Obsessed with the Heartbreaker: An MM College Romance, page 3
“Are you going to get up or what?” Maddox asked from the door.
Since I was laying down on my bed, I had to open up one eye to peek from between my fingers at him. He was leaning against the doorframe, watching me, arms crossed, with his usual stern expression, his inky black hair pushed back.
I let my one eye tell him I was not amused at his interruption.
“I already got up. I just laid back down.”
And I wasn’t going to move, not any time soon. I didn’t have class for at least another two hours, and my brain already felt ready to melt.
Why had it occurred to me to fucking look at internships first thing in the morning? Well, you could probably say I should have started looking at them earlier than in my last year of college—my father would certainly think so. Or at least he would if he’d wanted me to take my major seriously. But he didn’t. He wanted me to be his little successor, and that was certainly something I was not doing, because the only thing I could do right in my life was to be a contrarian, according to him, so I couldn’t fail him.
Still, I had felt a shred of guilt, woken up with the thought that this whole college gig really was coming to an end in a matter of months and I had no clue what to do with my technically useless existence, so I’d gone to my laptop and started researching. I’d told my father I wouldn’t, but that had been more to spite him than anything else.
But when what I saw in my research made me feel even worse than when I’d woken up, I just decided to lay back down on my bed, enjoy the first morning sun rays with my windows open, and wait for inspiration to take me.
Needless to say, my muse was a bitch.
Maddox did not get the hint that I didn’t want to be disturbed, though, and I heard his approaching steps until he was standing right next to me.
“This isn’t like you, Hen.”
Hen wasn’t for Henry. Or even if it had once been, it now stood for chicken. Because that was the sort of asshole my best friend was, and he was the only one who could get away with such an atrocity.
“I’m just laying down.”
“No, you’re being all…morose.” The disgust in his voice at the last word was almost laughable.
Almost.
“If you don’t like it, then get out.”
Again, he ignored me. “You’ve been like this for months. I was keeping quiet because I thought it was just an emo phase or something, but I can’t stand it anymore.”
It was rich of him to call me emo when it was him who looked like an inky-haired rockstar that was cynical with the ways of life and liked to cry out his frustrations in front of a rapt audience.
“You’re running away.”
“No, I’m literally laying down,” I deadpanned.
“You’re running away from something, avoiding your problems, and you’ve been trying to get distracted with the stupidest things you could come up with just so you wouldn’t have to face them.”
My stomach twisted into knots.
Could I please ask the universe to give me one non-perceptive friend? One that was at least 2% less of a dick than this one? No?
Just my luck.
Maddox was still rambling on. “You’re not even getting laid, Hen. When was the last time you had someone on your lap? Someone you actually hooked up with?”
Months.
It had been a long time. At least for me. I was pretty sure my balls had given up on life at this point.
“You keep up with my hookups now?” I pulled my hands away from my face and finally looked at him.
He was standing over me, looking down on me, which I was sure a part of him absolutely loved, and pinning me down with his mean stare, hands on his hips.
Like me, he was only wearing a pair of sweatpants.
He couldn’t expect to be taken seriously when his nipples were out.
“You’ve done everything possible to avoid going back to your place this summer, and it’s not because you were chasing tail.”
“Is there a point to you saying things if you just ignore when I say something?”
“The point, Hen, is that I know what this is about.”
No.
My jaw tightened. “You don’t know shit.”
“Oh, but I do.” Maddox’s eyes almost glinted now, even if his expression was still stern. “It’s about this Antony guy, isn’t it?”
Even the mere utterance of his name made a pang of hurt resound inside my chest.
It had been almost three years already.
It was fucked up.
“It’s not about him,” I forced myself to mutter.
“Right. Then why isn’t he here? Didn’t you tell me he was going to be your pet for three months?”
I did, and I very much regret telling you in the first place.
“I said he was going to be my valet.” Technically, Antony had said it, but whatever.
Maddox’s hard jaw ticked in annoyance. “But you didn’t call on him. You did nothing. A deal is a deal with you, Henry, you never back down. Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you two?”
“No.”
Never.
It didn’t matter. It was in the past and I didn’t want to go there and rehash that day three years ago.
Maddox probably thought something heinous had happened by now, but he could think what he wanted.
I was a vault.
“I’m over it,” I said out loud, hoping I would believe it more.
“Right. And I’m wearing a tutu.” When I glared at him, he said, “You’re so over it, every time you get drunk out of your ass you start talking about him. The guy you say you care nothing for. The guy you routinely spy on, and for whom you bribe people so they’ll tell you stupid gossip about him without telling him. Is that what you’re saying?”
“I kind of hate you right now.”
And I did. I did hate Maddox right now because he was right. And it was what had stopped me all of these months from reaching out to Antony, wasn’t it? The real reason why I kept delaying it. Because as much as I wanted to be over Antony Andino, I wasn’t. Even if I wanted to forget every single morsel of knowledge I had about him, forget his name, the way his face looked like up close, the way his green eyes glinted with delight when he was amused…I couldn’t.
