Hunt Me Down - Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Nathaniel’s POV
All the anxiety about our one-on-one study session left me once Hunter opened the door to his bedroom and my eyes landed on table with a large aquarium on top complete with what looked like a turtle playground. I gasped and approached it to take a closer look. The glass was crystal clear – just as the later it held – and I could see everything inside it.
The bottom of the aquarium was covered in small rocks of grey and brown shades. There were plenty of plants too – some real, others fake – scattered haphazardly and creating a tiny forest. Larger rocks were set up in two formations – three of them like a cave and the rest building a staircase which led to a clear plastic platform. Three more stairs – plastic like the platform – led to the edge of the aquarium and a second platform, this time on the outside. When the lid was up, the turtle could go out and even slide down a plank which Hunter had provided for it; the upper side was leaning on the platform, the lower one was placed on a flat green cushion to soften Raphael’s collision with the ground. Around the landing spot, there was a two feet fence. The whole contraption – the table with the aquarium and the space surrounded with a plastic fence – took almost a third of Hunter’s room.
My eyes went back to the inside of the glass structure in search of its four-legged inhabitant but the only leaving creatures I could see were a bunch of tiny snails.
“Where’s Raph?” I asked, turning to my host.
“When I’m at home and can keep an eye on him, I let him wander my room,” he replied, lying on his stomach on the floor to look under his bed. “Here’s the little rascal,” he said, pulling his hand from under his sleeping place with the pet in his grasp. “Time to go back to the enclosure,” he declared, placing the turtle in the middle of the fence. “Be right back.”
I nodded and peeked inside the plastic circle. Raph was making his way from the end where Hunter had placed him to me. He seemed a great deal healthier and his shell was shinier than before; I thought he’d even put on some weight.
“Here we go.” Hunter was now standing next to me and leaning down to place some fresh dark green lettuce next to his pet; I could still see droplets of water from when he washed the leaves.
“Hunter, what you did for him is amazing,” I couldn’t help but exclaim.
“I try,” he shrugged. “I originally planned to put the aquarium on the floor but then I read red-eared turtles liked to sunbathe so I got that table from a garage sale. Then I equipped the tank with the filters and lights and the cave. I added the inner and outer landings and the plastic stairs after that and when I realized he enjoyed sliding some of my things, I placed the plank over there and got some more plastic for a makeshift fence; that way, he can stay out of the aquarium even when I’m not at home.”
I smiled as I listened to him narrate all that, his eyes lighting up while he was explaining it.
“I’ve never seen you so enthusiastic about anything before,” I admitted and he turned to me with a raised eyebrow. “You sound so… indulgent.”
“I can be indulgent to those I care about,” he murmured, taking a step towards me. My breath caught as he reached up and stroked my hair. Anxious, I was about to pull back, telling him I had a girlfriend and what he was doing was inappropriate but he retracted his hand, a dark blue thread in it.
“You don’t want that in your hair, do you?” He asked, rolling it up in a ball and throwing it in a small trash been next to Raph’s mansion.
So he had not been stroking me after all. I should be glad about it; he wasn’t doing anything inappropriate.
“So… erm… the homework,” I muttered. “What’s the topic and do you have a required word count?”
He gave me the details and pushed the round button on an old computer. The machine roared, the screen coming alive with a sharp beep. Hunter sat on the chair in front of his desk, opening the file with his homework task – their teacher demanded that they’d type the assignment – and I stood next to him, fidgeting with my hands as I thought that maybe, just maybe, there were old photos on his computer which could give me a clue to his past.
“Are you cold?” He asked, seeing as I was rubbing my fingers. “I know how we can warm you up,” he then purred and I instinctively glanced towards his bed, making him chuckle. “I mean that I could turn on the heater for you but if that’s the way you want it…”
“Let’s just get on with homework,” I shot out, the sides of my face reddening. “What search engines do you use?”
“Google.”
“Apart from that?”
“There are others?” He asked, seeming not particularly interested.
“I know some really good ones for academic research.” I leaned sideways and opened a few tabs in his browser. As I was typing the addresses in each, his arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me into his lap.
“Comfy?” He murmured in my ear, a shock wave rushing through me as his lips actually brushed the lobe. I struggled against the embrace and jumped up, backing into the nearest wall.
“Hunter,” I began, my breathing heavy, “if you don’t stop this, I’m going home and you can do the rest of your homework on your own.”
“So what?” He turned into his chair to see me better. “You are like a piece of art? I can look but I can’t touch?”
“I’d rather you didn’t look at me much either. At least not like this,” I waved my hand once towards his face.
“Like what?” He asked calmly.
I couldn’t describe it. With interest didn’t quite cover it; with affection was going too far; ‘as if you want to ravish me’ was something I could not say out loud with a straight and not tomato red face…
“What do you know? The great writer is speechless,” he clucked his tongue as he shook his head at me.
“Don’t mock me,” I raised my voice and that seemed to surprise him; I’d usually blush and look away or mutter a reply. He held my gaze with his, my annoyance dissipated and I looked down; the dark beige carpet that I stood on had a tiny hole, right next to where the pinky of my left leg was. I heard a shuffle and a pair of feet entered my line of sight. My chin was grasped lightly and my head gently lifted upwards.
