The Bad Boy And The Mermaid

Chapter 6

Hunter

Drink! Drink! Drink!”

The cheer of the people in the club continued as I took the small glass of tequila and downed it.

“Drink! Drink! Drink!”

“Whoooo! Hunter! You can do it!” Someone else cheered as I downed my fourth glass. I sneaked a glance at Howie, the nerd from the English class that had foolishly come to the party without realizing that he was going to be the center of all their attention.

I downed the final glass and another roar of cheer pierced through the club. I couldn’t even see straight, much less walk in a straight line.

I was so screwed.

I’d won the tequila drinking competition as always, but what had I achieved doing that?

Absolutely Fucking Nothing! As usual.

Instead, I was going to have a migraine tonight followed by a bad hangover tomorrow. I staggered to the bathroom and managed to call Fredricko. He picked up on the third ring.

“Need a ride?”

“Yes.” I managed to say and threw up violently into the commode.

Twenty minutes later I was lying in the passenger seat of the old Beetle. My legs were starting to hurt from having little to no leg space but the throbbing in my head wasn’t letting me think of anything else. My legs might as well be in a knot by the time I climbed out of the car like the cartoon shows.

Then I remembered Blue.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

I’d told Blue I’d come home by five p.m but it was past midnight and that meant I was more than six hours late. I had promised her. I rubbed the back of my head with my fingers; I mostly did that when I was disappointed with myself. I didn’t want to think of Blue’s reaction when I got home. After puking all the contents in the club’s washroom, I’d felt a bit better. I climbed the stairs to my apartment and turned the key to the door, already dreading her wrath.

I found the apartment filled with an eerie silence. Even Leslie didn’t bark. Cautiously, I tiptoed into the room, making sure to maintain the pin-drop silence. Normally, when I got home; I’d throw each of my shoes in two different directions before tossing the keys on the dresser. This time, I had to be extra careful like there was a freakin’ baby in the crib that would give me a hard time if disturbed. I found Blue sprawled on the bed, sleeping soundlessly.

Topless.

That’s right. She was topless again.

The first time I’d seen her bare like that was her first morning with me when I’d lectured her on how she should always cover herself. She’d been alone for a few hours so I couldn’t blame her if she felt the need to be nude. I glanced at the open window and made a mental note to bring some solid blinds; didn’t need any pervy men across the street to ogle her.

My gaze dropped to the t-shirt she’d discarded on the floor, along with the bra that I’d bought her yesterday. The girl had serious issues with clothes, I noticed. She was lying on her front so I had a perfect view of her backside. Her milky slender waist down to her very round...

I groaned, fixing my jeans because things were starting to get lively down south. Blue was too pure for words, and far too innocent for someone like me. She didn’t even understand what it was like to be naked in front of young men and I didn’t know how I could explain it to her. Thinking of her in any erotic way was just off-limits. I was so tainted that I could go to hell if I even thought of touching her. Having her was out of the question.

I decided to not wake her up from her sleep and to prolong my string of apologies for tomorrow.

Apologies? I didn’t even remember the last time I ever apologized to a girl for standing her up. Hunter Brantley never said the word “sorry”.

Blue mumbled something incoherent and turned her face away. I pulled the comforter to her chin and watched her sleep silently. Warmth spread through my heart as I watched her. Shaking my head, I stripped down off my denims, peeled off my t-shirt and left the boxers on.

Sleeping on the couch had become more and more uncomfortable by the passing day and I had to think of solving this predicament soon since sleeping on the bed was a complete ‘No’. I didn’t trust myself to share my bed with a girl. If she was going to be in my bed, I had to have my hands all over her and hers on me. That’s the only way I knew and I couldn’t risk that with Blue.

I’d drifted off to sleep and thought I was dreaming when I dreamed of Blue walking over to my couch in all her naked glory and snuggling up to me in what remaining little space that was left on the couch beside me, and I felt those warm hands wrap around me and something soft touching my chest.

Warmth.

My hands touched the soft skin...

The realization hit me. I wasn’t dreaming, was I?

My eyes shot open and I saw the crown of her wavy blue hair nestled against me, those soft breasts touching my chest and her hands around my back. I yanked myself away from her and climbed off the couch.

“What the hell, Blue?!” I snarled as I backed away from the couch.

She sat up on the couch, surprise registering her face. “Hunter, what happened?”

“For Fucks sake, wear a t-shirt or something and why were you on the couch with me?!” I couldn’t keep the anger away from my voice.

Surprise turned to rejection. I’d made her upset because I was too angry to think straight. I had serious anger issues and most often when I was pissed at myself, I snapped and there was no way around it. I took my t-shirt that was lying around and flung it at her, it went right on top of her head, covering her face.

An obvious douche move.

Any other girl would have given me a string of curses, followed by a smack in the face and walked out. Blue just quietly wore the t-shirt and lied down on the bed beside Leslie. I was still angry as I closed my eyes and slept on the couch when I heard soft sobbing coming from the bed.

It was instinct when I sat up again, rubbing my eyes and cursing to myself; I walked back to the bed. Blue appeared to be hugging her body fiercely, her knees bent to her chest as she cried softly. My temper from earlier dissipated and I started to come back to my senses. I’d obviously hurt her feelings.

I touched her hair softly. “Hey Blue.”

She didn’t respond and I felt her body tense under my touch.

“I’m sorry, Blue. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that.”

I heard her sniffle, but she didn’t say a word. I caressed the side of her face, raking my fingers through her hair. How could I possibly have gotten mad at her? I wasn’t thinking straight when I pulled her into my arms. She didn’t protest and came to me willingly. Blue clung to my chest, her wet tears smeared on my bare chest.