Antony Andino had fucked me up for life, and I was too worried that having him with me on a day-to-day basis would make things worse instead of helping me realize that he was nothing special to begin with.
Which had been the plan.
It hadn’t been my brightest moment.
But when you kept thinking about the same person no matter who you hooked up with, no matter how good in the sack they were, you reached a point of near madness where stupid things didn’t seem so anymore.
Maddox stared at me, as if he could see the inner turmoil going through my mind, nostrils flaring with frustration and anger.
“That’s it, Henry. I’m done. I’m going to get this asshole myself and we’re going to have a nice little chat in which he’ll tell me what exactly he did or else I will fuck him up—”
Maddox was turning away from me already, eyes alight with determination, and on instinct, I got up from the bed to pull him by his arm. “Mad, no—”
“You’re not going to stop me, Hen, I’ll—”
“Um, guys?”
We both froze at the interruption.
Adam, a guy in our frat, smiled sheepishly at us. “Sorry to interrupt your lover’s quarrel, but you have a visitor.”
He said the latter to me, and without letting go of Maddox’s arm, I asked, “Who?”
“He said his name is Antony?” Adam shrugged. “Said you knew him.”
Fuck.
Chapter 4
Henry
Of course that right as I was trying to make the decision to let go of him, Antony Andino had to show up at my door. As I hurriedly went down the stairs, my gaze flitted to the front door, to him—the bane of my existence, the guy that haunted my days and nights, who had been doing so for over three years.
Antony stood right there, surrounded by potted plants, looking edible and too perfect in the early morning light. His dark hair was perfectly pushed back, practical like its owner, and those green eyes—they met mine almost instantly, sending an electrifying rush up my spine.
Fuck.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, eating away space between us.
I didn’t miss the way Antony looked up and down my form, lingering on my naked chest, before hurriedly looking back up into my eyes. “I was out for a walk.”
Right. His sarcastic tone did something to me when it shouldn’t have. I blamed it on the fact that, for once, I’d managed to avoid him for the past six months, and I was now overstimulated by the sheer miserable delight of his presence.
It had been more than a little tough. I’d forced myself to stop all contact, to avoid every image, every thought about him, but as much as the first two had been objectively possible, the latter hadn’t.
Now Antony was standing right in front of me, in my house, looking ready for a fight.
Or at least, a verbal sparring.
“The library is at the other end of the campus, so if that was all…” I started closing the door on him, but he quickly pushed his hand against the wood.
“I’m here to talk to you.”
“We’re already talking.”
Antony gave me a look. “In private.”
Jesus, why did I want nothing more than to do just that? Get Antony in a room, just with me. Be unable to get out to escape my problems, and forced to face the ever-present turmoil inside my chest.
It was a bad idea.
While I was having a little mental breakdown, Antony kept staring at my chest and quickly looking back up at me, so I crossed my arms and asked, “Do my nipples offend you?”
The tips of his ears suddenly went pink. “No. But I have a problem with the five also shirtless guys overhearing our conversation.”
I turned, following his gaze into the house, and found that he was right. Four of the guys in my frat plus Maddox were currently eavesdropping on us, not even trying to be subtle about it.
It made my nerves prickle.
My conversations with Antony were private.
At my glare, all the guys, who thankfully had more than two working brain cells, left the premises to go to their bedrooms or the kitchen, murmuring excuses.
All but one.
“Does no one own a T-shirt in this house?” Antony asked, glaring at Maddox, who’d come with me down the stairs.
Maddox sent him a savage smile, looking like a predator ready to pounce and do some serious damage.
I immediately put an arm out in the middle of their staring game, successfully getting Antony to look back at me. “Walking in your birthday suit is a right in this house. And clearly, this is as private as it’s going to get.”
Antony raised his eyebrows at me. “This isn’t private.”
“Andino—” I started saying but didn’t get to finish.
Antony took hold of my extended wrist, came into the house, and dragged me with strong, self-assured steps into the downstairs bathroom, ushering me inside and closing the door behind us.
“Now, we’re alone.”
My nostrils flared as I became all too aware of the small space between us—how small the room was to begin with.
People often ended up making out or getting at least to second base in here during our parties, and the sudden thought made me blurt out, “Do you often drag people into their own bathrooms? This is home invasion. ”
A dark eyebrow shot up. “I was technically let in, but don’t worry, you’re safe with me. As soon as we’re done I’ll let you go back to canoodling with your half-naked friends.”
Was that a hint of jealousy in his tone?
No. I must have been imagining it.
Antony was getting too cocky for my liking and my sanity, though, so I walked up to him until his back hit the door. “Maybe it’s me you should be worried about.”
