by Megan Smith
I nodded, and looked over at Hunter, sitting at the table with his head down. I think this was the longest we had ever gone without talking.
I took a few steps towards him and placed my hand on his shoulder, "Hey."
He looked up at me and my heart broke. He looked like shit and I could not fix it. We both knew nothing would ever come of our relationship, which is why I needed to stay with Dominic.
I started to move my hand from his shoulder, but he reached up to grab it. "I'm sorry." He said it just loud enough for me hear him.
"I know. Everything will be fine. We just need time." I winked at him and walked to my booth. I hated to see him like this but he chose them over me and now I am choosing Dominic over him.
Hailey, Zeke and Hunter left as I sat down to eat with Dominic. I ordered my favorite burger while he ordered wings. "So, you're going to get your nose pierced?" He asked while taking a drink of his soda.
"Yeah, Zeke is a friend of Hunter's. He's the same guy that has done all of Hunter's tattoos."
Staring at me for a minute, he picked up another wing and started to eat it. We really did not talk much after that. When the check came, he paid it while I sent a text to Hailey letting her know that we were ready.
We met Hailey and Hunter outside, and walked the few blocks down to Ocean Mystique where Zeke worked. The walk was insanely quiet and it was uncomfortable, to say the least. There was so much tension in the air.
When we walked in, Hailey and I went to the back of the shop were Zeke was setting everything up for us. Since the room was small, Hunter and Dominic waited out front. Hailey was very nervous after she saw all the stuff lying on the tray, and made me go first.
I hopped up on the table. Zeke walked over to me and asked which side. I pointed to my right. He took his marker, and made a dot where the stud would go. He handed me the mirror. I smiled, and said, "Perfect."
He went back over to his tray, grabbed the needle and the clamp and then turned around back to me. "Now the only thing that is going to happen is your eyes will water, and you will feel some pressure."
I nodded, understanding what he was telling me. He placed the clamp on my nose, and then said, "Now take a deep breath in." I did, and I felt the pressure of the needle going through my nose. "Now let it out."
He turned back around to his tray, grabbed the stud and then said, "You're going to feel a little more pressure." He was slowly sliding the needle out and putting the stud in.
"You're done, quick and painless." He handed me the mirror so I could check it out. I loved it.
"I want my tongue done, too."
His eyes shot up to mine as if I said something crazy.
"What?" I asked, shrugging my shoulder
"You sure? That one will hurt, and your tongue will be swollen for a few days."
"I'm sure."
Zeke walked out of the room to grab the bar bell, and when he came back, we did the same basic procedure all over again. When I was all done, I hopped off the table.
"You're turn." I said, smirking at Hailey.
She jumped up on the table. Zeke did the exact thing he did to me. When he finished, we walked out to the front of the store so we could pay.
I grabbed my wallet from my purse, and looked at Zeke, waiting for him to tell me how much I owed him. He shook his head, and looked over my shoulder. I turned around, and Hunter winked at me. Not wanting to piss Dominic off about Hunter paying, I turned back to Zeke and handed him money for a tip. That way, it looked like I paid.
I walked over to Dominic, put my arms around him and asked him what he thought.
"Looks cute. I like it." Then he leaned in to kiss me.
I pulled back a second later and said, "No getting carried away." Then I stuck my tongue out at him, and took off running and laughing, out of the store.
I heard Dominic groaning as he came up behind me. He put his hands on my hips, pulled me back to him and then he said, "Baby that is fucking sexy."
We said our goodbyes to Hunter and Hailey, who had come down on Hunter's street bike. How the hell did he get that down here? I got a little jealous of the fact that he was riding with her; he never let anyone ride with him but me.
On the way home with Dominic, I decided to tell him about my brothers' visit. Because everything seemed to be going better for us again, I did not want to start of hiding stuff from him.
"Babe, you know that I don't care about you hanging out with your brothers, but I have a problem with you being with Hunter."
