by Jade Kuzma
He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath. All of the disappointment in his face had disappeared, replaced by a determination that I’d seen before.
I racked my brain for anything I could say to get him to reconsider. But there was nothing.
“I have to go now,” he said.
“You don’t have to go. Hunter, please… Don’t do this… Don’t leave… You’re… You’re my friend.”
“Being your friend is the exact reason I have to leave. You’ll never succeed with someone like me around.”
“I’ve succeeded so far. I’ve done just fine.”
“Because that’s the kind of person you are. When I’m gone, you’ll understand how much I’ve been holding you back.”
He smirked softly at me.
“Now you don’t have to badger me about coming back to school.”
Even at a time like this, he still found a way to make a joke about it.
I walked toward him and wrapped my arms around him. I held him tighter than I’d ever hugged him before. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d ever been this close to him.
I didn’t want to let him go. But he wasn’t hugging me back. He was just sitting on his seat, waiting for me to finally pull away.
Resigned to the fact that he was leaving, I tried to do whatever it was I could to make this easier.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” I asked.
That smile on his face had never looked so confident.
“I can take care of myself. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Am I ever going to see you again?”
He didn’t answer me immediately. He just stared off into the distance.
Maybe there’s still a chance.
“Maybe you should think about it. Sleep on it. Just for tonight. Maybe you can—”
Hunter shook his head to quiet me.
No… There was no more chance…
“We’re still friends, right?” I asked.
Hunter put his head down for a second before looking back up at me with a smile. He nodded softly.
“I have to go now,” he said. “I can’t take being in this town any longer. The sooner we both move on, the easier this will be for the both of us.”
My head dropped in disappointment. Hunter suddenly took my hand in his. I raised my head up, hoping that he’d changed his mind for some reason even though I knew there was no chance of that.
“Graduate,” he said. “Go to college. Be as successful as you can be. The only person who matters is you.”
“My friends matter to me. You matter to me.”
“If I matter to you, you’ll listen to me and push yourself. Don’t look to anybody else. You are all that matters.”
He dropped my hand and my heart sank in my chest.
“Goodbye, Faye.”
Hunter gave me one last glance before he popped his helmet on and revved his engine. I stood there helplessly and watched as he pulled out his driveway and headed down the street. I watched him the whole way until he disappeared into the distance.
Thunder cracked in the air. The wind howled. The rain poured down even harder. I was numb to all of it.
The only thing I could feel was the warmth from the tears on my cheeks.
Just like that, he was gone. A childhood friend who’d been with me through everything. My life would never be the same without him.
Chapter 13
FAYE
Alvarez was so happy with the results of the game with Hunter that he gave me the rest of the night off. There wasn’t much need for me to be around when he could enjoy his money like he always did.
I sent a message to Hunter and I was off to Ivory to see him. It was a short trip from Holt County city limits to the outskirts of the small town where Hunter was staying. It wasn’t nearly long enough for me to explain what I had to say to him.
The truth was there was no way to hide what I’d done. I had to tell him what had happened. I owed him that much.
I got to Hunter’s hotel and knocked on the door. There was no response, so I knocked again. A text went unanswered.
“Dammit…”
I knew Hunter was in there. I started to fear the worst when I saw the door was slightly ajar.
The room was dark. There wasn’t much light except for what was shining in through the half-open window. Hunter’s dark silhouette sat in a chair next to the window. A bottle of whiskey was opened and it was half-empty. Smoke rose from the tip of his cigarette as he took a long inhale.
“Hunter…”
I inched toward him like he was a wild animal I didn’t want to startle.
“Hunter, are you all right?”
“…Shit,” he sighed to himself.
I stood there anxiously, waiting for him to do something. But he didn’t move. He just calmly smoked his cigarette while he poured himself another glass full of liquor.
“I remember when I got to the city,” he said. “I didn’t have much money on me. I knew it wouldn’t last me long so I ended up getting a job as a dishwasher at some Chinese joint. The hours were long. The conditions were miserable. The pay was dog shit. But they gave me a place to stay and I had something to eat.
“One night, I finally got a day off. I decided to go out into the city. Don’t know what came over me. Figured I would see what was out there.
“I ran into some guys on the street. They were playing three-card monte. You know what that is, right?”
Hunter wasn’t looking at me. He was just staring at the wall in front of him but I nodded to him anyway.
“They offered to let me play. I figured it was an easy way to make a few bucks. So I put my money down and guess what happened?”
“What happened?”
“I lost it. You always lose when you deal with those hustlers on the street. It was worth the money I paid though. I figured it was payment for a lesson learned. Never get into a game with people you can’t trust. You can never win.”
He slowly turned toward me. The way the moonlight reflected on his chiseled face made his stare more intense than it already was. Gray eyes peering at me through the darkness like he was searching for something inside of me.
