14 14 Jealousy

HUNTER

"Danna, wait!"

I reached for her half-heartedly, and of course I missed. The larger part of me didn't want to catch her. I wanted her gone, which was probably why I had been such a dick to her in the first place.

"Forget it Hunter," she cried from the doorway. "Just leave me alone!"

I made a half-assed attempt to chase her into the hallway, but it was only to see her out. I sure as hell didn't want her crying in my kitchen. I wanted to know she'd left.

"Danna—"

She turned as she ran… and bumped straight into Lily. She looked at my roommate as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Oh, it's you!" she cried tearfully, grasping Lily by the shoulders. "Of course it is."

Lily looked wholly confused. And with good reason.

"You can have him!" Danna laughed bitterly. Her eyes shifted between us almost manically. "I'm finished!"

I made the obligatory move toward her and she fled, brown hair bouncing, her feet pounding their way down the staircase. I waited until I heard the sound of the front door open and slam closed before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

"What the hell was that?" Lily gasped. Her face was flush with heat, the skin of her neck and chest all flustered.

Maybe she has been rattled worse than I thought.

"That was nothing," I said. "Nobody important."

She raised an eyebrow. "It sure didn't seem like nothing."

We were standing there in the hallway together, both wearing sweatpants, both with that tousled end-of-the-day look. Lily looked sumptuous anyway. I loved the way her hair framed her extraordinarily pretty face. The way her hips flared out in a sexy curve, just beyond the dip of her slender waist.

"Where were you heading?" I asked. "Midnight snack?"

"Err… no," she said, after a slight hesitation. "Bathroom."

"Funny," I said.

She looked suddenly nervous. "Why's that funny?"

"Because I noticed you just came from Colin's room."

Lily's face turned even redder if possible. She composed herself quickly though.

"I was just trying to talk some sense into him," she said. "He's still pretty hung up on his ex. Carley."

"You think?" I scoffed.

"Been like this a while?"

"Ever since the breakup," I said. "Brandon and I have tried to get him over her, but nothing we've done has even made a dent. We've set him up with beautiful girls, brought him to sorority parties… he ducks out every single time. And in most of those scenarios, those girls were a sure thing."

It was strange, talking to her so candidly like this. Lily being a female, and even a professor at the University and all that. Still, it seemed so weirdly natural. So comfortable. Like telling stuff to your sister.

Only she wasn't my sister. And my feelings for her… well, they weren't sisterly at all.

"At one point we floated the idea that maybe he was gay," I went on. "But I really don't think so."

"No," Lily shook her head definitively. "I'm pretty sure he's not gay."

I shrugged. "Not that Brandon or I would care," I said, folding my arms. "Actually it would explain a lot of things."

"I think he's just hung up on her," said Lily. "I mean really really hung up on her."

"Me too. Hell, they've been going out since junior high, and he's twenty-one for Christ's sake." I shrugged. "When you look at it that way he's technically never really dated."

"Good point."

A silence settled over the hallway, and I found my gaze wandering back to her body. She looked so hot standing there, filling out her T-shirt. Her soft ringlets of reddish-brown hair, dangling around her shoulders.

You want her.

The realization was frightening but honest. Shit, hadn't I been stricken with jealousy the second I saw her stepping out of Colin's bedroom?

Her eyes left mine and she looked past me. In my haste to chase after Danna, I realized I'd left the door to my room slightly ajar.

Shit.

I reached back and pulled it closed. Lily frowned.

"Got another girl in there or something?" she quipped.

"No."

"Then what's the big secret?"

"No big secret," I said. "It's just… well, it's a big mess in there."

"I'll bet," she smirked. "Danna seems like the type to—"

"No," I jumped in. "Danna wasn't in there all that long. Ten minutes, tops."

Lily's smirk grew even more diabolical. "They make pills to fix that, you know."

"Fuck off," I laughed. "You know what I mean. She came over, got mad, and left."

"What was she so mad at?"

My expression must've betrayed a lot more than I wanted it to. Lily balked at my hesitation. She stopped leaning against the wall just long enough to put her hands on her shapely hips.

"I've seen in there before, you know," she said smartly, nodding toward my door. "You uh… kinda left the door open the other night."

I froze instantly. Suddenly I was very uncomfortable.

"When?"

She'd seen my reaction. Right now she looked unsure if she wanted to go on.

"Go on," I said. "It's okay. You can tell me."

"Alright," she sighed. "My first night here, you had a girl over. I heard you two… well…" her eyes dropped. "You know."

"Danna?"

"No. Some blonde girl."

I declined to mention a name. Could've been Lynne. Could've been Alexa. Could've been—

"Long hair. Heart-shaped ass."

"Dana."

"Sure," she rolled her eyes. "Dana."

Something in her expression darkened. Was it jealousy? Or was she just poking fun at me having more than one friend-with-benefits?

And how the hell did she know Dana had a heart-shaped ass?

"Anyway," Lily went on, "it was dark and moonless. And raining too, so I really couldn't see anything. Not that I was looking," she added hastily. "That time, I really did have to go the bathroom and just happened upon—"

"It's fine," I said, somewhat relieved. "Not a big deal."

The strange silence descended again, and this time our eyes locked. Time stopped for a moment, or at least slowed down.

You really, really want her.

Our eyes bored into each other, brown on green. I could feel my heart racing, my cheeks flushing red. It was absolutely crazy to me. No one had ever really affected me like this. Not even the girls I was into, but they were few and far between.

"So where exactly do you get all these girls," she joked. "Do you stand on the roof and cast a net? Maybe put up a little fence to herd them in on a Friday night, or—"

"I've been at this school for three years," I shrugged. "I know a lot of people. I have a lot of friends."

"Uh huh."

"Besides, we were a popular fraternity."

"And you were the President."

I felt the familiar sting — the emptiness of losing our chapter — but it wasn't nearly as strong as usual. I pushed it aside.

"Yes."

The chemistry was there again, crackling between us like some unseen energy. Daring one of us to step forward… to be swept up in the electricity of it all.

"Alright then," Lily said slowly, like she was reluctant to let go. Maybe she was. "Better get some sleep."

"Me too," I said.

"Goodnight Hunter."

I shuddered. Even the way she said my name was sexy.

"Goodnight Li."

We retreated to our separate rooms, stepped through our separate doorways. Just before hers closed, Lily poked her head out.

"Hey," she said, gripping the door frame. "Sorry about your booty call."

I glanced back at her and chuckled softly. "No you're not."

Lily yawned adorably, before her face cracked into a grin.

"You're right," she said before closing the door. "I'm really not."