Addiction (The Hunted Series Book 2)

by Ivy Smoak

  "It doesn't make any sense that they're out there. They're being relentless."

  "And you just made it worse. I specifically asked you not to talk to them."

  "James. Doesn't it make you mad? Why won't you defend yourself?"

  "I know you've had a bad day. But I'm trying very hard to remain calm right now. I need to know that you'll listen to me when I ask you not to do something."

  "If you won't defend yourself, I'll defend you. Everyone at this school already hates me. I don't care anymore."

  "What you just did is going to make it worse. Not better. That's going to be all over the news tonight."

  "Good. I want everyone to know that you're not a bad person. It sucks walking around campus hearing people say bad things about me. But I can deal with that. What I can't handle is people saying bad things about you."

  "And I can't stand that you have to hear bad things about you. I'm used to getting my way. I don't know how to fix this. I never expected this to happen." He leaned against one of the walls in the elevator.

  "I know. You're used to being in control. And I'm infuriating." I shrugged.

  He gave me an exasperated laugh. "I can't think straight when I'm with you. I'm so unbelievably mad at you right now. But all I want to do is fuck you in this elevator."

  I swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."

  "I'm sorry too." He looked down for a second and then back up at me. "If you think it will help, I'll talk to them. It might help around campus."

  "Not if you're going to take all the blame."

  He closed the distance between us in the elevator, pressing my back against the cold steel. "You really are infuriating." He leaned down and kissed me hard, sending shivers of desire through my whole body. I didn't like when he was mad at me. But I liked this. I liked that it made him want me in a different way.

  My fingers slipped beneath the back of his hoodie and up his muscular back.

  He grabbed my hands and pushed them against the side of the elevator. "There are cameras in here. And Rob is waiting for us upstairs. I had the front desk let him up."

  "Okay."

  "To be continued?" He ran the tip of his nose down the length of mine.

  "I kind of wish Rob hadn't come early."

  James laughed and let go of my hands. "Your face is flushed." He rubbed his hand along my cheek.

  "No kidding."

  He smiled. "Ready to meet my little brother?"

  "Absolutely."

  James hit the button that had made the elevator stop. I pressed my thighs together and leaned against the side of the elevator. Making me incredibly horny before meeting his brother was an odd choice. I took a deep breath. I needed to calm down. I had already been nervous to meet Rob. Now I was going to be more awkward than usual. The doors of the elevator slowly opened.

  "Finally, man!"

  I turned my head to see Rob in the kitchen. He was sitting in front of a pizza box at the counter. Rob looked a lot like James. He was slightly shorter and tanner. His jaw line wasn't quite as sharp and his hair was shaggy. And he dressed a lot differently. Way more like a college student. His jeans had holes in them and he was wearing a flannel shirt over his v-neck t-shirt. I had thought that Professor Hunter was a college student when I bumped into him. If I had met his brother in the same situation, I wouldn't have had a doubt in my mind.

  He tossed a piece of crust back in the box and walked over to James. I thought they were going to hug, but instead Rob wrapped his arms around James and lifted him off the floor slightly. "It's so good to see you!" he said really loudly. It looked like it made James super uncomfortable. I couldn't help but laugh. Rob's good mood was contagious.

  Rob set James back down on his feet and leaned close to James. "Dude, is this seriously Ellen? You didn't tell me she was super hot. Please tell me you're tapping that?"

  I was sure he had meant to whisper that. He must have just been really bad at whispering. No one talked like that. I could feel my face turning even more red.

  "No." James sounded mad. "That's not Ellen. That's..."

  "Shit, are you serious? I get my own housekeeper? I should have come here ages ago." He patted James on the chest and walked over to me. "I'm Rob." He put his hand out for me to shake.

  "Penny." What the hell is happening? I shook his hand.

  "So tell me about yourself, Penny." He leaned against the counter and locked eyes with me. It was so strange. His eyes were so similar to James'. It was unnerving.

  "For starters, I'm not a housekeeper."

