her other loans but she knew that they were uncomfortable with taking on more risk. At least last year she had a small part-time job. Of course she had also had a rundown car that got her places. When that died, she was left with nothing for transportation. If it wasn't for Hannah bringing her here, she wasn't sure what she would have done.
She left the building despondent. She could always drop a couple of classes and save a bit of food money there, but that was just prolonging the problem. She simply had to get some income. She would move to a smaller apartment but she was certain none existed. And the dorm fees were even more expensive because you had to buy the meal plan that came with it. As she dragged herself back to the apartment she wondered if anyone would hire her full time without a college degree.
Opening the door, she saw the empty plate and carried it to the sink, sniffling. She washed up the few dishes, then stretched out on the mattress. It sank disturbingly low. Just great. The mattress must have a leak. When the tears came she let them flow, no longer caring. She thought of her mom, sitting in the trailer park getting drunk in the middle of the day. Was she going to wind up with a life like that? Maybe it was true that you couldn't escape your past. Huddling into a ball, she cried herself to sleep.
A few times she heard her cell phone ring but just burrowed deeper into her covers. The leaky mattress had lost most of its air and barely supported her body. Only when she had to go to the bathroom and couldn't hold it any longer did she finally drag herself from the floor. As she flushed the toilet, she realized she was sticky with sweat. Her hair was matted and her face was still pink from crying. Ugh! She looked as disgusting as she felt. Turning on the water, she stripped and stepped into the shower. Her stomach was rumbling and she remembered she hadn't eaten since breakfast. She had no idea what time it was. She didn't really care.
As she lathered her hair, she started feeling a bit lightheaded. Crap! She needed to at least rinse all this soap out of her hair. Kneeling carefully, she squatted on her knees and let the shower do the work of rinsing. The first edges of black began to surround her and she reached up frantically to turn off the water. Leaning back, she allowed her body to slide down the tub. She lay in the tub, trembling, fighting unconsciousness. She was so stupid. She should have at least had some bread and jam. Now here she was stuck in the bottom of the shower, freezing her ass off. After several minutes she tried to raise her head but was too dizzy. Then she thought to raise her legs and prop her feet against the faucet. Maybe the extra blood flow would help.
With a growing sense of panic, she realized that no one would know that she was here. Other than Hunter, she hadn't made any friends yet. Would he check up on her again? Maybe knock and simply go away when she didn't answer the door? She had to get up! But her body simply wouldn't cooperate. Against her will, she fell asleep.
Chapter 5
When she woke again, it was to Hunter's anxious voice yelling for her.
“In here,” she croaked, her voice weak. She knew he couldn't hear her so she reached up for the bottle of shampoo and flung it on the floor.
Seconds later, Hunter rushed in.
“Hi,” she whispered. “What's going on?”
“Again?” he asked incredulously. “Stay put and I'll be back in a second.”
She giggled at that last part. It wasn't like she was going to leap out of the tub at any second. She was definitely aware that she was sprawled out nude but she was too faint and relieved to be found to really care.
Hunter came back a few seconds later. He leaned over the tub and scooped up her very naked body and carried her out of the bathroom. The deflated mattress was now folded up, topped with pillows and shoved against the wall. A spoon and the jar of strawberry jam rested on the makeshift crate table.
Hunter placed her on top of the pillows and then picked up each of her arms. After running his rough fingers over the interior of her arm and even checking her legs and stomach, he sighed. “Thank goodness!”
Amber thought it was a weird thing to say but she was fighting nausea and dizziness again.
“What are you doing? Give me some jam,” she mumbled.
A moment later she felt herself being wrapped in a sheet and then her head was cradled against Hunter's chest. She heard the jar of jam being opened and the clink of the spoon. But it was his finger that gently poked the sweet jam into her mouth. She licked her lips gratefully. When she could sit up without feeling faint, Hunter propped her against the wall and went into the kitchen for the loaf of bread. He fed her bite by bite of an entire jelly sandwich.
“Later, we'll get some real food into you,” he said gruffly. “But first we need to have a heart to heart chat.”
Amber tried to shift away but she was bundled up like an infant in the sheet. She kept her past to herself and she wasn't prepared to just hand it over to a stranger. Or did a person stop being a stranger when they had seen you completely naked? Oh, yeah, and had kissed you.
She looked up and Hunter was simply looking at her with those amazing green eyes. “What?” she demanded harshly, already defensive.
“You can simply tell me what's going on or I can give you the third degree.” He attempted a smile but she could hear the steel behind his voice. He wasn't going to give up easily.
“And if I don't?” she asked, harsher than she intended.
Hunter leaned close. “Then you force me to report you to Student Services.”
