‘You girls are good, you’re welcome to dance with us,’ he said inbetween pants and I smiled. Before I could answer, Kenzi cut in, leaving me listening to my racing heart and deep breathing.
‘Thanks, can I take your number?’ she asked. I tuned out of the rest of their conversation and pulled the bottom of my top up, allowing the cool air to soothe my skin.
I left Kenzi to talk to the others as I went outside with my bag to clean myself up. The breeze hit my forehead, blowing my fringe out of the way. I decided to cool down, stretching the toned muscles in my stomach and back.
‘I didn’t expect that.’ Hunter’s voice came from behind me and I sighed.
‘Why are you still here?’ I asked, still stretching. It wasn’t until I saw his eyes move down my back that I realised I was pushing my backside out in front of him. Instantly, I straightened.
‘You guys need a lift home,’ he replied easily, leaning against the cool stone wall behind me.
‘Can you do me a favour?’ I asked, glancing over at his handsome face and he smirked.
‘For a price.’
‘You’re impossible,’ I huffed. I reached down to grab my bag but felt a large hand on my forearm. Before I could register what was happening, I was flush with Hunter’s muscled chest, his warm hand still tight on arm. My eyes searched his face quickly, my blood racing through my veins.
‘You keep walking away from me,’ he said, still wearing that stupid smirk. If I could have, I’d have smacked it right from his face.
‘That’s because you’re irritating,’ I ground out, trying to pull myself away, but failing.
‘You know, you’re one of the first girls to ever reject me,’ he whispered.
I narrowed my eyes and scoffed. ‘Wow. Just when I thought that your head couldn’t get any bigger.’
He didn’t answer me, just brushed his thumb along the bare skin of my arms, causing tingles to break out. ‘I’m not big headed, just... confident.’ He shrugged, letting my arm go.
I yanked it back and took two steps away from him, distancing us. He didn’t need to know that he’d just made my heart race. ‘Kenzi’s confident, you cross the line,’ I corrected, bending down to pick up my bag and went to meet Kenzi back inside. I was strongly considering asking her to switch roommates.
Hunter was by my side in minutes, grinning at me. ‘You’ve got a really short temper, you know,’ he noted and I bit my lip to prevent myself letting another sarcastic comment out, stalking back over to Kenzi and Kyle.
‘Only with you,’ I shot back over my shoulder, earning me a mock salute from my roommate. I was going to have to try to get along with him, I had another twelve months living in the same house as him and we weren’t going to be having any fun at all the way we were at the moment. Plus, if I didn’t get along with him, I didn’t know where I’d go or what I’d do, all the student flats would be full.
‘Andy!’ Kenzi called and I smiled, meeting her over by Kyle. He told us that they practised at the same warehouse every Wednesday, Saturday and Monday.
‘Right, ladies, we’ve got to go,’ Hunter called from the door.
I slowly made my way over to him and Kenzi held her hand up to signal that she’d be a couple of minutes. Kyle was handing her some leaflets and was talking to her about where we’d be dancing and what type of clothes we’d need.
Just as Hunter was about to get in the car, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat and he stiffened. I was positioned behind him but I could see every single muscle in his back go taut.
‘Well, if it isn’t my dear brother,’ cooed an unfamiliar voice. I was about to peer over Hunter’s shoulder to look at the guy addressing us but his arm shot back. He gave me one quick glance over his shoulder and then looked back in front of him, a sneer painted on his face.
‘Hello Seb.’
By the looks of things, we were in a fair bit of trouble. I tried to slip past Hunter again but he put his arm out and gave me a warning look.
‘Don’t you have anything better to do than follow me around all day?’ Hunter asked, giving Seb an exasperated look.
‘Don’t flatter yourself. I’m here to pick Kenzi up.’ He shrugged and I noticed frown lines appear on Hunter’s face. ‘I thought that you might want to spend time with your newest whore,’ Seb added, leaving me blushing and beyond offended.
‘Um, no, thank you. Take him with you if you like.’ I gave a one shoulder shrug, earning an eyebrow raise from Hunter and a smirk from Seb.
‘I’ll leave him with you, love. Sorry about that,’ he countered until Hunter cleared his throat.
‘If you two are finished,’ Hunter hissed and I smiled, masking my discomfort.
I heard the car doors unlock and Hunter put his hand on the handle in preparation.
‘Seb!’ Kenzi exclaimed, greeting him from behind us. I widened my eyes but Hunter didn’t look in the least surprised.
‘Come on, we’re going,’ he whispered to me. I didn’t realise how close Hunter was until his voice and his breath were dancing on my neck, below my ear. His hand on my forearm caused heat to go searing through my skin.
‘I’ll see you later, Kenz!’ I called over Hunter’s shoulder and she nodded with a smile. Seb gave me a wink and a small salute before leading her away.
I got into the car sulkily, shutting the door a little too loudly. Hunter’s knuckles were white on the wheel and he started the car with more force on the pedal than necessary.
‘What was all that about?’ I asked.
Hunter grunted, not taking his eyes off the road. ‘None of your business,’ he responded. Rolling my eyes, I decided not to push the subject. His snappy attitude was enough to make me not want to engage in conversation with him.
‘Will you chill out?’ I said after about five minutes of watching him ram buttons on the car and screech round corners, cursing under his breath. He glanced at me from the corner of his eye and sighed, turning the music up to block me out.
‘You’re a jerk, you know that?!’ I yelled over the music. He just smirked and pulled up outside of the flats. He didn’t even wait for me; he got out and started walking to the door.
Too irritated to care, I left my bag in the boot and jogged in after him.
‘No wonder your brother gets all the girls, have you met you?’ I asked, after catching him up in the lift, and he turned to face me with an annoyed expression.
‘Just be quiet,’ he grumbled, leaning back against the wall of the lift.
‘No. You can’t order me around like you do everyone else,’ I retorted. I was about to go on with my lecture when he leaned over and placed his lips on mine. It took me a moment to register what was going on. His lips were soft and he gently pressed his tongue against my lips, asking for permission. I granted it before bringing my teeth down on his tongue. He pulled back and swore, licking his lip.
‘Did you just bite me?’ He stared at me in disbelief. I nodded smugly, crossing my arms over my chest. I didn’t know what I was more annoyed about, the fact that he’d kissed me, or the fact that I’d slightly enjoyed it. Apart from Hunter just then, the only person I’d ever kissed was my ex-boyfriend, Marco.
‘Yes, I did. You cannot just go around kissing people.’ Without giving him a backwards glance, I walked out