"And I have told you a hundred times, you have nothing to worry about." I said, squeezing his hand as we were walking back to his car.
"It's not you, it's him. Just don't go anywhere alone with him, alright?" He said, squeezing my hand back.
"Promise." I was making a lot of promises lately; I just prayed that I could keep them all.
Everything was finally feeling back to normal with Dominic and me. We were spending a lot of time with each other. Cooper and Mason kept postponing their trip because of Jackson. Chloe was having some blood pressure issues with her pregnancy, and he did not want to leave her until he knew she was ok. Finally, after the third time rescheduling, Jackson just told Cooper and Mason to go without him. My brothers were arriving today. We had a whole weekend of shit to do while they were here. They were going to call me when they finally made it to Hunter's, and then we were all going to meet at Raven's to get something to eat.
I needed to do some studying since I would not have time this weekend. Hailey had been spending more and more time with Hunter and Zeke lately, but she was here today. I guess she was excited to see Mason, even though she would not admit it. She jumped in the shower since we still had a little while before we would meet up with everyone.
When she walked out of bathroom, I heard her sniffle. I looked up at her, and her eyes were all red and swollen.
"Hails, what's going on? Why are you crying?"
She just shook her, and walked over to her dresser, her back turned towards me. I got up and went over to her. I place my hand on her shoulder, and she just broke down.
"Please sweetie, tell me what is wrong."
She just shook her head again. I pulled her over to the bed and sat down; she curled up in a ball on the bed, and put her head on my lap. We stayed like this for a while. She cried and I ran my fingers through her hair. I knew she would talk to me when she was ready.
Finally, she started to calm down. I reached over and handed her a tissue. She wiped the remaining tears, sat up and played with the tissue in her hand.
Then she said so low I barely heard her, "I love Mason."
I knew it! "OH Hails, I already knew this." I reached over and hugged her. "You think I didn't notice all the sneaking around you were doing back home?"
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
Sighing, she looked up at me and said, "I didn't want you to get upset with me and freak out that I had a crush on your brother. I know you hated all the fussing the girls did at school over them."
"You are my best friend, and you are nothing like those girls were. I am glad you finally told me, but what about Zeke? You guys have been seeing each other a lot."
"We are just friends, and most of the time Hunter is with us. Zeke is fun to hang around with, and he helps keep my mind off Mason."
"So, I guess you're excited Mason is coming?"
"Hell yeah, I can't wait to see his sexy ass." I cringed and she started laughing.
Groaning, I said, "Ok here's the deal; if you're talking to me about my brother, I only want the PG version. I don't want nightmares."
She got serious, "So you are seriously ok with me and Mason? He seems to think you're going to have a problem with it."
"He may think I have issues, but I don't. I love you Hailey. I know you'll take care of him and that's all I can ask."
"I love you Kenzie." She hugged me again, and then asked, "How are things with Dominic?"
&nb
sp; "Surprisingly, we haven't had any drama lately, and things are good. He's a little worried about me spending time with Hunter when he's not around." Dominic and I talked about it a lot last night, and I just kept telling him over and over again that he had nothing to worry about. I was not going anywhere.
"Well that's good." She looked down at her lap again and then back up at me. "Hunter misses you like crazy. I don't think I've ever seen him like this, not even after last summer."
I sighed. "I miss him too, but to keep Dominic happy, and my heart intact, I can't hang around him like I did anymore. He made it perfectly clear there could never be a him and me. Things are going good with Dominic. I don't want to rock the boat. Time will tell if Dominic and I will last, but for now, I want to be with him. He stood up to my brothers when he wanted to date me Hails. Hunter would never do that."
"I get it, I do. I just wish he would pull his head out of his ass, and figure his shit out. He looks like someone has kicked his puppy."
"He'll figure it out. He'll meet someone that will take over the feelings that he has for me."
Hailey fell back on her pillow and said, "I hope it's soon. He is such a downer. I thought I was bad. He's got it way worse than I do."