  His smile got even bigger and he looked over his shoulder at James. "You're the best brother ever.

  "Jesus, stop talking, Rob." James walked over and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

  "So..." Rob looked back and forth between us. "You are fucking then?"

  "No, Rob. Or, well, yes actually."

  Oh my God! This seemed way worse than telling my parents about our relationship.

  "This is my girlfriend." James squeezed my shoulder.

  "Wait, what? What about the troll?"

  "We're divorced."

  "Seriously?! I didn't really think you had the balls to cut that cord."

  James laughed.

  I was pretty sure James and his brother had the strangest relationship ever. But I liked Rob for referring to Isabella as a troll. It helped redeem his inappropriateness. I was almost positive he thought I was a hooker that James had gotten for him.

  "Okay, wow. So, we should probably start over," Rob said to me.

  "Yeah." I laughed and stuck my hand back out to Rob. "Let's just pretend that didn't happen."

  Rob laughed. "No, actually that's a great story. I can't wait to tell people I thought my brother's new girlfriend was a prostitute. And it's a compliment really. You're hot. I'm sure you get that all the time."

  "Only recently."

  James tightened his grip on my arm.

  Rob laughed again. "She's funny. And young. You look really young. How old are you?"

  "20."

  Rob stared at me for a second and then looked back up at James. "Oh shit! Don't even say it. She's your student, isn't she? Oh my God, this is golden. The perfect son is fucking one of his students? I love it. Do Mom and Dad know?"

  "Okay, we need to talk for a second." James let go of my shoulder and walked toward the living room, grabbing Rob's arm on the way.

  "Does he get mad at you a lot too?" Rob yelled over his shoulder. "I bet that makes things exciting in bed."

  "Shut up," James said.

  That was the last thing I heard. I knew that James was embarrassed. But I liked Rob. He seemed so carefree. I thought he'd be a good influence on James. And James described him really well. Fun was the perfect word.

  I sat down at the counter and picked up a slice of pizza. It was well past lunchtime now and I was starving. I had finished my slice by the time they walked back into the kitchen.

  "Ugh, I have to share my pizza with her too? This is the worst." Rob laughed and sat down next to me. "Just kidding. Have all the pizza that you want. James caught me up on the whole illicit student professor affair thing. So apparently now I won't say anything that will embarrass him. And I'm sorry that I thought you were a prostitute."

  "It's fine," I laughed.

  "Thanks for helping get the troll back under her bridge. I owe you one. I tried to get rid of her for years. But I just made fun of her all the time. She was so stuck up. She always had the craziest reactions to stuff. If I had mistaken her for a hooker, I'm pretty sure she would have had a heart attack. I always thought I'd be the one to make her run screaming. I'm sure sucking her husband's cock made it easier for you to be victorious, though."

  "What did we just talk about?" James said.

  "Dude, chill. I'm sure Penny and I are on the same page here."

  I started laughing. James was right. Rob was like the exact opposite of him. I wasn't even sure how two people so different could be related. But they were cute together. They balanced each o
ther out somehow. I liked seeing James out of his element. If he couldn't control me, he definitely couldn't control Rob.

  "See, she thinks I'm funny." He grabbed another slice of pizza. "So what do you two usually do on a Friday night?"

  Last Friday night we went to a Halloween party. And James ended up punching one of my friends in the face." I decided to leave off the fact that I had wound up in the hospital. It was a better story without it.

  James pressed his lips together.

  Rob laughed. "Sounds fun. I bet we could find a good Halloween party to go to tonight."

  "Or we can stay in. Penny and I have been practicing what it would be like if we were under house arrest."

  "That sounds awful. Did you say you were only 20, Penny?"

  "Yeah."

  "So a bar is out. Crashing a college party it is." He rubbed his hands together.

  "I think it's probably best if I stay away from college parties for awhile," James said.

  "Oh, because of the whole rapey thing?"

  James made a face. "I need to go shower. Maybe you can give him a tour, Penny?"

