Why You Shouldn't Lend A Bad Boy Your Clothes

by Philline Harms

  Hunter didn’t bother to reply. Instead, he leaned over and punched Adam’s shoulder. “Look, Adam. It’s you. Only about three words in your vocabulary and a face that looks like someone attacked it with a cheese grater.”

  Adam promptly answered with a light punch in return, but in the dark, he couldn’t see who he struck and hit me instead.

  “Ouch!” I exclaimed and rubbed my sore shoulder.

  Hunter immediately flicked some popcorn at Adam. “I swear, Adam, if that left a bruise on Jules—”

  “What? Do you prefer hickeys only on him?” Adam snorted.

  “I pre—”

  “Guys, I’m sitting right here,” I exclaimed.

  I heard Emily and Nate chuckling next to me while Liam made a gagging sound.

  Fortunately, everyone quieted down after that, except for occasional screeches when there were jump scares. After the hero had roamed around the mansion for at least twenty minutes without anything scarier than creaking floorboards and a few bats showing up on the screen, my eyelids started to get heavy.

  At some point, I must’ve dozed off but soon got woken up by Hunter as he suddenly tapped my nose repeatedly.

  “What?” I asked sleepily.

  “Wanna get out of here?” he asked.

  I could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

  “Come again?” I yawned.

  Hunter laughed. “Just come with me, okay?”

  “Oh, dear. Better hope the walls here are soundproof,” Liam whispered, still loud enough for us to hear.

  I made sure to accidentally stomp on his foot as Hunter dragged me out, holding onto my hand.

  Once we left the hall, Hunter walked towards the restrooms.

  I frowned. “Hunter, if you think I’m doing anything…dirty in a public restroom with you, you thought wrong.”

  He huffed quietly but didn’t stop. I could feel the eyes of the old lady in the foyer on me as we crossed the foyer. Just when she looked away, Hunter suddenly jogged towards another hall, pulling me with him. When we were inside, he carefully shut the door behind us and turned around to me with a triumphant smile.

  “What are we doing here?” I asked suspiciously and looked around.

  This hall was almost identical to the one next door, but in here, the lights were still on, though they were dim. And the seats in the back were all loveseats.

  Hunter, as always, didn’t answer and led me towards one of them. Once there, he pushed me onto it. I sat there, watching him skeptically, not really knowing what to expect.

  Definitely not that he’d just sit down next to me, snuggling into the seat.

  When I just looked at him with a confused expression, he lazily said, “Go ahead. Get comfy. This is definitely a better place to sleep than over in the other hall.”

  Finally understanding, I slumped into the opposite corner of the seat, careful to give him enough space to stretch out.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Hunter asked impatiently.

  When I didn’t answer, he sighed and reached over. I didn’t resist when he pulled me closer to himself until I was basically sitting sideways in his lap, legs dangling over the edge of the seat. Once I rested my head against his shoulder, he wrapped an arm around me so he could still hold my hand. His other hand fell into my hair, lightly running through my curls.

  Hunter sighed contently and relaxed underneath me. I could feel his steady heartbeat and the rising and falling of his chest. When I inhaled deeply, the scent of him was almost overwhelming, aftershave and washing powder.

  “This okay?” Hunter murmured softly. He sounded just as tired as I was, and when I peeked up through my lashes, I saw that his eyes were already closed.

  “Mhm,” I said, too lazy to even form any words and tipped my chin up just a bit to press a tender kiss to his lips.

  His heart immediately started to beat faster, and he glared at me half-heartedly. “I’m trying to sleep. If you don’t stop annoying me, I’ll push you out of my lap.”

  “So this annoys you?” I asked slowly and reached out to turn his face toward me. Then I kissed him once more, savoring the taste of popcorn in his mouth.

  Hunter laughed, his whole body vibrating underneath me. Then he tightly clasped both of my hands and put them on my lap. “You’re such a tease.”

  I closed my eyes again, still smiling, and rested my head in the crook of his neck.

  Sitting there like this, wrapped up in his arms and the warmth of him, felt unfamiliar, but I decided that I liked it.