“Stop touching me!” I slapped his hand away and moved next to the aquarium.
“I like touching you,” he uttered quietly.
“Homework or nothing, Hunter; that’s it,” I concluded firmly, straightening up and trying my hardest to keep my eyes on his. A moment later, he sighed deeply and turned away to sit back in the chair.
“Homework it is,” he muttered flatly and we finally started on what I came to help him with.
*****
Hunter’s POV
“‘Sup, bro?” His voice was carefree as usual.
I readjusted my position on the bed, sliding my right arm between the pillow and my nape and tightening my left hand around the phone.
“Nothing much,” I replied into the receiver. “You managing to stay out of trouble now that I’m gone?”
I heard him chuckle.
“You know I have a new babysitter.”
“So how is Sam?” I then asked, images of her slapping Blake over the head for something stupid he’d done –she had good reasons to do that quite often – flashing through my mind.
“Gorgeous as usual. Saving fluffy kittens and puppies as usual,” he tried to sound as if his girlfriend’s charity work at the local animal shelter was a waste of time, but I knew he was proud of her. “Come visit us sometime; the town ain’t the same without you, bro... I miss you,” he added quietly.
“Miss you too,” I said, surprised that even though it was the truth the intensity of my feelings had significantly dwindled.
“So, anyone interesting in that town?”
“Guess you can say that,” I replied with a small smile.
“Really?” He sounded excited at the news. “Tell me more!”
“What are we? Two high school girls?” I teased although I actually wished to have someone to talk to about Nathaniel. Vallery did a good job as a listener and provided me with inside information about him, but she was his sister and there were some things I could not say in front of her; besides, this was Blake Nelson – my best friend – and even though Val was pretty savvy, no one knew me like he did.
“Oh, just tell me about him,” he pleaded and I was sure that if things were to work out between me and Nat, Blake would be happy for two reasons: one – he wouldn’t be worried that I’d die alone, and two – if I were to find someone, he’d feel less guilty about not being able to return the feelings I once had for him.
I furrowed my eyes as I thought of that: feelings I once had for him; I still loved him but the attraction, the desire to make him squirm with pleasure underneath my body was gone. Now I only wanted to do that with Nathaniel. I even found my sessions with Cameron annoying which was why I had not contacted him after that night I’d used him to distract myself from the fact that Nat had gone on a date.
“He’s smart so that’s one thing that makes him different from you,” I said into the receiver and stretched my legs. “He wasn’t to be a writer. I’ve only ever read one excerpt of his work, but I think he can pull it off.”
“So he’s one of those straight-faced dudes with fancy glasses who go to poetry readings and stuff?” He sounded disappointed.
“I don’t think Nathaniel is into poetry,” I shook my head. “He can be private about some things but he’s definitely not straight-faced,” I snorted. “The boy is an open book, especially when he’s nervous.”
“Boy?”
“He’ll be seventeen soon,” I explained.
And did I have the perfect present for him!
I smiled, imagining how his face would light up when I gave it to him. And even though he was too shy to give me a birthday kiss, I was going to give one to him; I could already see him reddening at that. He blushed so easily that I sometimes wondered if he was still a virgin. Vallery had told me that he’d had girlfriends before Irene but that didn’t mean he’d done anything with them. And if he indeed lacked experience, I would be more than happy to help him gain it…
“And how good is he with the bedroom athletics?” Blake’s voice interrupted my dreaming.
“I’ll get back to you on that one.”
In a while, I added in my mind, remembering how it had all gone between us today; he obviously wasn’t ready to go that far… for now.
“You haven’t taken him for a test drive yet?” He sounded incredulous.
“He thinks he’s straight.”
“Thinks?”
“His reactions to me say otherwise.” I was certain of that. Even if he had never been attracted to a guy before, he was to me; even if he had not kissed a guy before, he would be kissing me.
Blake released a slow breath and I knew something was up.
“Look, Hunt… Are you sure, like absolutely sure, that you are not… Making a mistake?” His words were cautious as if he worried I’d somehow manage to smack him through the phone line. “Don’t get me wrong, man; you are smart and stuff when it comes to people but…”
“I made the mistake of crushing on you?” I helpfully supplied. There was neither malice, no regret in my voice; that was what had happened and there was nothing I could do to change it so I’d just accepted it and moved on. Blake on the other hand had a harder time with putting that chapter of our story behind his back; I didn’t know if he would ever feel completely guilt-free for being unable to see me as anything but his best friend and mentor, especially after what I’d done for him.
He sighed once more before he replied:
“I just don’t want you to get hurt again,” he muttered so quietly, I barely heard him. “You’ve been through so much with your parents and because of me… You know, with me being straight and then…”
“Blake,” I cut him off, not in a mood to be reminiscing old times. “The difference is that I’ve always known you were straight and that you wouldn’t change but with Nat I have a shot; I’m not letting the chance pass me by, okay? I like the boy, I want him, I’ll make sure I have him,” I summed up.
“I sure hope you know what you’re doin’, bro.” I could imagine him shaking his head.
“I don’t know, Blake,” I admitted, “but I’m getting there.”