Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
I don’t know why, but I immediately feel small.
“Holy shit,” Gunnar says slowly. “Jessica Morgan.”
Letting go of me, he marches right over to her and throws his arms around her and pulls her in for an enormous hug.
“How the hell you been, girl? You look skinny. You been eating?”
“You commenting on my body, Gunnar? That’s sexual harassment these days. I could call somebody about that.”
Both of them crack up and share a laugh that sparks a pang of painful jealousy inside of me.
Who is this girl and how does he know her?
She looks nothing like me, and I could never picture her ever wanting to be friends with me. But she looks like she and Gunnar have some sort of history, and for some reason, that bothers me.
“Oh, you know you like it,” Gunnar teases as he lets go of her and gives her an over-the-top glance up and down. “Not like you’re getting any in your personal life anyways. Is that why you’re here? Stalking me to try and get a date?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Gunnar. I’m here for some training.”
“Flatter myself?” Gunnar chuckles. “Please, you don’t wear a pushup bra like that to the range for some training. Who told you I was gonna be here today–?”
I shut Gunnar up by unloading the rest of my entire magazine at the target I just hit and watch as the chest of the would-be-attacker vanishes as my bullets tear through it. I check to make sure the chamber of the Glock is empty, set it down on the bench, and turn to face both of them.
They’re both looking back at me with shock plastered all over their faces.
“Oh, I’m sorry, were you two talking about something?” I ask, mostly looking at Gunnar. “Because I thought we were here to shoot, not screw around.”
Gunnar purses his lips and slowly nods. He gets it.
“Jess, this is Nina. Nina, this is Jess, an old shooting buddy of mine.”
“Old?” Jess protests, extending her hand to me. Not wanting to be a bitch, I take it and shake it, feeling calluses like I’ve only ever felt on a man’s hand before. She has a tough grip and squeezes hard before letting go. “You’re the only man here, Gunnar. What are you, like fifty?”
“A year from thirty, you old bag,” he laughs.
“All right, so anyway,” I say, “I should get back to campus. I’ve got classwork to do.”
Without waiting, I march away in the direction of the cars. We still have close to an hour left on our range time that Gunnar has rented, but if I have to stand here any longer and listen to those two flirting, I think I’m going to grab the nearest pistol and turn it on myself.
“Wait, what?” Gunnar asks, trotting after me. “Hang on a minute. Classwork?”
“You heard me.”
“But what about the range time I rented?”
“I’ll pay for it if you want,” I reply as we reach his Porsche. “I know how low on cash you are.”
Gunnar frowns and unlocks the car. “Nah, what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you do that? Hope in. I’ll drive you back.”
The ride back to campus is mostly silence, which is pretty awkward. I can’t stop thinking about Jessica and how differently Gunnar acted around her.
What’s their history? Did they date? Have sex?
I want to ask him about her, but I just can’t find the courage to, and before I realize it, he’s pulling into the lot in front of my dorm.
“Well, here you are, princess. Right back home for you to get all that classwork done.”
I can hear the disappointment in his voice and hide my eyes from him as I reach into my purse and pull out my keys.
“Thanks for the ride and taking me to the range–”
“What is that?” he asks, taking my keys from my hands. “Four days and you still haven’t bought some pepper spray for your keychain? Come on, Nina, what did I tell you?”
“It’s not a big deal, all right?” I grumble, shoving the door open. “I live on a college campus. It’s not like it’s filled with serial murderers and rapists. I’ll see you later, Gunnar.”
“College guys can be real dickheads!” he calls after me as I close the door behind me. “You watch out for yourself, Nina!”
I hear the tires of his Porsche squeal behind me as he peels out and pulls out of the lot. A guy beside me stands up and takes a quick snapshot of the car and glances at me, astonished.
“Holy shit! Was that Gunnar Jones?”
“Yeah,” I mutter, brushing past him.
“Jesus! Were you two like–on a date or something?”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “Or something.”
6
NINA
“So you really think Gunnar and this girl, Jess, were a thing?” Riley asks as she checks her makeup for what must be the fifth time.