  After a few minutes, Hunter’s breathing became calmer. We were both absolutely sleep-deprived, especially after last night, so it didn’t take long for us to fall asleep.

  ***

  Hadn’t my mind been so hazy and hadn’t it felt so cozy, I probably would’ve worried more about staying unnoticed in here, snuggled up with Hunter in a public place a ton of people could access.

  Since I felt absolutely secure and warm and just very, very tired, I only startled up when strangers were already about to enter. As soon as the light from the foyer started to seep inside, my eyes snapped open, heart suddenly racing. Hunter was still sleeping peacefully. In fact, one might’ve thought he was unconscious; that boy really suffered from sleep deprivation.

  His arms were still holding me, and his head rested against mine. Under different circumstances, I probably would’ve let him sleep like that for hours even if it was just to watch him be so at ease. But there were people about to come in, and I couldn’t risk being seen by anyone like this. So I leaned away from Hunter, freeing my hands, and carefully got up.

  As soon as my weight eased off him, he began to stir and blinked up at me.

  His voice wasn’t more than a husky murmur when he whined. “What are you doing?”

  “Get up,” I whispered. “People are coming in.”

  Hunter looked over at the door that was slowly being pushed open and got up surprisingly fast for someone who had been so utterly out of it only a moment earlier. We both ducked behind our seat and held our breath as people came in.

  I froze as I recognized a familiar voice within the chatter, heart skipping a beat. Hunter heard my quiet gasp and sent me a puzzled look.

  “I think it’s my dad,” I whispered, not daring to look over the seat to see if my suspicion was true.

  Hunter’s eyes widened, and he immediately ducked deeper into our hiding spot.

  As far as I knew, Dad had never been to this cinema before, so I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of him being here.

  “What about Linda?” a woman asked just then.

  “She’s at home looking after my daughter,” Dad said.

  I slapped a hand over my mouth, trying not to make a sound. If my dad caught me hiding here, alone in an otherwise deserted cinema hall with Hunter, especially after Maya had talked about me kissing a guy, he definitely would be able to put two and two together.

  Hunter was as tense as I was when the group walked past us. All I could see were their shoes. I counted six persons. Two of them were women in high heels.

  I gulped as the last man of the group suddenly came to a stop right next to the row where we were hiding and bent down to tie his shoelaces that had become undone. To my horror, it was my dad, still wearing his suit and tie. For the entire thirty seconds it took him, I didn’t dare to breathe. If he turned his face only a tiny bit to the right, he would have an unobstructed view of Hunter and I cowering between the seats.

  I almost couldn’t believe it when he was done. He straightened himself and walked down the aisle without glancing into our direction. Hunter and I both let out a quiet sigh of relief, even though it wasn’t over yet. For at least five minutes that felt like hours, we were kneeling on the floor until I couldn’t sit in that position anymore. My dad and his friends were still talking, and the movie hadn’t even started yet.

  I tugged at Hunter’s hand and pointed at the exit. He nodded and pulled his hood over his head. I did the same even though I
knew that it probably wasn’t enough to disguise me from my father’s eyes.

  After a moment of hesitation, we shot out of our hiding place, the thick carpet muffling the thrumming of our steps at least a little. Hunter pulled the door open, blinking into the bright light in the foyer. I heard everyone falling silent behind us all of a sudden, but I didn’t turn around or stop, not even when the door was already shut behind us.

  We were running through the foyer, not paying attention to the old lady yelling at us to slow down, and out of the building. Only when we were a few houses down the road, I dared to stop and leaned against a wall, breathing heavily.

  Hunter didn’t look the slightest bit out of breath, but he was watching me with a worried expression. “Your parents don’t know, do they?”

  I shook my head. “No. They…They can’t. At least, not yet.”

  Hunter nodded even though he looked upset. “Do you think their reaction would be bad?”

  “Bad? Horrible.” I snorted. “I know how they think about homosexuals and all that. Mom would be heartbroken. And my dad…” I paused, looking away. “I don’t know what he would do.”