His green eyes didn’t even flare with apprehension. “I’m not scared of you, Henry.”
I couldn’t help but put both my arms on each side of him, making a point. “Maybe you should be.”
A part of me wanted to scare him. Show Antony I was every bit the asshole everyone knew me to be, that I didn’t feel anything for him.
But they were both lies. Or at least the second one.
Because I was the idiot who would give anything, including a kidney and a toe, for Antony Andino to look at me with half the longing I felt for him.
“You dragged me in here for a reason. State your case,” I said, trying to keep my voice as neutral and dismissive as possible.
“We made a deal.”
“So?”
Antony’s eyes flared. “I haven’t seen you in six months.”
Six months and six days.
Not that I was counting.
I shrugged, though it was a bit awkward in my current position. “Been busy. Going to parties, vacations, breaking hearts…You know how it is.”
“Yeah, I definitely have experience with all three of those.”
God, his fucking dry humor. It seeped through my veins and made my chest burn with nostalgia.
I wanted to say he at least had experience with the last one, but I refrained from it.
“What about the deal?” I forced out, because I needed this to be over as soon as possible.
His jaw ticked.“You didn’t call me.”
“I never call you.”
“You did once.”
My hands tightened against the wood. “I meant I don’t make it a habit to call you—”
“And I meant that you didn’t call me to call in the deal. Did you forget about me, or are you just having second thoughts?”
The faint note of pain in his first question had an instant echo inside me, but I refused to linger on it.
“I call in deals when and where I want to, Andino, and not a second before. Besides, shouldn’t you be happy I didn’t call? No Heartbreaker putting his messy fingers all over your orderly life.”
“I’m delirious with happiness.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to contain a stupid smile from coming out. “You, little—”
“I’m here to offer myself.”
Wait.
Brain, don’t get bad ideas.
I stared, shocked and with a hardening dick at Antony, standing poker-faced in front of me.
Seeing my shock, it must have downed on him how it sounded, and a faint blush tinted his cheeks as he quickly added, “To be your valet. Fulfill my part of the deal. No funny business.”
Right.
“Well, if that’s all, you can—”
“You have ten seconds to claim the offer, or it will be gone forever.”
Say that again?
I sent him the most intimidating glare I had in me. “This is not how this works.”
Antony wasn’t deterred and the fucking dick started counting backwards. “Ten.”
“You don’t make the rules, Andino.”
“I do now since you won’t. Nine.”
“I’ll claim my deal when I feel like it.”
“You’ll do it in the next nine seconds or I’ll be leaving this place forever. Eight.”
I stared dazedly at the most ridiculous guy I’d ever met. “You think I’d let you out of this bathroom.”
“Seven. You’re only an inch taller than me, and I know all your weak spots.”
I glared full force at him. Right now, I regretted ever confiding in him. “What if I’m not ticklish anymore?”
“Should we find out?” His stare was so defiant. Like he wanted me to say yes, to throw hands or something.
Cocky Antony was my kryptonite.
That was the cold, hard truth.
“Six,” he continued when I didn’t respond.
“You’re going to regret this, Andino.”
“Not for you to worry about. Five.”
It had been at least a minute now since he’d started counting, but who cared?
Nothing else in the world mattered right now.
Only the guy in front of me.
He kept counting as we stared at each other, waiting for someone to break, and when he reached one, he grabbed the door-knob and I immediately stopped him, his back to my chest.
Was I insane to consider this? Definitely.
But no other option was acceptable. Not for me.
“Fine. I’ll claim it. But when I said annoying I meant you’ll-curse-me-for-the-rest-of-your-life, type of annoying. Get it?”
Antony turned, his warm T-shirt rubbing against my bare chest as he faced me again. “Good. I expected nothing less from you.”
The small grin on his face made a curl of heat go through me.
“Don’t look so triumphant, Andino. This isn’t you winning.”
He ignored that. “When should we start?”
“Today, seven PM. Being late will bring consequences.”
“My favorite,” he said drily, making me want to just shake him, and added, “Should I come in my birthday suit, or are valets exempt from the house rules?”
I stared at him. Now I wanted to punch something.
“That dirty mouth of yours will get you in trouble one day.”
“It hasn’t yet.”
“I can’t imagine why.”
I didn’t stop him when he went to open the door now, but with a glint in his eyes, he said, “Ask yourself, then. I save it all just for you.”
Then he left.
Maddox was outside the bathroom as I contemplated my existence, looking tense and glaring.
“Are you going to tell me what happened or not?”
“Not.”
I’m taking it to my grave.
Because if of one thing I was sure, it was that Antony Andino would be the death of me.
Chapter 5
Henry
Some hours later, in between classes, I made my way across campus to the meeting point with one of my informants. It had been a while since we’d seen each other, since we were at the beginning of the semester, but I had a feeling that after this morning’s interaction with Antony, I’d come to him more and more often now.