I tilted my face to her. “What’s wrong?”

Finally, she raised her ocean blue eyes towards me. “I miss my family...” she sobbed. “I feel so lonely, Hunter.”

My heart broke. She wasn’t even familiar with this place yet and I’d left her alone for hours and when I’d finally returned, I’d snapped at her.

“Is that why you came to the couch to snuggle with me?” I asked.

“Snuggle?”

“Yeah, like a cuddle. You had your arms around me and I was pretty surprised, you know.”

“I waited so long for you.” She whispered, inching closer and sliding into my lap. “And then when I saw you were home, I was so glad. I didn’t think me being without a t-shirt would bother you so much.”

I tried to calm my racing heartbeat, trying not to think of the fact that the only thing between us was the thin fabric of my t-shirt on her. Her tits were basically touching my chest.

“I’m a man, Blue.” I reminded her. “And you are a very gorgeous woman. Although you are absolutely safe with me, I can’t guarantee if I would be able to keep my hands to myself if you hugged me naked like that. Do you understand what I’m saying, baby?”

“But I’m not a baby, Hunter. I’m a grown up.” She said with a serious face.

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.

“You’re always making fun of me!” She pointed.

I cupped her cheeks. “Do you forgive me for being late tonight?”

She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. You have to go to school and also work, right? All that keeps you busy, I can understand.”

A wave of guilt washed over me. I’d finished early with my work today and I’d headed straight to the bar. It had always been a part of my routine and I’d kind of forgotten all about Blue until later that night.

“Did you even eat anything?”

She nodded. “The Ice bucket in your fridge tasted sweet and I also had the Nutella jar. I can’t believe humans have such amazing things for food.”

I wondered if a dentist’s appointment was on its way. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

I wanted to hit myself. How had I forgotten about her dinner?

“Would you like to have some snack? Like a sandwich maybe?” I asked her.

She shook her head, and yawned. “I’m really sleepy. I want to go back to sleep.”

I decided to let it go, maybe she wasn’t hungry. I checked the time. It was past four a.m. I groaned, I’d have to wake up a few hours later for my first lecture.

“Okay, sweetheart. Go back to sleep. Nighty-Night.” I said as I climbed off the bed.

Blue’s hand grasped mine. I stopped and looked at her. She started acting weird and started fidgeting; the way she always did when she wanted to ask something but didn’t know how.

“What is it Blue?”

“Would you get angry if I asked you something?” She asked.

“You already are.” I grinned. “Go ahead, ask me.”

She scooted a little farther and patted the right side of the bed. “Sleep with me.”

That totally could have been interpreted differently, but it was Blue we were talking about here who had no idea about my less than noble thought process.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded, blinking at me. “I want to be beside you.”

“Well, I can sleep here but then..” I raised both my hands towards her and wiggled my fingers. “My fingers start to tickle the person beside me in bed like this.” And I tickled her and she lost it, laughing and giggling loudly until her tears had completely dried up.

I liked watching her smile, and there was a tightening in my chest again.

“You’re mean!” She said, still giggling.

“Oh, you are yet to find out how mean I can actually be.” I said.

I liked seeing her happy, and I didn’t remember feeling so warm and happy myself in a long time.

I placed a pillow between the bed. “That’s your side and this is mine.”

That’s what I told her five hours ago. When I opened my eyes in the morning, I found the pillow kicked off the bed and Blue’s head lying in the crook of my neck, her body snug against mine. It didn’t help

that I had morning wood. I stayed like that for a while because she had my arm under her in a death grip.

Her eyes flew open and she looked at me from under her long lashes. “Good Morning, Hunter.”

Blue

When I woke up in the morning, I found Hunter staring at me. Something hard was pressed against me down below but I didn’t mind because it was Hunter. I liked it when he looked at me like that, it made me feel like I had butterflies inside.

I raised my hand to his face and casually brushed the brown hair from his forehead. His eyes went wide. The sunlight streaming from the window made his hair glow and made him look so much more...

Handsome.

The hard part of him was still pressing against me so without thinking I poked it.

It was soft. So I poked it again.

I heard Hunter moan and he caught my wrist in his hand. “Don’t you ever do that again.” He warned me. “Ever.”

“Can I see it?”

But before I could touch it further, he was on his feet with the blanket wrapped around his waist. “No.”

“Please.” I begged.

“I’m going for a shower.” He announced ignoring my question, a towel draped over his shoulder and clothes laid out on the chaise.

“Can I join you?” I asked. “We can scrub each other’s back.”

There was a grin on his face. “I’d love to scrub other things but...” he shook his head. “Not with you. You’re my good little mermaid.”

I smiled. “I don’t mind you scrubbing me.”

“That’s a nice offer, but nah. If I was still drunk I’d take you up on the offer.” He said. “I’ll fill in the tub for you, have a nice bath. My sister Hannah will be here in an hour, and she will take you out for shopping. Okay?”

Any sort of amusement I was having, faded. “You’re not coming with us?”

Hunter shook his head. “Not for the shopping, but maybe I’ll join you guys for lunch.”

With that he stormed into the bathroom and banged the door behind himself and left me thinking of his sister.

Will she like me?

I had never met a real woman before and the thought of meeting another human of the same gender made me nervous somehow. I had become comfortable with Hunter, he was a friend, (at least that’s what I’d like to call him) but meeting someone else that was his family?

It’s not like she’s your sister-in-law or something, Blue! Cut it out!

I still wanted his sister to like me so I decided I would not act weird and be nice.

Today would be so much fun.