  “You don’t have to tell them if you don’t want to,” Hunter said. “We can keep this a secret.”

  “Yeah, but for how long?” I asked, running a trembling hand through my hair. “My dad nearly caught us just now. Can you imagine what would’ve happened if I hadn’t woken up in time? He would’ve seen us together—”

  “Don’t think about it.” He interrupted me. “He didn’t. That’s all that matters. You don’t regret that we did it, do you?” He looked uncertain, anxiously waiting for my reply.

  I immediately felt bad for burdening him with my stupid family drama and making him feel guilty. “Don’t ask stupid questions,” I said, echoing his words from this morning and stepped forward, pushing his hood back so I could run a hand through his hair when I kissed him.

  Hunter’s lips curved into a surprised smile, then he finally wrapped his arms around me and deepened the kiss. The alley was dark and lonely, but I was still worried someone might see us, so I broke away after only a few seconds despite the aching need to have him this close.

  We separated just as our friends suddenly came down the alley. Nate was the first one to catch up with us, a wide smile on his face when he saw me quickly letting go of Hunter.

  “Well? Had fun?” he asked with a suggestive wink.

  “You still seem a little out of breath,” Liam added with the same stupid grin on his face. “We didn’t even hear you.”

  “Thank God,” Alexis muttered. “What have you guys been up to? Besides the obvious, I mean?”

  “We didn’t even do anything.” Hunter laughed.

  “We slept,” I added.

  “You…slept?” Liam sounded incredulous. “As in napping?”

  Hunter nodded. “Yes, dumbass. What did you think?”

  “Oh, you know exactly what we all thought.” Adam snorted.

  “Jules, what did you do to Hunter?” Liam asked, clearly amused. “Why is he all soft and cute?”

  “He’s always been cute.” The words were out before I could spend a second thought on them.

  Hunter rolled his eyes, but I was sure that everyone could see the grin he was trying to hide.

  “Alright, let’s go home before this can get even cheesier,” Nate muttered. “Jesus, it’s scary how different you guys are when you’re together.”

  Chapter 24

  I had woken up with a raging headache, a throbbing pain making it hard for me to concentrate at school. I had considered staying at home but immediately decided against it. Not only because I wanted to see Hunter today, but also because I had promised him I’d go to Starbucks to apply for the job. At first, I was skeptical whether the job was for me or not, but after I texted Red about it, I was highly motivated to apply.

  It was just a small job, fifteen hours a week, but it would definitely help me make some extra money. I also didn’t have to be too nervous about the other workers. Red worked there too and had already said she would try and have shifts together with me.

  I already sent my online application, and three days after, I had been invited for a personal interview with the manager. Somehow, I had the feeling that Red had something to do with the unusually quick response.

  Right now, I was sitting in Hunter’s car in front of the coffee shop, nervously thrumming my fingers on the armrest while I eyed the entrance. I was ten minutes early and didn’t want to seem all too desperate for the job, so I was stalling in the car.

  I nearly flinched when Hunter’s hand suddenly shot forward and clasped mine tightly, interrupting my drumming. The look on his face was sixty percent amusement and forty percent annoyance.

  “Jules,” he said sternly, looking me straight in the eye. “Calm down. What are you so nervous about?”

  “Certain humiliation? Becoming the laughingstock of the entire shop? Answering every question wrong?” I suggested. “Never being able to go there again afterward? Oh God, that’d be awful. I’d have to drive to the other shop, which is fifteen minutes further away, every morning before school…”

  Hunter closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled loudly. “Jules, we already talked about this.”

  He let go of my hand and brought his to my hair again, fingers tangling in my curls and pulling me closer. Over the past few days, he developed an obsession with my hair, always burying his hands in it when we were kissing or absentmindedly brushing his fingers through it.

  “Your negative self-image is seriously starting to become a problem. If you’d only see yourself through my eyes for once…” He broke off, not finishing the sentence.

  “What do you mean?” I laughed.

  Hunter rolled his eyes at me, although he was still smiling. “Fishing for compliments, are we?”