My phone pinged, so I got up and went to get see who it was. Cooper had texted me that they just got to Hunter's. They were going to swing by and pick us up, instead of us taking a cab.
Hailey and I got ready to spend the night with my brothers and Hunter; I made sure Hailey looked extra hot for Mason. We straightened her long blonde hair and did her eye makeup dark to bring out her eyes. She dressed in a pair of black shorts that were tight and really short, along with a hot pink halter top that made her boobs look great.
After we got her dressed, she helped me straighten my hair. I picked out something a little less sexy, but still super cute. I wore a short spaghetti strap sundress and a pair of peep toe wedges. It was the end of October but thankfully, it was still warm enough to wear my summer clothes.
I stopped by Dominic's room before I headed out for dinner. He told me to have a fun, and that he would see me at the party at Hunter's later on tonight. I stood on my tiptoes, gave him a kiss and told him I loved him and would see him later.
As soon as we walked out of the doors to our dorm, Hunter's head shot up, he nudged Mason and lifted his chin in our direction.
"Damn, he's hot," I heard Hailey say to herself. I shook my head and laughed at her.
"What?" She asked, with a smirk on her face.
"Not a thing. Now go get your lover boy," I told her.
"Don't have to tell me twice." She took off running to Mason and leaped on him. He caught her and swung her around.
Cooper and Hunter both looked at me. I assumed they were waiting for me to have some kind of reaction. What was the big deal? They are adults. He is my brother and she is my best friend. Even if things did not work out for them, I would still have them both in my life. Yeah, it may get weird but it is what it is.
Cooper wrapped me up in his arms and asked, "You're ok with that?" He looked over at them and grimaced. "Because I don't know if I am. She's like a sister to me."
"What's the big deal?" I said.
He shuddered after thinking about it. "I still don't like it. It's just weird."
I kissed his cheek and said "Well, get over it."
I walked over to Hunter and gave him a hug too. He clung to me as if I was going to disappear. He took a deep breath, like he had been holding it forever. "I'm sorry."
I pulled my face back, and looked into his bright blue eyes, the same eyes I dreamed about every night, even if he was the wrong person to dream about. I sighed, "It's ok. Why do you keep saying that? I get it; there will never be a me and you."
"I have a lot to be sorry for." He hugged me tighter, and then let go.
I turned around and went over to Mason and Hailey. They were still wrapped around each other. I cleared my throat. "Um, hello?"
Mason turned his head to me, and then lowered Hailey to the ground. "Hey sis."
I grabbed him and hugged him tight. "Love you, Mase." I lowered my voice so only he could hear me. "Don't hurt her, ok?"
"So you're ok with this?" He dropped his arms from around my waist, and took a step back. "It's not going to be weird or anything?"
"I don't understand why everyone thinks I'm going to have a problem with this. If you ask me, I think it's awesome. I may actually get my best friend as my sister in law." I winked over his shoulder to Hailey, and she smiled back at me.
"Whoa." Mason put his hands up, and had a frightened look on his face. "Who said anything about getting married? Let's not get carried away."
We all started laughing, and walked towards Mason's car. When I opened the door to climb in, Hunter grabbed my elbow, lifted his chin towards his bike and raised his eyebrow. I looked over at it and was surprised to see my helmet sitting on the seat.
I looked in the car at Hailey. "Go get it girl," she said, smiling at me.
How could I say no? I loved riding with him, loved the adrenaline rush from feeling free. I walked over and grabbed my helmet, then looked down at what I was wearing. Damn it, I wish I had worn shorts now. Oh well I was not going to back out now.
Hunter sat on the bike and balanced it, so I could climb on behind him; I did it as gracefully as I could. Once I sat down and had Hunter between my thighs, I tucked my dress under my legs so it would not fly up. I squeezed my legs around his hips, and wrapped my arms around his stomach. Hunter's stomach muscles tensed. I loosened up my hold, thinking he did not want my hands around him, but he grabbed my hands and held them there for a second.
What was I thinking? This was not a good idea.
