Pursuit: A Bad Boy Romance

by Cristal Pierre

  “What the fuck is that?” Jared calls out when Nate starts to undress in front of him. Jared’s eyes land on Nate’s chest and at the teeth marks on his skin. It’s Alex who answers instead of Nate.

  “Laura wasn’t a Premium Lover for nothing.” Of course, Alex has to add a wink to that. “We’d invite you, but three is already a crowd.”

  “Pass,” Jared quickly says, shaking his head. He still doesn’t understand how Nate and Alex can be in an exclusive relationship with the same girl. He doesn’t understand, but he’s not going to judge. “Loser treats the other two to a month’s supply of whiskey?”

  There’s no hiding the smirk on Alex and Nate’s faces, and the two quickly bend down and rest the palms of their hands on the ground beneath them. Jared watches on as Alex and Nate start to shift, their skin growing thicker with jet-black fur and their pointed noses elongating into a snout. Jared then hears the sound of claws raking the dirt beneath, and he can’t help but shake his head and tip his lips up into a smirk at the sight of two gargantuan bears right in front of him.

  Never one to lose, Jared closes his eyes and lets his own transformation consume him. Then, a look at the mountain peak and resounding roars later and the three of them start racing to the top.

  Only less than a handful of humans know about their secret, with Laura being one of the rare few. And this secret of theirs is why Grant and their other friends can’t come. They aren’t shifters, and Jared, Alex, and Nate can’t risk more and more people knowing.

  More importantly, it’s probably one of the reasons why Jared has always been cautious of jumping into relationships. He can’t risk this secret just for any woman. And when that time comes that he finds his match – he’ll know. If Nate and Alex can reveal their secret to Laura, Jared can too – to the special woman in his life he has yet to meet.

  Chapter 2

  Jared has to admit that the Love in the Net app is both sophisticated and simple at the same time. There are no lags when it comes to loading the profiles, pictures, and even videos. Jared has to give Laura’s development team kudos for the efficient and streamlined system. Not to mention, he’s managed to navigate the app and explore its features without any difficulty. If Nate and Alex had gone up to him and asked for funding, he would have invested his own money. It’s too late for that now, and besides, Nate and Alex have more than enough money to fund their own companies. They don’t need Jared to get a slice of the pie as well.

  “Hmmm…” Jared hums, as his fingers click on the tab entitled ‘Matches’. After the page quickly loads, he’s surprised to see a tab filled with numbers.

  57%...93%...83%...91%...

  He tries not to laugh. He knows there’s research and proven data used to determine the compatibility ratings. Still, it’s just amusing to him how mathematics and science can now pair people up and determine whether two people are destined to love, or hate, one another.

  “Michelle…Smith…” Jared says to himself as he clicks on the woman’s picture. Long, voluminous blond hair and bright azure eyes – the woman’s beautiful, and Jared loves beautiful women. He glances at her profile and realizes why they may have gotten a 94% match rating. They both love the outdoors, working out, and animals. Jared can’t help but smirk at the last on her list of likes – animals. If only she knew…

  Then, he shakes his head. Michelle probably loves beagles, Persian cats, and bunnies, and not black bears over fourteen feet in height which can turn into humans. Besides that fact, Jared is heavily interested in messaging Michelle, so he doesn’t hesitate to send her a message through the app. If she replies and they click, then a date should be in the works.

  Jared’s busy looking at the list of ‘Premium Lovers’ and decides whether or not to bite the bait. Laura used to be one, and she’s one of the coolest chicks Jared’s ever met. Hopefully, these Premium Lovers have undergone a stringent application process to be considered as the best of the best the site has to offer. Jared has always been wary of scams, relationship scams most especially, so he’s still to pay the premium to gain access into contacting the Premium Lover of his choice. Then, he shakes his head. Laura’s the CEO; of course it isn’t a scam. Before he clicks the ‘Pay Now’ option, a ping sounds from his phone, alerting him of a new notification. When he checks it out, he sees that he just matched with someone else.

  Now Jared Harrison is intrigued. A 99% compatibility rating – it’s the highest he’s ever matched with anyone. It would be just stupid not to check out the woman’s profile.

  ‘Anna Coleman’ – Jared reads her headline, the text with the largest font. Then, he clicks on her profile picture to enlarge it. With deep set forest green eyes and wavy auburn hair flowing past her shoulders, the woman’s a beauty, in the innocent, cute, and sweet sort of way. She almost looks like a doll with the pale skin and doe eyes, and Jared is a bit confused on how he received a 99% match with Anna. She’s not his usual type. He’s usually attracted to tall, tanned, and gorgeous model-esque women, the ones with high cheekbones and looks that could undress, and Anna doesn’t fit the mold. That piques Jared’s curiosity all the more.

