A. Jackson: When We Met

I didn’t like it, didn’t like thinking this jerk was sleeping in Hunter’s room, didn’t like his things there or his thoughts there or his ripped, muscled body stretched out like Satan’s seduction across that bed.

And I really couldn’t stand the cocky grin that was playing all over one side of his perfect mouth.

But mostly I just hated that he managed to make me feel this way.

One of these days I was going to learn to trust my instincts. I’d had them that night with Hunter, this feeling sparking inside me, alerting me that something was off.

No day like the present.

“You wish,” I spat at him, doing my best to sound intimidating and not like some scared little creature who wanted to find a rock to hide behind.

My eyes made a pass over the yard, wishing that overnight a huge boulder had miraculously been dropped into our yard.

Nope.

No such luck.

He laughed, the sound thick and throaty and arrogant. Part of me wanted to smack him, while the other part wanted to beg him to do it again.

Damn it!

Damn him.

“I wish, huh?” He eyed me up and down. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

I huffed, and he chuckled again.

Refusing to submit myself to his torture any longer, I turned and stomped away, scolding myself under my breath. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I ranted, my lips moving silently as I pounded down the sidewalk toward campus. Mounds of curls bounced angrily around my face as I left Darryn Wild staring behind me. “I hate boys,” I muttered hard. “Jerks. Every last one of them.”

I was so angry he’d managed to make me stutter and stumble all over myself.

It didn’t matter if he was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen.

No way, not a chance.

I’d been there before.

And I wasn’t about to go there again.

Darryn

I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face as I watched her storm away. Thick, heavy black curls bounced all around her shoulders and down her back, her little hands twisted up in the tightest fists at her sides.

Like a feisty little kitten with a cute button nose and wide curious eyes, skittish and scared and completely naive.

Pretty sure I could have said boo and she would have run.

I chewed at my lip, fighting the grin.

Yeah, I knew her.

Knew her face and her name and that fucking incredible body, all curvy and full and just about the most damned perfect thing I’d ever seen.

Why I lied when she’d asked me such a pointed question, I didn’t know. I knew exactly what she’d been referring to, that video I’d been trying to get off my mind for the last month. But it was like she’d been pleading with those huge, hopeful eyes—brown eyes so dark they were nearly as black as her hair—to spare her, like a lie would be so much easier than the truth.

Or maybe it was because she was nothing like I expected. I expected some raving hot bitch, all sass and sex and mile-long legs, with pouty full lips and vacant black eyes.

What I wasn’t expecting was a girl who blushed so red I was pretty sure she was going to incinerate with just the slightest hint of attention. Didn’t expect a girl who stuttered over her own damned name.

God, I’d just spent the last five minutes being a total ass to her, egging her on, but I couldn’t help it. Every time she blushed, my dick stirred to life and my heart pounded a little too hard, this girl some kind of sweet contradiction, all sexy and shy and so damned adorable I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and never let her go. Couldn’t tell if I wanted to haul her off to snuggle up on the couch or tear all her clothes from her and teach her every dirty trick I knew.

But it became clear really fast.

This girl didn’t do dirty.

For a fleeting second, my eyes shot up to the room I’d rented out when Hunter was canned. Yeah. I knew him, too.

Anger spiked deep in my gut, and I sucked in a breath as I turned back to the curly mane of black stalking away from me, no doubt still cursing my name.

Hunter .

I was hit with the intense need to take the asshole out.

He needed to pay for treating a girl as sweet as Misha the way he had.

Guilt reared its ugly head, sneering at me, reminding me I was just as bad as the rest of them.

How many times had I fantasized about kissing the hell out of that pouty mouth? About my hands palming her hips while she rode me, her hair falling over her shoulders, just brushing over her full tits as I looked up at her while she drove me right out of my mind with pleasure?

Misha peeked back at me, her eyes going wide when she caught me still standing there ogling her as she walked away. For a second I saw her little kitty claws come out, like she was about to make a valiant attempt to protect her sweet little self, before she gave herself over to all the insecurities swimming so visibly in her eyes. But then she just ducked her head and rushed to turn the corner.

I shook my head, tossed my rag back to the engine of my car, and chuckled aloud. Thought I’d had a finger on her. Wasn’t even close.

But one thing hadn’t changed.

I still wanted to kiss the hell out of that pouty mouth.

Misha

My phone vibrated in my back pocket. I pulled it out and squinted at the screen as I navigated through the drove of students who were spilling out of the lecture hall.

A small smile pulled at my mouth when I read the needy message from Indy.

COFFEE?!?!

I tapped out a quick reply.

Be there in two :)

Changing course, I pushed through the throbbing herd of bodies, heading for Common Grounds, the little coffee shop Indy and I had made a habit of frequenting between classes last year. School had started last week. Indy was still having a really rough time after her breakup with Dean, and I was doing my best to spend as much time with my friend as I could, hoping my presence would ease her mind in some way. She’d worried me this last weekend, coming home so blitzed out I didn’t think she even knew her own name.

My days?

I risked peeking up at the faces that blazed by me without a care. There was no hint of recognition, not a soul who paid me any mind. Relief slipped through me, just under the surface of my skin, a buzzing gratitude flooding me as I gave thanks for the mercy I’d somehow been granted. I’d settled into some kind of routine, keeping my head down and my focus entirely on school and my internship. Each day that passed with no one saying anything to me just gave me another boost of confidence¸ an affirmation that I really belonged here.

Seeing my kids yesterday was confirmation.

I’d walked into that building and all of them had run up to me, calling my name as they laughed and smiled and hugged my legs.

Being with them was worth any amount of discomfort I might suffer here. Those kids . . . they were where I belonged.

I swung open the glass door and stepped into the bustling coffee shop. I inhaled deeply, hit with the overwhelming scent of coffee, warmth infiltrating my chest.

Yum.

The small space overflowed with people. Students clamored to get their caffeine fix as they rushed to get to the next place they needed to be. I popped up on my toes, craning my neck as I looked for the shock of red hair that could only belong to my friend.

“Hi.” It was uttered right next to my ear.

“Ah!” I jumped and spun around, finding Indy standing there grinning at me.

“Oh.” I flattened my hand on my chest. “You scared me.”

She rolled her green eyes. “How you can be startled in the middle of a busy store in broad daylight is beyond me.”

“Don’t judge me . . . I have keen senses.” I smiled up at her, tucking a thick lock of hair behind my ear as I looked back down.