  I huffed when he didn’t answer my question but dropped the subject and played along. “And why would I want you to compliment me?”

  “Because you like when I tell you nice things?” Hunter guessed.

  “I wouldn’t know,” I said, grinning provocatively. “When do you ever say nice things to me?”

  Hunter replied with a crooked smile, “Oh, alright.”

  I knew he was going to kiss me even before he actually pulled me closer. It was the look in his eyes and the way they were fixed on my mouth for a second that gave his intentions away. The kiss was shorter than I had anticipated and secretly hoped, his lips only brushing against mine for mere seconds before he pulled away. His face was only a few inches away from mine, his hands still in my hair and on the back of my neck.

  My eyes snapped open, but before I could complain, he said, “You’re beautiful.”

  I opened my mouth to reply, disagree maybe, but his next kiss smothered my answer. When he broke away again, I knew better than to try to say something in return when he muttered, “You’re intelligent.”

  Kiss. “You make me laugh.”

  Kiss. “You’re caring.”

  Kiss. “You’re brave.”

  The next kiss was longer, more passionate, leaving me breathless and feeling like my heart was beating out of my chest. When Hunter retreated, his eyes were sparkling, his forehead leaning against mine.

  “You feel so much better than stupid car races and fights and getting drunk at house parties.”

  I chuckled and lightly cupped his cheeks, brushing a stray strand of hair out of his eyes. “You say that now.”

  He stubbornly raised his chin. “And I’ll still say it in a few weeks and months and years.”

  The idea made my heart beat faster, and I leaned closer once more, kissing him until I had to break away for air. Then, with a look at the watch, I said, “I have to go inside now…How do I look?”

  “Perfect,” Hunter said without missing a beat and grinned at me while I glanced at the small rearview mirror.

  I grimaced when I saw that my hair was tousled and my lips red and slightly swollen. “Literally ev
eryone can see that I just made out with you.”

  Hunter reached out and adjusted the collar of my flannel. “Like I said, perfect.”

  Scowling at him, I got out of the car and only leaned inside once more to ask, “Are you gonna pick me up afterward?”

  “Sure,” he said cheerily. “You’ll smash that interview.”

  “Hopefully.” I sighed. “See you then.”

  After I slammed the door shut, I turned around and entered the coffee shop. The familiar scent of coffee and baked goods was somewhat soothing for my nerves, as was seeing Red behind the counter. She beckoned me over with a wide smile as soon as she spotted me.

  “Hey, J,” she said, ruffling my hair.

  Then she took a step back and eyed me intently. When she looked back up at my face, a knowing smirk was playing around her shockingly red lips, complete with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip.

  “You look a little…No, you look a lot like you just hooked up with leather-jacket-jerk. Did you?”

  I could tell that she was genuinely curious.

  “Jade!” I exclaimed. “No, I didn’t.”

  “Pity.” She laughed. Then she made a vague gesture towards the corridor leading to the restrooms. “Darryl’s office is right down there. You’re the last applicant, so make a good impression.”

  I nodded, taking a deep breath. “Okay, uhm…any advice?”

  “Just be yourself…in a version that’s a little less nervous. Or something.”

  “Great help, really.” I snorted and turned around.

  As I was walking towards the office, I could hear her shouting “Good luck, J!” after me, causing me to smile slightly despite my nerves. However, the smile quickly vanished once I was standing in front of the black door to the manager’s office. I took one last steadying breath and wiped my sweaty palms on my pants.

  Then I lifted my hand to knock, but I didn’t get that far. The door got yanked open from the inside, and I nearly got tackled to the ground by the tall man storming out of the room. With an audible gasp, I clung to the doorframe to keep my balance.

  The other man came to a stop, cursing under his breath before he turned around to me. When I looked up at his face, I was surprised to see that he was smiling, teeth flashing white against his dark skin, chocolate brown eyes with long lashes looking at me apologetically. He was muscular, the grey shirt stretching over toned muscles. Despite his build, he didn’t appear to be that much older than I was, maybe by four of five years.