“What? I haven't done anything wrong!”
Hunter sighed. “I work for the school and I have an obligation to report any student who might harm themselves, intentionally or not.”
Amber thrashed around in the sheet, struggling to get free. “You think what? I'm on drugs? I'm trying to commit suicide?” she asked incredulously. “How dare you!” She rolled off of Hunter's lap and fought the sheet.
When she looked up, she saw that Hunter was simply looking at her thoughtfully with his
chin cupped in his hands.
“Are you going to help me out of this sheet or what?” she snarled.
To her surprise, he had the nerve to laugh. “Are you kidding? With you that angry? You look like you want to conk me in the head with something right now.”
“I will conk you in the head if you don't get me out of this thing!”
Hunter shook his head. “Besides, we haven't finished our little conversation.
“I'll scream my head off,” she warned.
Hunter smiled slowly. “Please try it. I would love to muffle those gorgeous lips.”
Amber narrowed her eyes. She was sure he was bluffing. Opening her mouth, she prepared to yell and was shocked when Hunter quickly bent over and kissed her roughly.
The scream died inside her as she felt her own treacherous lips responding. Then Hunter was moving his hands up and down the sheet, caressing her body through the thin material. As mad as she was, she couldn't help but to move against him, wanting to feel his touch. Finally, Hunter pulled himself away with a groan.
“You make me lose my mind,” he whispered, carefully propping her back up on the pillows.
“You're still not going to unwrap me?” She meant to say it angrily but her voice came out breathless. Damn. What was wrong with her? How was he having this kind of affect on her?
Running a hand through his hair, Hunter sighed. “Okay, gorgeous, let me tell you what I think is going on and you tell me if I'm right.”
Amber stared at him. Gorgeous? Was her low blood sugar affecting her hearing?
“First, I'm pretty sure you are not doing drugs. No marks on your arms and, quite frankly, I don't see how you would afford the drugs in the first place.”
Amber gaped at him. He had actually suspected drugs? What kind of person did he think she was?
Hunter must have guessed at what she was thinking. “Don't take it the wrong way. I was a counselor in a lot of camps in high school and my freshman year of college. I saw the most innocent looking kids messed up on drugs.” He shrugged. “Doesn't hurt to check.”
“You don't have the right!” Amber shouted at him, not even sure why she was so angry. Maybe because she wanted him to think she was better than she thought of herself.
Hunter drew back with a chuckle. “See, I was right to leave you trussed up. You obviously have a temper.”
“Stop laughing at me!”
Hunter looked stung. He crawled closer to her and whispered in her ear. “Baby, I would never make fun of you. Of all the things I want to do to you right now, making fun is not on the list.”
Amber swallowed hard. Things he wanted to do to her. But wait a minute! What about Kayla? Sure, she was a mean girl and all, but she was the girlfriend.
“How can you say those things to me when you have a girlfriend?” she yelled.
Hunter drew back and a lock of hair fell alluringly over one eye. “Okay, my ear was only a few inches from your mouth,” he said, wincing. “And for the record I don't have a girlfriend so I'm a little confused about what you're talking about.”
“Big boobies Kayla!” Amber shouted. “Remember her and her ridiculous five inch cherry red nails?”
Hunter laughed so hard he started snorting. “Big boobies Kayla?” he repeated, clutching his chest. “Look, I know that you're new to this campus so you don't know anything about me. But if you ask around, most folks in the art department know that I'm not the type to have a girlfriend.”
Amber's mouth fell open. “Oh, my gosh! You're gay! Not that I have a problem with that!”
“That's it!” growled Hunter. Grabbing her, he quickly unwrapped the top half of the sheet. “Call me gay,” he muttered as he fought with the material. When half of Amber's torso was exposed, he pulled her close and began kissing her with intensity. She fell against him and they toppled between the pillows as they clung to each other.
Hunter started with her lips and kissed every inch of her exposed skin. Beneath the thin sheet, she could feel the hardness of him as he pressed his pelvis against her. At last he stopped, breathing heavily as he stared at her, those luscious green eyes now glittering with desire. “I want you very badly, Amber Holloway, but now isn't the time.”
Chapter 6
Groaning, Hunter pulled himself away, stretched out on the floor, and put his hands over his head. He was still breathing heavily.
“So not gay, huh,” Amber couldn't help but tease. She grinned insanely. She was a bit concerned over the news that Hunter “wasn't the type to have a girlfriend.” On the positive side, though, at least she didn't have to feel guilty about Kayla anymore.
Then Amber sobered up as she realized that Hunter was still expecting some answers about her past. That was the scarier thought. Sure, he liked her now but how would he feel when he found out about her trailer trash family and how broke she was. He was bound to lose interest. But at least she had that kiss. No matter what happened, she was never forgetting the intensity of what just happened.
