“Here I was wondering if you hadn’t bugged out already.” I hugged Hunter East through the open driver’s window of my sister’s truck.
One of the biggest differences between Jordan and Hunter was how long they held on to a loss. Jordan, a loss became a weight that pressed against him. While just as competitive, Hunter brushed them off far more quickly. Even now, he wore his smile as easily as he wore his tight white t-shirt.
“You look good, Rae.”
“Ha!” I had to laugh at that one. “You must be in a dry spell to say that. Y’all are lucky I even brushed my hair tonight.”
“Nah, you still look better than any other girl here.” I blushed, I couldn’t help it. Hunter East was my type. Tall, muscled, with bright hazel eyes. Add in his love for fast cars and it was easy to understand that his
presence at the truck was gaining attention and fast. “Uh-oh.” He tweaked my nose. “Here comes your ‘daddy’ and he’s bringing friends.”
We’d caught Jordan’s attention, he, Vic, my brother, and a small horde of gear heads were fast approaching. Most guys would have split, cut and run in the other direction. Not Hunter, he was as big an adrenaline junky as any guy I knew. They were all cut from the same oily cloth.
“We should go out, what are you doing tonight?” There was a dare on his face.
I would have said no, the excuse was poised on my lips. I had enough problems with guys, I didn’t need to go looking for more.
“What’s up, East?” Jordan stopped at the bumper of the truck and crossed his arms across his chest.
He stopped short of asking me if I was all right. The obligatory eye roll came without thought. I had to stop myself from banging my head on the steering wheel. People could have drowned in the testosterone thickened air.
“Other than having a race snatched from me?” He grinned when Jordan didn’t take the bait. “Just catching up with an old friend.”
The last time I’d seen Jordan it hadn’t ended on the best note. His anger tonight had been quite apparent. I reached for the door handle, reading the emotion in his face and becoming annoyed because of it.
Beside Jordan, Aiden’s face stretched into a devil may care grin. He too was reading the situation, reading Jordan. Unlike me, Aiden was amped for it. If they weren’t racing, sex and fighting were probably the closest things to that rush any of them could get.
The door popped open as Hunter stepped back, interpreting Jordan’s silence for the challenge it was. Fear-edged adrenaline propelled me out of the truck. I slammed the door, but neither of the two muscle bound men paid me any heed.
“Jordan, how you gonna get mad? You’ve poached a race from me, I poach a girl from you. Sounds fair to me.” The muscles in Hunter’s neck grew more tense with each word. His smile didn’t reach his eyes.
Jordan moved with a speed that belied his size, but so did Hunter. Hunter took the shove to the chest like the football player he’d once been. The force of it would have sent most guys sprawling to the ground, but Hunter barely staggered. He took a half a step back before he went for Jordan.
“What the hell!”
Not for the first time in my life, I found myself standing right between two huge guys ready to rip each other’s throats out. The second I stepped out, Devin and Aiden reached for Jordan. Matt and one of Hunter’s friends grabbed him as well. Not because none of them wanted to see these two titans of the streets go at it, but because I stood between them.
A lot of things frightened me now. This didn’t at all. Who needed to go out in search of trouble, when you came home to this?
Jordan shook Devin off with ease and pointed a finger at Hunter. “I’m gonna fuck you up, boy.”
“Boy? That’s not what your girl said.” Hunter’s smile was bright and mean.
“Hunter! Shut up!” I hissed sharply.
I did the only thing I knew to do before there was blood all over the concrete, I went at Jordan. With a running jump, I shoved him with both hands. When he moved back two steps, I pushed him again. Aiden lost grip of the arm he’d had and it was only Jordan and me. “Are you insane?” I screamed at him, as I
continued to push the much bigger man backward.
Thick fingers were coiled into fists and his jaw was clenched with rage, but none of that stopped me. I backed him up the street in a way my brother and Devin had failed to do. In front of a big crowd of our peers, I was pushing the biggest guy away from the action.
I didn’t care if I was making a spectacle out of us. He’d started it, I was going to finish it. The anger from the night before, from years before, all seemed to come out of me at once. This was my life, to live my way. He wasn’t going to control it. I wasn’t going to let anyone control me again.
“Stay out of it, Rae,” he growled, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking past me to Hunter.
Hunter hadn’t given chase, no one had. Though they all watched intently, they all gave us our space. No one questioned if he would hurt me, they all knew better.
“Because he was poaching me?” I said with a desperate shrill.
“You can’t poach what doesn’t belong to someone else.” I shoved him again, hard enough to have pain shooting up to my elbows.
This time he didn’t move, he stood stone still and stared at me with his nostrils flaring. We both panted, silence surrounding us. The only sound was when he spat with distaste at my feet.