Ryan Hunter

about.”
    “What she did was harmless. What you did, man, was begging to get laid.”
    A laugh escaped me about the honesty and probable truth in that. “Fuck you, Winter. Are we playing pool now or what?”
    “You just epically failed. I’m not playing you , Hunter.” He cast me a mocking glare then turned around. “Frederickson, get your ass off the couch. We play.”
    I shoved his shoulder for that last remark, and Alex laughed as he grabbed the edge of the pool table for balance.
    Donovan hoisted himself onto the mini-bar, feet dangling, and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his thighs. The fat silver chain around his neck slipped out from under the collar of his T-shirt and swayed against his chin. “I never knew you felt anything for the chick.”
    Jeez, I’d rather we didn’t have to discuss my feelings and could just continue with a nice evening of playing pool. “I’m not saying I do.”
    “Right, that’s what you have us for,” Alex said, still struggling to stop laughing. “And, dude, it got you bad.”
    As if I didn’t know that. When I cut a glance over to Justin, the only one in the room who had known from the start how I felt, he shrugged, clearly telling me that I had no choice but to face it with the guys.
    Frederickson got to his feet, grabbed my cue, and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Sincere condolences, Ry. That girl won’t let you get within a yard.”
    Rubbing the back of my neck, I couldn’t bite down a smirk. “I believe I was way closer to her than that just a couple of minutes ago.”
    “Oooh,” a collective taunting echoed through the room. I hated it when the guys behaved like some silly chicks at a bachelorette party. But at age seventeen, almost everything was worth making a fool of oneself. I’d totally be with them if the joke wasn’t on me tonight.
    I dropped to the couch and leaned my head on the backrest, dragging my hands over my face, mostly to cover my stupid grin. “Shut up, you fuckers.”
    Alex made tsking noises before he made the first stroke and the balls were knocked in all directions. “Language, dude.” When none of the balls dropped in a pocket, he dumped his ass next to me and waited for Frederickson to make his shot. His long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, he cast me a sideways glance. “Seriously, you think you stand a chance with the chick? To me it looks like she’s forever happy to be Mitchell’s groupie.”
    At this point, I wasn’t sure if determination and charm alone were enough to change Liza’s mind, but I was ready to die trying. By what she showed me tonight, she wasn’t totally resistant to everything I said or did. Maybe the problem was just that she’d never considered a different future for her than one with Anthony Mitchell’s ring on her finger. But there were so many possibilities for her, if only she would open up. And, dammit, I was definitely one of them.
    “That’s because she doesn’t know what she’s going to miss while running after him,” I said to Alex.
    “You’re going to show her?”
    “Yeah. Hunter’s just the man for that,” Chris pointed out with an impish waggling of his brows. “I bet he has her in his bed before the week’s over.”
    “Twenty that she doesn’t even let him kiss her in that time,” Frederickson countered.
    “Guys!” I shouted to get their attention then nailed them all with a severe stare. “Don’t you even think of making a wager on this. Matthews isn’t a girl you fool around with for winning a bet. First, because she’s the friend of a friend. And second—” I paused then slowly lifted one corner of my mouth. “Because I would hate to see you lose your money, Frederickson.”
    That made the guys hoot and whistle, and they all wished me luck. I definitely needed it if I wanted to land Liza.
    A few minutes passed before everyone was cool again, and we could play pool for a little while without distractions. When we had raided the mini-bar down to the tonic water, I left the guys to grab some drinks. “Going to get beer. Anybody else wants one?”
    Alex said yes, and Justin ordered soda.
    As I walked into the kitchen, my hands immediately fisted by my sides, and I had trouble unclenching my teeth. Liza sat on the counter, and Mitchell stood between her dangling feet. At the first look I thought they were kissing, and my heart hurt so bad that I wondered if someone should call an ambulance because I was suffering a cardiac arrest. Until I