“I love you, Mamma G.”
“Love you more than anything in the world,” she says. “I have to run. My chunk of hunk hasn’t had breakfast yet, and he’s probably prowling a ditch in the floor outside the bedroom door.”
“Yeah, go… uhm… feed him,” I say awkwardly.
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” she snaps, then with a chuckle, she explains, “I’m talking about actual food.”
I begin to laugh. “My bad. Thanks for listening to me.”
“Always.”
I drop the phone and lie down on the floor, closing my eyes.
Well, that conversation just happened.
Chapter 17
HUNTER
Since I overhead Kao and Jade, the words have been playing on a non-stop loop in my mind.
Who are you falling for?
Is she in love with someone?
There’s a sinking feeling in my gut that has me coming to a sudden halt on the pavement.
“Why are you stopping?” Jase asks, glancing around us to see what got my attention.
Turning my head to Kao, I ask, “Is Jade in love with someone?”
“Fuck if I know,” he shrugs. “I just overheard her yelling I’m falling for him as I was passing by her room.”
“For real?” Noah asks.
Jase lets out a chuckle. “Well, I’m not surprised.”
All three of our heads snap toward Jase. “What do you know that we don’t?” Kao asks the question I’m thinking.
Jase just shrugs.
Noah pats him on the shoulder then gestures toward the lecture halls. “See you later. Kao and I have to get to class.”
Jase and I watch them walk away, then he turns a grin to me and wags his eyebrows.
“Is that code for something?” I ask as I begin to walk again. Our lecture is at nine, so we’re on our way to grab some breakfast.
We begin to walk again, and Jase just keeps grinning like an idiot.
“Seriously, what do you know?” I ask, frustration sharpening my words.
He shrugs again. “I’m just glad I won’t be the only one walking around with blue balls.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
We enter the restaurant and go to our usual table. Sitting down, I stare at Jase until he says, “You and Jade.”
“What about us?” Letting out a sigh, I ask, “Are we even having the same conversation?”
We give our orders to the waiter before Jase answers, “Now that you’re done fighting, y’all are hot for each other.”
“Huh?” I blink at him like an idiot.
Jase rests his elbows on the table, leaning closer to me. “You were teasing her this morning about sitting on your lap.”
“So?” Fuck, I’m lost.
He sucks in a deep breath and glances up as if he’s running out of patience. “Dude, you were flirting with Jade.”
The expression on my face goes blank, and all I can do is stare at Jase.
I was?
Fuck, I was.
“I think Jade was talking about you,” Jase continues with his sudden burst of wisdom. “Think about it. You flirted with her, and she made a run for her room. She probably called someone to talk to, seeing as you confused the fuck out of her.”
Christ. I so did not see this coming.
I rub a hand over my face and let out a sigh. “You really think she was talking about me?”
“Yep, after that hot kiss at the club, there’s no doubt in my mind,” he states.
A waiter brings our coffee, and I watch as Jase drinks his. He doesn’t know about the second kiss.
“I kissed her again,” I admit.
Jase chokes and spews coffee over the whole damn table. I dart back, almost falling over in my hurry to get away from the flying liquid.
A server rushes to our table and begins to wipe up the mess.
“What happened here?” Fallon asks, having just entered the restaurant.
My head snaps up. “Jase spat his coffee everywhere.”
“His fault,” Jase croaks before he coughs.
Fallon and Hana sit down, and Hana asks, “What did you do?”
“Me?” I give them an innocent look. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit,” Jase coughs. Pointing his finger at me, he says, “Hunter was just about to tell me about his second kiss with Jade.”
“What?” both the girls gasp. Fallon scoots closer to me, “When did this happen? Tell us everything!”
I let out a chuckle, but it quickly fades when I think of the disastrous kiss. “It… I… I fucked up.”
All three of their faces instantly sober up, and they all stare at me until I admit, “It was the night I got a little drunk at Studio 9.” I drop my eyes to the table. “We got into another fight, and then I lost my shit and kissed Jade.” When I only get silence, I glance up. They’re just staring at me, waiting for more. “I forced the kiss on Jade.”
Fallon’s the first to react. She darts in my direction and slaps me upside the head, and then Jase follows up with punching the shit out of my shoulder.
But my eyes go to Hana, and when she drops her eyes from mine, and a sad look settles on her face, I feel like dog shit all over again.
“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” I try to explain.
Hana just nods, not looking at me. She begins to get up, which has me darting out of my chair. I grab hold of her arm before she can walk away.
It’s grown quiet in the restaurant, and I know everyone can hear our conversation when I say, “Don’t walk away. Please. Let me explain.”
Hana lets out a sigh and glancing at me with a trembling chin, she gives in and goes to sit down again. I take the chair next to hers and pull her into a hug. “I’m sorry, Hana. I had too much to drink that night, and I know it’s no excuse. I feel like shit.”
“It doesn’t matter how you feel,” she mutters. When her eyes meet mine, there’s a world of pain in them I didn’t expect to see. “It only matters how you made Jade feel. She was supposed to be safe with you, and she wasn’t.”
My heart begins to beat harder. “I get a feeling we’re not talking about Jade and me.”
Hana quickly drops her gaze from mine and whispers, “We are talking about you.”
Anger ripples over my body, and breathing speeds up. “What happened, Hana?”
She keeps staring down, and then her eyes drift close. The distraught look on her face knocks the air from my lungs.
Jase’s eyes are glued to Hana, worry darkening his features.
Fallon wraps an arm around Hana’s shoulders, and pressing her head to Hana’s, she whispers, “Did something happen?”
Hana just nods.
I’m going to kill someone.
“Tell us,” Jase demands, his voice as dark as the emotions wreaking hell inside of me.
“I can’t.” Hana looks up at us, a pleading look on her face. “I’m dealing with it. Things are just hard right now.”
“Did something happen with Tristan?” Fallon asks.
Hana quickly shakes her head. “No! No, he has nothing to do with this. You can’t tell him anything.”