Odd feelings

TRISTAN

No fucking way!

I could only gape in shock as my brain processed what my eyes were looking at.

Because standing behind the smudged glass of this local pizzeria was Hunter Beaumont.

The ridiculously bright yellow pizza hat sitting on his head and the matching polo shirt made it painfully obvious what he was doing.

Hunter Beaumont, the most arrogant asshole in this world, was a pizza server at a shitty dive? 

Shocked but amused, laughter tickled the back of my throat as I sat on Carter's bike, watching him clear sticky tables and hand out cheap paper plates.

What the fuck?

Had it really gotten that bad for his folks?

Coach explained they went bankrupt after his father stole some money or whatever, but weren't rich people supposed to have emergency funds they could fall back on?

I mean, in the dramas my sister forces me to watch with her sometimes, the rich folks did.

Damn. As I kept staring, the low purr of a high-class sports car cut through the ambient night noise. I narrowed my eyes cuz vehicles like that didn't roll down these trashed, pothole-covered side streets.

It had to be here for Beaumont. 

The passenger door swung open right then, and a girl stepped out onto the pavement. I recognized her instantly.

The last time I'd seen that face, it was buried between Beaumont's legs.

She looked outrageously out of place here, and the sneer on her face told me she knew it too.

I bit back an eye roll. She was just like her boyfriend--an entitlted elitist idiot who thought the air outside their bubble was too dirty to breathe.

As she stepped forward, the driver's side door opened too, and a guy walked out. He seemed vaguely familiar, and after racking my brain, I realized he was the co-captain of the Lice Reapers. 

My eyebrows nearly touched my forehead as he casually slid a hand around her waist.

Nahhhh. It couldn't be what I was thinking.

I watched with rapt attention as they made their way into the diner.

From my spot across the street, I obviously couldn't hear whatever was being said, but Beaumont's face might as well have been a transcript. 

In the next second, the girl leaned up and kissed the other guy right in front of him.

Beaumont didn't seem to take it well, and he lunged at the guy, but a blow was delivered right into his gut, and he was sent crashing into the table beside him.

My heart gave a sudden, violent lurch in my chest. 

As my fingers clenched into fists, I slowly realized the feeling spread through me. I was angry...really fucking mad.

Why the fuck was I angry on Beaumont's behalf? I should be celebrating. In fact, I should be laughing my ass off that the arrogant asshole was finally getting a taste of his own medicine.

He was so quick to humiliate others. But watching him pick himself up while the other guy mocked him, my guts twisted into knots.

I didn't even realize how hard I was gripping the keys until the sharp metal sliced into my palm.

Whoever had eyes could see that just happened. Hunter's girlfriend had dumped him.

It was none of my fucking business, but my teeth just fucking clenched. Nobody else had the right to treat Hunter Beaumont like shit except me. With me, he deserved it because he always ran his fucking mouth.

I wanted to storm over and punch that asshole in the face, but as the thought crossed my mind, the pair walked out of the building, leaving Beaumont with this gutted look I didn't recognize on his usually smug face.

Fuck.

That was my cue to leave as well. I'd seen enough, but my shoes felt glued to the asphalt, and I couldn't fucking move.

Cursing under my breath, I stashed the keys and strode across the street, nearly getting hit by a speeding car that didn't have its headlights on.

Once my heartbeat went back to normal, I slipped behind the diner's back exit.

God, what the hell was I doing waiting around?

This was the most idiotic thing I'd ever done.

But as I stood here, I convinced myself I only stayed so I could rub his face in the dirt and mock him.

Just as I started to think twice about my plan, the metal back door creaked open, and Beaumont stepped out into the night, clutching a black trash bag.

"That was pretty ironic."

At the sound of my voice, Beaumont jumped out of his skin, nearly kicking the dumpster over as he let out a harsh, "Jesus, fuck, you startled me!"

I only smirked, leaning against the brick wall. But as he twisted around, the dim building light hit his face.

Fuck, I hadn't seen all his bruises up close until now.

Hungrily, my eyes traced over the purpling bruises on his face, the split lip, and black eye. Fuck, he looked... insanely hot, the bruises giving his usually perfect face a roughed-up edge it'd badly needed.

My fingers itched to trace the outline of that black eye and press down on it until he cried out.

Okay, where the fuck did that come from?

I slammed the door shut on that thought, panic spiking in my chest. I shouldn't be thinking about Hunter Beaumont like that. I shouldn't even be here right now.

 "The fuck do you want, Reeves?" His voice jerked me out of my thoughts.