“I thought you were someone I could trust,” he said. “I never thought I would lose a game when you were involved.”
“Hunter, you don’t understand—”
“He knew. Even from across the table, Alvarez… knew. You can’t spot it unless you’re looking for it. Metal detectors don’t pick it up because it’s plastic.”
I swallowed anxiously because I knew what was coming. I was still racking my brain for an answer but the only thing I could find was the truth.
“How did he know, Faye?”
“I… I…”
Hunter clenched his jaw. He started breathing harder through his nose.
“I…”
“Tell me!”
He raised his voice so suddenly that I almost fell over.
“How did he know, Faye?”
He got up from his seat and looked me right in the eye. I couldn’t hold it back any longer.
“I… I told him.”
“You told him…”
“I told him that you had it.”
“Why did you tell him?”
“I told him so that… he would win.”
Hunter nodded, no longer as angry as he appeared for that split-second. Despite that, there was a still a tension in the room that I wanted to get rid of. I would do anything to calm the pain that was in Hunter’s heart right now.
“You’re his assistant,” he said. “Of course you told him. How could you do anything else?”
“Hunter, I can explain…”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m…”
He put his hands on his hips and shook his head.
“…I’m dead. I’m fucking dead.”
What?
I narrowed my eyes at him, unsure that I’d heard him correctly.
He closed his eyes and gritt
ed his teeth like he was trying to hold something back.
“Hunter…”
I slowly inched closer to him and gently put a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and stared at me. Then the strangest thing happened.
He smirked at me. I guess it wasn’t that strange, considering who he was. Hunter found a way to smile in every situation. As dire as this seemed, he was still smiling.
“Did you just say—”
“Don’t worry about me,” he interrupted me. “I can take care of myself.”
“But you just said that you’re dead. What the hell does that mean?”
He took a step toward me and put a hand on my cheek. I closed my eyes and enjoyed his rough palm against my skin. He brushed my hair back behind my ear.
“I always thought you were so beautiful,” he said, his voice suddenly soft. “I dreamed about being with you all the time.”
I slowly opened my eyes and saw him staring down at me. I could smell everything. His leather jacket. The smoke and liquor. His masculine scent underneath it all. Everything about Hunter consumed me to the point that I forgot everything that just happened.
“Hunter…”
I reached my hand up and pressed it against his chest. I rubbed over his shirt and felt the hard muscles underneath. I swore I could hear his heart thumping underneath it.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“You don’t have to apologize. You were just doing your job.”
He leaned forward suddenly and put his mouth on mine.
I didn’t make the wrong decision. I didn’t have a choice. Still, it hurt me to do what I did to him. I had to make it up to him. I had to do everything I could to keep whatever it was we had between us.
I lowered my hand down and started unbuckling his belt. He kept moving his hands down and pushed my skirt down. I undid his jeans and let them fall to the floor. The entire time, our lips remained locked together in a messy kiss.
This was my turn though. I had to show him how sorry I was.
I fell to my knees without hesitating. His cock hung between his legs after I pulled his underwear down. I reached out with my tongue and licked it. It twitched with life. I stuck my lips out and sealed them around his tip. I sucked and swallowed his dick, wetting it with my tongue.
Hunter let out a deep sigh of satisfaction. I could sense all of the strain of whatever he was going through leaving him. This was only the beginning.
I bobbed my head back and forth. His cock swelled inside my mouth. There was something so satisfying about being able to make him so stiff. Hunter’s dick grew in size to the point that I couldn’t take it all in.
But Hunter didn’t seem to care at this point. He ran a hand over the back of my head and grabbed the bun my hair was in. A sudden thrust forced his entire length down into my throat. I gagged but somehow managed to hold back.
“Open your throat…”
I followed his instructions and took it all. Hunter rifled his hips back and forth, pushing his cock so far down my throat that I couldn’t breathe. His hand remained tight in my hair. His other hand squeezed my shoulder to keep me in place.
I reached up with my hands and grabbed his waist to brace myself. I stayed on my knees. A combination of agony and ecstasy washed over my body.
Spit started to drip down my chin in thick webs. My eyes started to water. My chest burned from how hard it was to breathe. If you told me years ago that I’d be going down on the man I’d called my friend for so many years, I wouldn’t have believed you. But now that it was happening, I wondered how I was able to go so long without it.
“You cheated me,” he grunted. “It’s your fault… I won… I won…”
He pulled his cock out of my mouth. A deep gasp rushed all of the air into my lungs. I blinked my eyes as he forced me to look up at him.
“You didn’t have a choice… He’s your boss…”
“Hunter, I’m sorry—”
Hunter cut me off by shoving his dick back into my mouth. I swallowed and gagged on him again. His masculine grunts and the messy sound of me choking on his dick filled the room.