“Okay, so I'm not on drugs or a criminal,” she said with a sigh, glad that Hunter was staring at the ceiling. “I'm just broke. Dead broke. I can't afford this dinky apartment and I've been rationing my food for the past few weeks. I've tried to eat less so that I can buy books and paint supplies for class.”
She played with the edge of the sheet, pulling it up to her chin. It would be easier to expose all of her body now than to talk about her past. “I've always had an issue with low blood sugar. Sometimes I just wake up with it. It's worse when I don't eat right. I went to the infirmary once but they didn't think it was a big deal. Just told me to try to have snacks with me when it happened.”
Amber looked over at Hunter who had remained still and quiet. He lifted a finger and twirled it as though to indicate she should continue.
“What else? Oh, I have a horribly dysfunctional family. My loser father left when I was a baby and we never heard from him again. My mother is a raging alcoholic. Lives on welfare in a trailer park. She attracts loser boyfriends who always tried to get their hands on me. My mother wanted me to stick around so she could get extra food stamps. I couldn't wait to leave. I'm never going back.” She sniffled, not sure why she felt like crying. “My mother would rather me waitress and give her money to buy booze than go to college.”
Finally, it was too much, and she started to sob. “I don't need her.”
Hunter rolled over, got to his knees and crawled over. “I'm so glad you told me, Baby. That's the kind of crap you don't need to keep inside of you.”
Amber let him hold her while she cried a little. Then she was done. “Really, I'm fine,” she said, sniffling. “It isn't like she suddenly became a bad parent. I've always been more responsible than she was. I think I was just a mistake to her and she resented me.”
Cupping her chin gently, “You are not a mistake, Gorgeous, and that's all we need to remember about your family life.”
After a few more kisses, Hunter tugged at her sheet. “Okay, this is what's going to happen. First I'm going to help you get dressed before I'm temped to ravish you right on the floor.”
Amber giggled. The combination of hunger, coming clean, and being kissed repeatedly by Hunter was making her beyond delirious. She still couldn't believe that he wasn't totally repulsed by her past.
“Then, I'm ordering pizza from my favorite place, my treat. Finally, you are staying in our guestroom at my apartment tonight. And then tomorrow we're going to figure out your financial issues.”
Amber opened her mouth to protest staying at his apartment but Hunter was already up and rifling through a small basket of clothes on the floor. “Clean?” he questioned and she nodded.
He held up several pairs of panties and scrutinized them. Choosing a pale blue, he tossed them in her direction and then grinned wickedly. “If you need help with those, I'd be honored.”
“I'm sure you would,” Amber snickered, turning her back to him to put them on. A matching bra sailed over her head and she put that on as well. Fi
nally she slid on the jeans and tee shirt that Hunter passed her. She was pleased to see that his own face was flushed.
Her toe was still bruised and painful so she carefully put on socks and sneakers. When she finished she saw Hunter texting.
“All set?”
In the hallway, Hunter turned and scooped her up in his arms.
“I'm feeling fine,” she protested. “You can't carry me the whole way!”
Hunter ignored her. When he stepped outside, Amber saw a muscular guy with sandy hair holding open the door to a Range Rover. Hunter stopped briefly. “Amber, this is my roommate Caleb. Caleb, this is Amber.”
“Hi Amber, nice to meet you,” said Caleb. He had a friendly, easy going smile and held out his hand.
Amber shook his hand shyly. She wondered what Hunter had told his roommate. “Um . . .nice to meet you to, Caleb.”
Hunter carefully put her in the back of the Range Rover and got in beside her. “Safety first,” he said as he helped buckle her in before fastening his own belt.
Caleb grinned back at them from the front. “Nice to be driving for a change, Hunter.”
“Don't get too used to it,” Hunter muttered. “And drive the speed limit. I don't want a single scratch or dent on this.”
Caleb simply laughed as he sped down the street.
Amber watched as they turned down street after street with the houses getting nicer the farther they went. Caleb pulled into a wide driveway of a large house and parked.
“The house has two apartments,” Hunter explained. “Caleb and I have the top floor and a professor and his family live on the bottom.”
Amber unbuckled her seat belt and tried to exit the car. But a bout of dizziness overcame her. Hunter caught her and swore. “Damn. I should have got you something substantial to eat earlier.”
Caleb leaned back from the front seat. “Want me to heat up those leftover meatballs from lunch? That should hold her until the pizza gets here.”
Hunter gave his roommate a grateful smile. “Thanks, man. That would be great.” He turned to Amber. “Do you like meatballs?”
Lover's Muse (The Art Models Club) Page 3