I felt him take a deep breath, then let it out, then he dropped his hand from mine and started up the bike. We took off, leading the way to Raven's with Mason following behind us.
Dinner went great. Everyone was having a good time laughing and joking with each other, just like old times. Hunter and I even got along great, as if nothing had happened.
"Why didn't Jaylinn come?" I asked the boys.
"She had a soccer game this weekend." Cooper answered me, but stared at Hunter. Huh?
Trying to pry some details from Cooper, I asked him, "Are you spending a lot of time with her?"
"Yeah he is. He goes to every one of her home games, and tries to go to the away ones too," Mason piped up. I glanced over at Hunter who was glaring at Cooper, while Cooper was glaring at Mason. I found this entertaining.
"So, how are the parties down here Kenzie?" Cooper asked, trying to break the weirdness going on.
"Oh, you know normal college parties." I laughed, remembering the aftermath of the last party at Hunter's house. "The last party at Hunter's was a little crazy though. The house was trashed; there were people duct taped to couches and doors, and people colored with sharpie marker."
"No shit!"
"Yeah, you'll see the craziness tonight. Speaking of craziness, we should get over there and lock up the rooms," Hunter said while getting up from the booth.
Cooper paid the bill and we all walked out. I went over to Hunter's bike. I was putting my helmet on when he looked over at me. "Glad you got on with me. I didn't think you would."
What the hell did I just see?
"Stick your tongue out." I told him.
He wiggled his eyebrows at me and smirked.
I put my hands on my hips. "Stick your tongue out or I'm not getting back on."
"Why?" Then he ever so slowly stuck his tongue out, and licked his bottom lip.
I whimpered. Dear God, he got his tongue pierced.
Hunter looked over to Mason's car, where everyone was in and ready to go, then he smiled at me. "Now, get on so we can go for a ride."
Fuck me! I wanted to ride more than just his bike. Shit I should not be thinking of him like this.
I shook my head and climbed back on his bike; we made the ten-minute ride back to his place. When we pulled into
the driveway, he had to maneuver his bike between the cars, so he could park in the garage. I climbed off, handed him my helmet and walked out before I found myself cornered with him alone. There was no telling what I might do to him at this point.
Everyone but Hunter walked down to the beach where the fire pit was going. "So, everything ok with you guys? It seems like everything is finally getting back to normal." Hailey said, as Mason and Cooper were talking about baseball to some guy sitting near us.
"It seems that way, but we'll have to wait and see. Oh, by the way, when in the hell did he get his tongue pierced?"
She snapped her head in my direction, "Did you kiss him?"
"Hailey!" I yelled. "Christ no. I saw it when he was talking to me."
Hailey took a drink of the beer Mason had handed her a few minutes ago. "Oh, okay, he got it that night we got ours done."
All of a sudden, Hailey, Cooper and Mason's phones chirped. What the hell? Hailey read hers, squeezed her eyes shut then turned to look at Mason. Mason looked livid. Cooper, my laid-back brother, looked as if he wanted to murder someone.
I stood up, and so did everyone else. "What the hell is going on?"
Mason spoke up first. "Nothing, we'll go handle it. Stay here with Hailey." Cooper and Mason walked off towards the house, leaving me standing there with Hailey.
"Hails, what's happened?" If someone did not tell me what was going on, I might really lose it.
"Just let Mase and Coop handle it. They'll come back in a few minutes and everything will be okay," she said, with a haunted look on her face.
She would not look me in the eyes, so something had to be wrong. We had only been here for all of twenty minutes. What could have happened that fast?
Then I remembered that Dominic was here. Oh God, he must have seen me on Hunter's bike. I looked at Hailey, then back at the house, and took off running towards the house after Mason and Cooper.
I made it inside and searched for them, but I could not see anything with all these people in here. I finally caught sight of the back of Cooper's shirt heading up the stairs.
I pushed my way through the crowd, and tried to make my way up the stairs when I heard the yelling. Shit, this was not good.