  "Sure."

  "And stop saying inappropriate stuff to my girlfriend, Rob."

  Rob shrugged. "I don't think I've even said anything that inappropriate."

  James kissed my cheek. At the same time he shoved Rob's shoulder.

  Rob laughed as James disappeared into the bedroom.

  "He really likes you," Rob said, grabbing another slice of pizza and standing up.

  "Why do you say that?" I knew how much James loved me. But I was curious why his brother thought he did.

  "He only gets super defensive around girls he likes. And if you're wondering, he wasn't like that with the troll."

  I laughed. "I don't understand why he ever went through with marrying her if he didn't love her."

  "That's because you haven't met my parents yet. James is the prodigal son. And thank God he took the bullet, because they would have forced her on me next. I'm surprised they haven't called me already, saying that she's single." I must have made a face because he added, "I'm just kidding, they're not demonic. How about that tour, Penny?"

  "Right." I quickly stood up. "Are you thirsty?" I walked over to the fridge and grabbed a cherry coke.

  "No, I'm good."

  I could feel him staring at me as I poured the soda into a glass and added the can into the recycling bin.

  "Are you living here?"

  I felt my face blushing again. "Um, yeah. Kind of. He just asked me to move in. But I haven't moved all my stuff in yet."

  "So I guess that makes us roomies."

  "I guess so. Have you already walked around?"

  "No, not really. But this is the kitchen obviously. The living room and dining room." He pointed to the rooms that were open to the kitchen.

  "Mhm. And that's James' bedroom through that door."

  "Well, your room together right? Or are we sharing?" He flashed me a smile.

  "Oh, yeah, our room. And if I wasn't sleeping in there, we have two guest rooms. So we wouldn't ever have to share a room. In any situation." What am I saying? I wished James hadn't left me alone with his brother so soon. I was so nervous.

  He started laughing. "You're fun to mess with. I like you already. Okay, show me my room."

  I walked past him toward the hallway. Could I be any more awkward? "I guess you have your choice of rooms. There's this one." I opened up the first door in the hallway.

  "That bed probably isn't big enough for both of us. I really like to spread out when I sleep."

  "I'm not..."

  He started laughing again. "I can see why James fell for you." He walked out of the bedroom.

  "That's the guest bathroom."

  "Sweet," he said and poked his head into the room for a second and then turned back to me.

  "And the other bedroom." I pointed to the third door.

  He opened it up and looked inside. "Damn, same sized bed. I guess we just weren't meant to be." He winked at me.

  "I guess not." I still heard the shower running. Come on, James. I was running out of rooms to show Rob, and I wasn't sure what he was going to want to talk about next. "That's a game room I guess. It has a pool table and a bar."

  "Now that's my kind of room." He opened up the door and started laughing.

  I walked in after him. Oh fuck. James and my clothes were still strewn all over the room. I hadn't even thought about cleaning them up. My face had to be scarlet.

  "I'm guessing this is yours?" Rob was holding up a lacy thong on his index finger.

  Oh my God. "Of course it's mine." I grabbed my thong out of his hand.

  "I didn't realize how kinky my brother was."

  "He's not. We were just...doing laundry." Doing laundry? What the hell?

  "Laundry?" He laughed. "Your clothes didn't make it. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Kinky girls are the best. How about a drink, Penny?"

  "I'm good." I was still holding my glass of cherry coke.

  "At least let me add to that for you."

  "I probably shouldn't."

  "What, because you're 20? Trust me, James had his fair share of drinks before he was 21." He walked behind the bar and opened up the small fridge. He popped the top off a beer and took a sip. "Besides, you can't tell me that a hot college chick who fucks her professor and plays strip pool doesn't also drink?" He grabbed a bottle of vodka off the shelf. "You seem to like breaking the rules." He held up the bottle and raised his left eyebrow. Just like James always did when he was challenging me.

  "You don't have much of a filter, do you?"

  He laughed. "Give me your glass."