  A 99% match? The numbers don’t lie, right? Laura explained to him before, in the simplest way she could, the research behind the algorithm determining two people’s compatibility score. In the questionnaire Jared answered, he was asked certain physical features and personality traits he wanted in a woman. Using an equation involving a long list of variables, with each representing a particular trait, a couple’s compatibility rating was calculated. So Jared’s confused as to why he has a 99% rating with this Anna Coleman. It definitely isn’t because of her physical features. She is beautiful in her picture just not Jared’s type. Jared figures it’s most probably her personality. There’s nothing to lose, messaging Anna or not. Laura did promise him to give him his money back if he doesn’t find a girlfriend through Love in the Net.

  ‘Hey Anna, what’s a sweet woman like you doing on an online dating site?’

  Now, he just has to wait for her reply before he can ask her out.

  Chapter 3

  “And what’s someone like you doing on a dating website?” Anna Coleman asks, her doe-shaped forest green orbs looking at the hazel browns in front of her.

  The first time she walked into the restaurant, she didn’t have a hard time spotting Jared Harrison. In a sea of rowdy young adults, such as herself, Jared stood out, and in very good way. While men her age – she’s twenty-eight years old – love to take about the newest video game they bought or their newest conquest, Jared has a maturity fitting of his age and a charm just so youthful. To add to that, he has years of experience behind him and the way he talks about his travels and his time in the Navy piques Anna’s interest. To say the least, Anna is engrossed, so she can’t imagine why a man like Jared – handsome, fit, successful, and wealthy – has chosen to look for love online. He must have a trail of women following him wherever he goes.

  “My friend, Laura, wanted to help me out…” Jared, starts, peering at her over his glass of whiskey. “The blind dates weren’t effective, so she finally forced me to make an online dating profile…”

  “O-oh, y-you mean Laura Harmon?” Anna asks, stuttering in the beginning. “The CEO?”

  Jared nods his head. “She’s close with my good friends.” That’s probably the best way to describe Laura’s relationship with Nate and Alex without going into too much detail. He doesn’t even understand the three’s intertwined love life, what more Anna. “And how about you? I can ask you the same question.” Jared adds a small grin to his query, giving just a glimpse of his rows of white teeth.

  “I just wanted to get the full experience of dating…” Anna starts, and then she takes a long sip of her margarita.

  She’s feeling slightly nervous, even if she knows there’s nothing to worry about and she’s just psyching herself out. Jared has been nothing but friendly to her both online and offline. She’s just nervous, afraid to make a fool out of herself
in front of such an intelligent and successful man. She doesn’t want Jared to think she’s an idiot. Sure, she’s twelve years younger than he is, but there are a lot of twenty-somethings who are smart, intelligent, and successful.

  “And my friends tell me that online dating makes the dating scene a whole lot easier…” she then says. “If you can’t tell, I’m an awkward mess.”

  “I can’t tell,” Jared replies with a small grin, sending a compliment her way. “I know we barely know one another, but I can tell you’re mature for your age.” That pulls Anna’s lips up into an automatic smile. “You know that’s a good thing, right? It all depends on how you make use of what you have.” When Anna lets out a more relaxed sigh, Jared then says, “So tell me more about what you do…if I remember correctly, your profile says you work for a non-profit organization?”

  Anna tips her head into a quick nod and then says, “Yup…” She quickly corrects, “I mean, yes. I work as a project manager for Edu & Tech. Have you heard of it?”

  To her surprise, Jared nods his head. There’s a light in his eyes as he says, “You guys create programs and short courses in STEM for low income youth, right? And you also provide scholarships to your top performing students and offer career consultation services to those in the workforce.”

  “How do you-”

  “I’ve been donating for the past few years now…” he says, his eyes looking at something past her head. Jared’s deep in thought; that happens when he’s engrossed and deeply passionate about something. “I love the mission and what you guys do – promoting the STEM field and creating opportunities to those who otherwise don’t have the means and access to those opportunities.”

  “I’m really glad to hear that,” Anna starts, looking down at her plate in a shy gesture. “There are times when I second guess my life choices. I know working in a non-profit isn’t the most sustainable, financial wise, career option, but I really like what I do, and most days, I feel that’s enough.”

  “Trust me, that’s more than enough,” Jared then says, reaching across the table to close her hand in his. Anna jumps a bit in her seat at the contact, but then lets out a breath soon after. She doesn’t move though, and instead, lets his hand rest over hers. “I’m sure the feeling of having your students and your clients thank you for all the help and advice you’ve given them is priceless. It’s the same feeling I get when founders of the start-ups I invest in thank me for believing in them and their businesses. It’s really priceless.”

  “It’s irreplaceable, isn’t it?” Anna says in response. For two people more than a decade apart in age and coming from different backgrounds, it’s comforting to know they share something in common, and their passion of helping and advocacy of education and technology sure trumps the age difference.

  “Definitely,” Jared says, and when he takes a glance at his watch, that’s the only time he realizes that they’ve spent more than a couple of hours together. It feels like he just shook her hand and said ‘hello’ fifteen minutes ago. He doesn’t want tonight to end yet. For once, he’s actually thinking of setting up the second date before the first one even ends. “Are you in the mood for dessert? I hear their deep fried Oreos are a must-try.”

  Anna nods her head and lets out a light chuckle, and Jared loves the femininity of her voice and overall aura and appearance. “I can attest to that. It’s delicious, one of the best desserts I’ve ever tried.”