That usually was my line whenever he was annoying me. Crazy how the tables turned.

Unable to fight the stupid grin that twisted my lips, I closed the distance between us.

With every inch I gained, the fine details of his face came into sharp focus.

I'd never been this close to Beaumont except during a faceoff, and even then he usually had his helmet on.

At first glance, it was clear to anyone looking that he had blue eyes, but up close, they were the most unique shade I'd ever seen. Think of the blue of a flame just before it burned white, with little flecks of gray near his pupils. 

Internally, I cursed myself for noticing every detail of his face, but I couldn't stop until I was standing practically nose-to-nose with him. 

Well, nearly nose-to-mouth, considering I had a few inches on him, but I digress. 

"The uniform looks cute on you, princess." I finally said.

Seeing the explosive rage flood his eyes made my blood sing. It was a dizzying, intoxicating rush. Usually, Beaumont was the asshole poking me, driving me to the brink, just to get a reaction out of me, but I didn't know what possessed me tonight.

"Fucking asshole," He snapped, shoving me hard with the hands he planted on my chest. "How did you even find me here? Have you been stalking me?

I scoffed, barely swaying from his touch. "You really haven't gotten over yourself, have you? Why would I stalk you?"

"You fucking tell me!" he snarled. "Why the fuck are you here?"

"It's a pizza place and--"

"Bullshit."

He was right. It was utter bullshit. So I smirked. "Saw  you getting your ass handed to you, so..."

"So you came to gloat!" He interrupted me, face twisting into a furious scowl. "Fine, Reeves. Fucking gloat. I'm a poverty-stricken piece of shit like you now. Happy?"

"Eh, not really." I shrugged again, letting a cold smile stretch across my face. "I might be a piece of shit, but my girlfriend didn't just dump my pathetic ass." 

Beaumont looked like he was about to explode. With a muffled growl, he literally jumped at me.

Rookie mistake on his part. Easily, I sidestepped his wild swing and grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm behind his back and spinning him around in the same move. 

He struggled, trying to push me off him, but I slammed his chest hard against the wall.  Before he could wrench free, I pulled his other hand behind his back as well, reaching into my back pocket with my free hand.

My fingers brushed Lucian's cuffs, which I'd totally forgotten were with me until now.

Snap. Clack.

In a second, the steel ratcheted tightly around his wrists, locking them securely behind his back.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he gasped as I pressed up hard behind him, feeling the solid line of his muscles straining violently against mine. "Is that a fucking cuff?"

"Let go of me!" he screeched, thrashing wildly against the wall. He hurled every curse under the sun at me, even inventing new ones. 

I just stood there, thoroughly enjoying myself, sheer power coursing through my veins. So this was what it felt like to push someone so far past their limit that they completely lost their mind.

No wonder Beaumont was always goading me, trying to push my buttons. The payoff felt fucking incredible.

Grinning like a maniac, I leaned in, my mouth brushing against the shell of his ear as I whispered. "I'll let you go if you ask nicely."

"Motherfucker!" Beaumont hissed. "Uncuff me right now! I'm fucking warning you, I swear I'll--"

He didn't get to complete those words because my foot connected with the back of his knees.

Hunter collapsed to the ground with a shocked gasp, falling to his knees. Before he could recover, I reached down and wrapped my fingers into his messy curls. 

And fuck, were the strands soft?  They almost felt like butter, sliding through my fingers.  Gripping his hair even tighter, I yanked his head back until he was forced to stare directly at me.

From this angle, he was completely at my mercy.

I took him in, his heaving chest rising and falling with every angry breath he took. His lips were parted, eyes wide and filled with unbridled rage.

A wave of dark, possessive heat shot through my spine. Slowly, I realized what the thoughts swirling through my brain were. I wanted to tame Hunter Beaumont. I wanted to break him into pieces, turning that potty mouth of his into a hole that only begged for one thing: my fucking cock.

Said cock twitched, hardening against the denim of my jeans. If Hunter moved just an inch, his face could literally brush it.

Fuck. Oh God.

Reality came crashing down on me hard, and it felt like I'd been socked in the gut.

Panicking out of my fucking mind, I let go of his hair like I'd been burned, staggering back two full steps. My pulse was thundering in my throat, and without a second thought, I turned on my heel, bolting down the alley as fast as my legs could carry me.

Behind me, Hunter's furious snarls followed me. "Reeves. Get back here, you asshole! Get these fucking cuffs off me! Reeves!"