☾☆

Hunter

The party seems to be in full swing as I leave my room and make my way downstairs Friday night. I immediately find myself scanning the crowd in search for a certain brunette, but am unable to find her.

I decide to grab some beer while I wait for her to arrive, mainly because I need something to calm my nerves. The last time she was at a party at my house everything went to shit and I can't put her through that again.

As I fill up my up my cup at the keg, I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Is she here yet man?" Jack asks. He is the only one that knows anything about Mel and I plan to keep it that way for now.

"Nah, I haven't seen her yet. Maybe she won't show up." It was the first time I was admitting to myself that that was a possibility.

"If she is as hung up on you as you are her then I have a feeling she will be making an appearance." He said with a smug smile before walking away.

I finished filling up my cup and headed toward the front room so I would see her as soon as she walked in. As I made my way there I was stopped by countless people. The guys all seemed to want to wish me luck in the game tomorrow, while the girls were more interested in trying to get my attention for other reasons, but if once in my life I only had eyes for one girl.

When I walked in the front room I immediately saw her standing by the wall next to the door with a girl I recognized from the weekend before. She looked around the room apprehensively but as soon as her eyes fell on me a small smile broke out on her face.

Within two steps I was standing directly in front of her, pulling her into a tight hug. "You look amazing," I whispered in her ear before pulling away. My eyes raked up her body in her tight jeans and form-fitting tank top and I suddenly felt a heat in the pit of my stomach.

"This is my roommate, Alana," Mel said, causing me to reluctantly avert my gaze from her incredible body to the girl standing next to her.

"Hey, I'm Hunter." I said back as she reached out her hand and gave me a firm handshake as if to say 'hurt her and I will hurt you'. For the short interaction we have had, I could already tell that Alana was much more outspoken and somewhat protective over Mel, something I respected.

"Can I get you ladies something to drink?" I asked earning an eager yes from Alana and a much more cautious head nod from Mel. I led the way to the small bar in the next room over, getting a beer for Mel and a mixed vodka drink for Alana.

Immediately after Mel took the first sip of her drink her face contorted into a look of disgust. "Do people actually like this stuff?" She asked in disbelief as I chuckled sightly. Her innocence was still shocking to me sometimes, and I found it adorable.

"You don't have to drink it if you don't want to. I just thought it was a tamer option than hard liquor." I explain to her. She seems to consider it before asking, "Would it be entirely lame if I just asked for water?"

I could tell she was embarrassed slightly but I quickly tried to reassure her. "That is totally fine. I will run into the kitchen and grab you some."

I quickly make my way to the kitchen, not wanting to leave her alone for too long, and fill a red solo cup with water. On my way back to the girls, I see Jack talking to a group of guys on the team, but pull him away as I pass. "Dude Mel is here but she is with her roommate, who she isn't going to want to leave alone. Can you entertain her while I get Mel away?" He just laughs knowingly and says, "Oh the things I do for you."

We make our way together to the girls, where I hand Mel the cup and introduce them both to Jack. "This is Jack, he is my best friend on the team. Jack this is Melanie and Alana." He shakes both of their hands and I notice a slight blush on Alana's cheeks as he moves slightly closer to her and begins a conversation.

Jack and Alana talking leaves me to steal Mel away so after a few minutes of small talk, I ask "Do you want to go dance?"

She doesn't say anything for a moment, but eventually says "What the hell, sure."

I was surprised she was agreeing so willingly considering her shy demeanor but I decided not to question it, so grab her hand and lead her toward the room with the DJ. The room is filled with tons of sweaty college kids making out and grinding on each other, but I push our way through toward the center and then pull Mel in to begin dancing.

I place my hands on her hips and start moving us in synch with the beat of the pop song blaring through the speakers. At first she seems hesitant, keeping her movements small, but after about two songs she starts to finally seem to really get into it and let herself go.

As Mel grows more confident I feel her pull herself closer to me so our fronts are flush against each other, and she starts to take the lead in rolling her hips back and forth effectively driving me insane. I have never seen this sexy side of her before and I could safely say I was obsessed.

Song after song the heat seemed to keep building between the two of us, and as she looked up at me staring directly into my eyes I could hardly resist the urge to pull her in and kiss her. I leaned my head down so it was at her ear and whispered, "I usually hate those couples that make out in the middle of the dance floor and I know we agreed to only being friends, but it is taking everything in me not to kiss you right now."

I pulled away slightly to gauge her reaction and saw just as much lust in her eyes that I could imagine were in mine. Leaning up on her tiptoes she whispered back, "Maybe you should take me to your room then."

It took me a moment to register what she had said, as it was so unexpected coming from the girl that I have come to know as being so reserved, and I was hoping this meant that maybe she was becoming more comfortable around me. Regardless of what prompted tonight's sudden burst of confidence, she did not need to tell me twice. I took her hand and guided her up the stairs and down the hall to my bedroom. I had never been so excited but also so nervous to bring a girl in here before, but I had a feeling after tonight things would never be the same between us.