Hunter

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3

As they rode back into town, Van had his minds on more than the food. He knew Hunter would turn out to be a great f**k. Van couldn’t believe how much a kiss had gotten his heart pumping and his d**k at full attention. Oh, he was definitely a kissing type of guy, but hell if he could ever remember feeling like he did from just a kiss. Hunter’s kiss consumed him, body and soul. He felt the pull of his hair and the glide of Hunter’s tongue, and he could smell the leather and the outdoors, but it was more. He had to slow down. This guy could break his heart in an instant. Hunter didn’t seem like the type of guy who wanted to settle down. He seemed like a loner.

Jesus, Van, get a grip! It was a few pecks and a hot as hell kiss. Who the hell was talking about settling down?

All too soon, they were back in town, and Van felt smitten. Lost in a good way.

“Park wherever we can. The pub is on the next corner, but the closer you get, the harder it is to find a spot. It’s a nice night anyways, and-” Van snapped his mouth shut.

“Relax, babe.” Hunter groaned.

Van could tell the endearment came out before Hunter could stop it. Babe? Wow. What Van would do to be called babe by Hunter again. Man, it made his heart beat fast and his d**k harden.

“Okay. Sorry. I tend to rattle on when I…” Van froze, then chuckled.

As they walked to the pub, Van looked over at Hunter, trying not to be conspicuous in doing so. Hunter had a confidence about him, a kind of an “I’m a badass, don’t f**k with me” vibe that instantly got looks from everyone around. But it didn’t seem to faze Hunter in the least. He just had control and walked like he owned the place, as though it came naturally to him.

“Cute little town you got here.” Hunter winked. “How long have you lived here?”

People on both sides of the street waited for the light to change. The streets were jam packed with motorcycles, trucks, and every muscle car known to man. These partiers would stop for no one, and Van didn’t want to take any chances with crossing when the traffic was this busy.

“All my life, actually. I grew up just north of here at the edge of town. My family still lives there. Now I live just about three miles from here in an industrial-type condo Matty and I remodeled.”

Quirking his brow, Hunter stared at Van. “Matty?” Hunter all but growled in that sexy, deep voice of his.

“Yeah, the guy you saw me with earlier. Matt’s my best friend and roommate.” Van gestured towards the front door of the out-of-the-way pub with no name on the door.

As they entered the dimly lit pub, a younger-looking, GQ type guy stood at the hostess station.

“Van? It’s been so long!”

Hunter placed his hand on Van’s lower back It felt to Van like claiming ownership, and he loved every second of it.

“Hey, Mikey. Yeah, it’s been a while. Uh, this is Hunter. Hunter, this is Mikey. We grew up together.” Van wanted to stress that fact because when Mikey came over, looking like he was checking out Van’s body, Hunter took a subtle step forward and his eyes flashed at the guy.

Mikey immediately went back to the hostess station to grab menus, grinning like an i***t. “Right this way,” he said, winking at Van so Hunter couldn’t see. Van winked back with the same smile on his face.

* * * *

Hunter waited for Van to take his seat and glared at Mikey before he sat down close to Van. Hunter couldn’t believe the way he was acting, basically claiming Van as his when he only just met the man. But, damn it, he wanted a piece, and no goody-two-shoes, model-looking guy was going to grab what was his. Mikey handed them menus and took their drink orders quickly while he grinned like an i***t again, then left them.

“So you know every guy in the area?” Hunter all but growled, surprised at himself. He usually didn’t give two f***s about guys flirting with a guy he was with, but Van felt different to him, different in ways he wasn’t ready to think too hard about.

“Yeah, well, it’s a small town, if you didn’t notice,” Van answered with a smile. “Besides, during the summer, the beaches fill up with out-of-towners. We all pretty much grew up together. You know how small towns are.”

Pretending to look at the menu, Hunter took a long look at Van. Van was sexy and rugged, definitely, but he also had a sweet, boy-next-door look about him, too. The man intrigued him, but knew, with his devil-may-care attitude, hooking up with a guy like Van was not in the cards. He liked the open road, no worries and no white picket fence. He liked his freedom.

“Where are you from, Hunter?” Van asked.

“Well, my family…”

“Here are your drinks. Do you know what you would like to eat?” A pretty blonde waitress leaned over Hunter, showing off her abundance of cleavage. She seemed like she was trying to get even closer to him, smiling in an “I want to f**k you” kind of way.

If she crawled any closer, she would have ended up on his lap. When he looked up at Van, he could see the jealousy pouring off the man in waves. Hunter felt strangely satisfied with that show of jealousy. Van glared at the waitress, looking like he wanted to rip her hair out when he noticed Hunter grinning at him.

“Yes, Melody. I would like to have,” Van interrupted her whispered words to Hunter.

“We would like to share some nachos and a dozen hot wings, please.” Hunter cut off Melody’s whispering, then reached across the table and took Van’s hand, winking to acknowledge the ruffled feathers.

Melody glared at Van, huffed, and walked away.

* * * *

“Jesus, I don’t know where that came from. Sorry!” Smiling sheepishly, Van took a long drink of his beer and needed a minute before he could look up at Hunter.

“Look at me,” Hunter said softly. It came out as a command, and it instantly set Van on fire.

Bringing his eyes slowly up, Van looked straight into Hunter’s, and what he saw there stunned him. Hunter’s eyes were hungry, and it made Van even hotter. Van wanted to let Hunter know what he felt, but he was afraid of scaring the guy off. He felt possessed by Hunter, whole body and soul.

“Um, you were saying about your family?” Van whispered.

“Yeah, they all live in Clutterfarms, Georgia. It’s a small farming town. My parents and my brother, Ethan, live there. They run the farm, along with several cowboys and a ranch manager. My dad and bro have another business on the side, kind of a search and rescue type thing. Dad was a long-time FBI agent, just retired.”