I braced myself by squeezing his muscled ass even tighter. I dug my nails into his skin, trying to push him closer to the edge. Some of his cum was spilling out. I swallowed it down and my mouth watered in eager anticipation for more.
“Faye…”
He pulled me off of him.
“Give it to me,” I pleaded with him. “Come in my mouth. I’ll swallow it for you. Please—”
He filled my mouth up again. We were both desperate for it at this point.
His cock trembled to the point that I knew he was close. I reached a hand up and massaged his balls as they tightened up against his body.
Hunter’s grunts grew shorter and shorter before he suddenly held his breath. He stopped pumping for a split second before grunting loudly.
Unintelligible groans were followed by a splash of his seed landing on my tongue. I licked the underside of his shaft as it pulsed with more of his cum. I gulped it down and enjoyed the taste. Having Hunter come in my mouth was as enjoyable as coming myself. I wanted to please him. I wanted to make him feel better. I wanted to give him the release he needed. Anything to escape whatever it was he was going through.
I sealed my lips around him and squeezed the last few drops out of him when his cock started to soften.
His breaths were quiet. His hands moved away from me. The sexual energy in the room had suddenly disappeared.
Hunter collapsed back into his seat and stared out toward the window. He sighed a deep breath and shook his head.
“I was right,” he said. “I am a fuck-up. I’ve always been a fuck-up.”
I got back up to my feet and sat on the edge of his bed.
“Hunter… Hunter, what’s wrong? Tell me. Please. I can help—”
He turned to me, his face emotionless.
“You always got into trouble when you were around me,” he said. “Telling Alvarez was the right decision.”
“But there must be something I can do. Did you need the money or something? Let me help you.”
“I know you wouldn’t have told Alvarez if you didn’t have a good reason. I always told you to do whatever it is you have to do for yourself.”
“But—”
“This is my problem, Faye. I’ll handle it myself.”
Hunter turned back out the window and stared into the distance. I looked out into the city with him.
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
“It’s not that late… I think I’m gonna head out for another drink.”
“It looks like you’ve already been drinking all night.”
“Not enough…”
Chapter 14
HUNTER
I tapped my fingers on the counter and stared at the half-empty glass in front of me. I was too distracted to even drink it though. All of the shit swirling around in my fucking head was starting to get to me. It didn’t help that I already drank too much in my hotel room.
“You going to drink that or are you just going to stare at it all night?”
Hearing Faye’s voice was the only thing that kept me sane at this point. It was soothing enough to even make me smile.
“I think I’m just gonna stare at it all night,” I sighed.
“What’s going on with you, Hunter?”
I finally picked the glass up and swallowed it down.
“The same shit that’s been going on my whole life,” I sighed.
“Why can’t you tell me?”
I turned toward Faye. The frown on her face wasn’t subtle. I always cared about her, so it was never a good feeling to see her the way she was now. A woman like her didn’t deserve to be as sad as she was at the moment.
“Do you remember the night I left?” I asked. “When I headed out to the big city…”
“How could I forget something like that?”
“Do you remember what I said to you?”
�
��You said a lot of things.”
“I did… But I only said all that shit to get my point across.”
I looked into her eyes and couldn’t help but smile.
“I was right,” I said. “Sticking around someone like me will only get you into trouble. I was always holding you back.”
“You were gone for six years. My life isn’t any better than it was then.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. There was something she wasn’t telling me. The woman she was probably cared more about the shit I was going through though. That didn’t make me feel good about myself.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “You just keep doing what you have to do. I can handle my own problems.”
“Hey! Look who’s back!”
A sudden pat on my shoulder made me turn my head in the opposite direction. The club member who ran the joint greeted me with the biggest shit-eating grin I’d ever seen.
I glanced down at the patch on his chest to remember his name.
“Cain…” I said. “Venom… Whatever your name is.”
“Jacobson. What brings you back to a lovely place like Hades?”
“It’s a lovely place. Why wouldn’t I wanna come back to a place like this?”
He looked over my shoulder and glanced at Faye.
“I see you brought a friend,” he said.
“What? Oh… Yeah… That’s Faye. Faye, this is… What’s your name again, pal?”
“Sebastian Cain,” he greeted her. “It’s always nice to have a beautiful woman in the place. You ever think about letting your hair down?”
“I—”
“Her hair is just fine the way it is,” I stopped Faye from answering and put a hand up.
“Okay, okay,” Cain said. “It’s a free country. Say…”
He glanced down at the empty glass on the counter.
“…You done drinking tonight?”
“I think I’ve had enough,” I said.
“How about one more for the road? On the house since you’re such a loyal customer.”
I didn’t bother telling him that I wouldn’t be around for much longer. I shrugged and Cain signaled for the bartender to pour me another shot.
“You enjoy the rest of your night now.”
Cain patted me on the back and walked away to join the rest of the small crowd that had gathered in the place.