  Three minutes after the plate of dessert was set down between Jared and Anna and nothing was left of the deep-fried Oreo goodness. And that’s after Jared ordered for seconds. He’s even tempted to take home some, but Anna tells him that it won’t taste the same without the crunchiness of the meal being freshly cooked.

  “I can make you some next time,” Anna says instead, and Jared feels a slight twist in his chest at the proposal. “Last time I experimented with deep-fried Oreos, it tasted almost the same as this place’s.”

  For such a soft-spoken and conservative woman, Anna Coleman sure knows what to say during a date. She says she’s shy and introverted. Jared can see that, but he also knows there’s a certain charm and aura surrounding Anna that makes her a quiet and cool kind of confident persona.

  “I’m going to hold you to that,” Jared says, elated, and to add, he can’t help but give her a wink. “How about I take you home right now, so you can start cooking me some dessert?”

  “Not so fast,” Anna says, chuckling and covering her mouth with a hand. “I still have to do my groceries. But really, thank you for tonight…” she says before she glances at her watch. “It’s getting late, and I have an early start tomorrow. Do you mind if we end the night?”

  A little bit shocked, Jared nods his head. It takes him a while before he says, “Of course. Let me take you home.”

  And as he stands in front of her apartment door, he has no idea what’s going to happen next. Usually, this is the part where the woman invites him in, and he’ll give her the best night of her life and rock her world…and possibly break some bedroom furniture. However, Jared knows Anna isn’t the type. She’s more of an introvert and less confident about herself. With the way she’s pulling and twisting at her fingers, Jared can tell she’s nervous even if she has no reason to be.

  “Well, thank you again…” Anna says, her back against her door. “I really had a great time.”

  “Yeah, me too…” he says, purposely talking slower than usual, as if he’s trailing off. He’s waiting for an invitation. Tonight has been so great he can’t just let it end.

  “Well, goodnight then,” she says, moving closer to give him a one-armed hug.

  Fuck. And just like that, Jared’s little fellow down below goes limp. He can take a hint. He’s not getting any tonight.

  “Goodnight,” he says, and just before Anna opens her door and steps inside her apartment, he decides he can’t let her go that easily. “Can I take you out again?”

  When Anna tips her lips up into an ear-to-ear grin, he can’t help but match the happiness on her face with a smile of his own.

  Then, Anna nods her head and then says, “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Chapter 4

  “Seriously, man?” Jared starts. “Is Laura a shifter, and you all haven’t told me? I don’t even want to know the kind of sex you have…”

  Jared takes another look at Alex’s bare torso. There’s a fresh batch of teeth marks embedded into his skin. There are markings all over – from his neck to his chest and even on his back. Alex takes a clean shirt out from his backpack and pushes it down over his head. Jared does the same and reaches for the pile of new clothes he’s hidden beside a rock. It’s a half hour past midnight, and the full moon is high up above them, its moonlight eliciting a soft glow that lights up the ground beneath their feet. There’s no better time to shift than during a full moon when their shifter abilities, their strength and speed most especially, are on an inhuman level.

  The run they just had was the best they’ve had in a month, since the last full moon more specifically. Now, they’re just lounging at the base of the mountain catching their breaths and letting the hours pass. It’s too early for them to head home, and it’s not every day that the two of them can get some one-on-one time and talk about more serious matters. Alex is usually with either Nate or Laura, or both at the same time, and Jared has a lot of things going on in his own life. They have their weekly barbecues or guy’s night out with Grant and the rest, but it’s hard to get personal time with each of the men.

  “Why do you always bring it up? Jealous?” Alex asks, letting out a chuckle, as he puts his pants on. “Dry in the sack?”

  “Ha. Very funny,” Jared says in response, and to hit back, “She may be great in bed, but you’re still sharing her with Nate.” All in good fun. The two aren’t immature to get into a fight because of a series of harmless jabs. Jared knows what to and what not to say. He won’t cross the line, and Alex knows to do the same. “But on a serious note, how does that work?” At this
, Jared meets Alex’s eyes, genuinely curious as to the dynamic among Alex, Nate, and Laura. “Are you three always together? And the sleeping arrangements?” There’s no missing the grimace on Jared’s face when he asks, “Do you three share a bed at night?!”

  “Why?” Alex cocks a mischievous eyebrow up. “Do you want to join?”

  “Like there’s any space left,” he plays along. “But seriously, do you three ever think about what’s going to happen in the future? Sharing with another person and with your best friend especially?”

  This time, Alex lets out a heavy sigh as he leans his torso against a tree bark. “Honestly…when you love someone, nothing else really matters…”

  Jared lets out a low whistle. “Well then, you’re in deep shit, my friend.” To add salt to the injury, “Deep shit, I tell you.”

  “Since when did our runs become a heart-to-heart talk?” questions Alex, trying to veer away from the topic of conversation. “What’s up with you?”

  Jared shrugs his shoulders and takes a seat on one of the larger boulders. “Nothing much.”