  I walked over to him and put my glass down on the bar. He poured way more than a shot of vodka into it.

  "Cheers," he said and lifted up his glass.

  "Cheers." I knocked mine against his and took a sip. I could barely taste the soda.

  "So is this going to get me in trouble?" he asked.

  I laughed. "No, I don't think so. Sometimes it's hard to tell what will set James off though."

  "Yeah, tell me about it. He actually seems more relaxed than I've seen him in a long time. You must be good in bed."

  What the fuck? He really didn't have a filter. I couldn't tell whether he was flirting with me or just completely messing with me. I laughed awkwardly.

  He looked over at the clothes all over the room again. "But seriously, please tell me you have some single friends. Preferably ones who are super kinky and blush as much as you."

  "I'm not sure any of my friends could handle you."

  "What? I'm a nice guy. I'm just messing with you because you're dating my brother. That's what little brothers do. Are you an only child or something?"

  "Yes."

  "Then I guess you wouldn't understand."

  Was that really what little brothers did? That sounded awful. I had always wished for a sibling. Maybe I was better off without one. "I guess not. But I don't think little brothers are supposed to flirt with their older brother's girlfriends."

  "I'm not flirting with you. Okay, sorry, maybe I was a little. But usually said girlfriends aren't closer to the little brother's age and super, super hot. I've been in Costa Rica for six months. It's been a long time since I've gotten laid by an American college student."

  I rolled my eyes at him.

  "How serious are you guys anyway?"

  "He quit his job for me. He asked me to move in." He asked me to marry him an hour ago.

  "Right, right. So back to your friends then..." He leaned on the bar. "Or if you have a twin or something. Oh fuck, now I'm going to have dreams about threesomes. You're killing me!"

  "With me and James? That's pretty weird..."

  He started laughing again. "No, I'm not into devil's threesomes. Especially with my brother. I meant with you and your twin."

  "I don't have a twin."

  "Ah, yeah, I guess you did say that you were an only child. Just my luck." He took a long sip of
his beer. "What year are you anyway?"

  "I'm a sophomore."

  "A sophomore? So how did you and James happen exactly?"

  "I thought you said he caught you up?"

  "He said that you were his student. And that he quit to be with you. And that all those news vans are out there because the school thinks he slept with tons of other students too. But I doubt that's true. Cause look at you."

  I laughed. I was pretty sure he was just messing with me. James was wrong; Rob was funny. Fun and funny. "We ran into each other before I realized he was my professor. He was going into the coffee shop and I was going out. We bumped into each other and I spilled coffee all over myself. So he let me borrow his sweater. It was really sweet. I never even thought I'd see him again. But then the next day I went to my 8 a.m. class and he walked in. I was completely shocked that he was my professor."

  "Very cute. But I don't get it. How did you wind up together?"

  "It progressed pretty slowly. We ran into each other late one night on Main Street after I had a bad time at this frat party. And he walked me home. He gave me his number, under the premise that he was concerned about me walking home alone at night." Talking about everything made me smile. I loved him so much. "We kind of flirted in class a lot. And what really set it off was that he gave me a bad grade when I thought I deserved an A. So I stormed into his office." I could feel myself blushing again. "The rest is history."

  "So you fucked in his office?"

  "Um, yeah." And it was incredibly hot.

  "See...you're very kinky. I think I want to become a professor. I guess they have a vacancy now, huh?"

  I laughed. "Professor's aren't supposed to do that. That's why James doesn't have a job anymore. You're better off just going to that Halloween party you mentioned if you want to hook up with a college girl."

  He laughed. "Yeah, I'm just kidding anyway. I could not be a professor. Besides for the hot students, it sounds incredibly boring. I'm not sure what James was even doing here. I kind of thought he'd be here for a few months and then go back to New York. I get it now though."

  I wondered how much Rob knew about James. Maybe he didn't even know about James addiction problem. But he had known that James didn't love Isabella. Maybe they were closer than I originally thought. And James had asked him to live here for awhile.