Taming The Bad Boy By Ivy Coleman Chapter 8

Just as Hunter opened the dorm door to leave he suddenly found himself looking down at Bambi. Hunter was originally going to go out for a walk—he wanted to clear his head after sending Bear to help Bambi. Hunter’s eyes fell down to the out on Bambi’s lip and with that little smear of blood on the corner of his thin, pink lips, Hunter suddenly felt the burning rage he had quietened down, flaring back up inside of him. His jaw locked, his jaded eyes turning to look away from the small boy as he clenched his fists. “I’m going out.”

And with that Hunter moved past Bambi and shut the door behind him. Hunter stalked down the balls of the school as he glanced outside the crackled windows smudged with dust. He leaned on the ledge with crossed arms as he exhaled out a stressed, tense breath. His fingers knotted through his dark locks as he hung his head and closed his eyes to try and clear his mind. “Damn Bambi with his big, doe eyes.” Hunter muttered under his breath. A burst of laughter broke out which caused Hunter to flicker open his green eyes as he stood straight his guard back up as he glanced around.

He craned his head as he walked further down the hall and peered ’round the corner. He stopped short upon seeing who it was. Dale stood in the middle of a group of boys, all big and chubby, tall and greasy. Hunter’s fists found themselves being clenched up again as the fire in the pit of his stomach flared back to life as he watched Dale laugh.

Hunter’s eyes rolled over Dale in a calculating manner, he noticed he was bruise free. ‘Bear must have just gave him a warning’ Hunter thought bitterly. His nostrils flared, hands shaking when he heard their conversation. Dale snickered as he leaned back and pulled the ring of the soda can. It fuzzed up, spilling over his chubby fingers as he necked it down. “You should have seen the little shrimp—he was shaking like a little bitch—if it weren’t for Bear I would’ve gave ‘im one yanno?”

The boys around him nodded and roared with humorous comments that stirred up Hunter’s rage. Dale smirked cruelly, “I’ll get him when he’s on his own—just wait an see he’l—” Dale’s words stopped abruptly short when he found a powerful force slamming down on his mouth, his front teeth flying out and sliding across the floor.

Dale clutched his teeth with wide eyes as he panted trying to figure out what was going on. when the stunned boys all saw Dale nod towards them.

They all threw their cans on the floor, rolling up their sleeves and getting into a fighting stance. Dale glared as he spat blood on the floor and pulled up his sleeve with beefy, shaking bands. “You wanna start something, you fuckin psycho?” Dale spat.

Hunter grinded his jaw down together as the veins in his neck pulsed heavily. A boy tried to jump Hunter from behind but with one easy grab from behind, Hunter latched his fingers into the collar of the boy and flipped him with ease over his shoulder and sent him spiralling into another boy—the two crashing into the lockers with a groan. The fight commenced as they all rushed towards the fuming lion who slammed his fists towards any skin that contacted his.

He felt a few fists getting some hits in as someone caught his ribs and he faltered for a slight moment before he raised his leg and kicked the guy in the stomach. The boys surrounding him were now scattered on the floor in groaning messes as Dale wobbled towards him, clutching his stomach with blood dripping down his face. Hunter stalked unbelievably fast towards the groaning boy as Hunter grabbed a handful of Dale short locks and slammed his head back onto the locker. Dale groaned, blood pouring freely out of his mouth as hatred and disgust shimmered in Hunter’s eyes. He bared his clenched teeth at Dale as he cornered him up against the locker. Dale whimpered when Hunter came so close to him they were only inches apart. Dale could now see the fire burning in Hunter’s eyes and he suddenly feared for his life when Hunter’s biceps flexed as he raised his fist.

Dale clenched his eyes shut only to hear the sound of the locker shattering beside him. He peered open one eye to see Hunter had slammed his hand down beside Dale and was panting for breath with clenched teeth.

“You ever touch Sam again—I’ll rip you apart bit by bit and scatter your damn limbs across the school—do you understand me?” Hunter growled as Dale nodded frantically. Hunter shoved him one last time before letting go and walking away. Dale let out the breath he didn’t even know he was holding as he slid down the locker, glancing up at the place that Hunter had punched only to see it had completely caved in with the dent of Hunter’s fist.

Dale slowly stood up with a shaking body as he limped back towards his dorm where Lyle would be. Dale swore in his head he would make that stupid Lion pay and be knew exactly who wanted the same thing; Lyle.

***

As Sam laid on his back, the tears slowly sliding down his puffy checks, he inhaled quietly through his stuffy nose as he swallowed down a silent sob.

Hunter lay “asleep” underneath him as his intense hearing focusing directly on the small whimpers coming from above and yanked at his heart strings each time one fell. Sam couldn’t fathom why Hunter had not helped—Hunter claimed he didn’t care yet why did he help him when the fire alarm was going off? Why not just leave him?

Sam turned onto his back as he squeezed his eyes shut and hoped desperately he would drift off into a peaceful slumber. His shaking fingers clutched the pillow as he squeezed his eyes shut again and tried again for sleep, unable to swallow down the strange, hurt, feeling that turned and yanked at his stomach when Hunter’s words repeatedly flowed through his mind. Sam darted up, a mixture of crying too much and the horrible gut feeling of Hunter’s words and Dale’s bullying and being somewhere he didn’t belong—all slammed on top of the fragile boy who cracked and finally leapt off the bed and ran straight for the bathroom.

Sam’s stomach emptied itself as Hunter darted up, immediately out of bed with his sharp, alert actions as he headed straight for the door, but it was slammed in his face. He placed his large hand upon the door as he sighed quietly and rested his warm forehead against the cool wood. His fingers clutched at the slightly jarred edges as he let go and pretended to be asleep again. He listened intently as Sam crawled back up on his bed and fell asleep from the exhaustion. Once sure Sam was asleep, Hunter tossed his covers aside and felt Sam’s forehead with the back of his hand. He scratched at the nape of his neck as he looked around awkwardly-unsure of what to do. His eyes fell back to Sam as he cautiously glanced down at the sleeping boy then around the room as if he was worried someone was watching.

Once sure Sam wasn’t awake nor were there any peeking eyes in the room-Hunter slid his fingers down into the ruffled mess of Sam’s hair that he had been dying to touch all day. Its softness brushed against his fingers as Hunter looked away for a minute but then continued to run his slender fingers throughout the tangles and gently untangled them.The back of his other hand came up to stroke Sam’s cheek as he felt the guilt overflow within him. Pulling back, Hunter went to lie back down in his bed but paused before grabbing his duvet and gently pulling it over Sam so he had two to keep extra warm in the cold dorm. Hunter laid back down on his bed and covered himself with his arms as he ignored the cold biting at his skin. Hunter found he was unable to sleep—each time Sam stirred Hunter would be up and checking on him. He could not understand why Sam had gotten to him when no one else could but his mind suddenly flickered back to when he had Sam pinned up against the wall and what his words were.

“What. You want the title?” Hunter’s face was starting to curl up into disgust and hatred as if just thinking about the damn title would provoke this from him. Sam shook his head as he whispered softly, “I don’t want that burden.”

‘I don’t want that burden.’

It was as if Sam understood him, Sam saw that the title was nothing great, that it only weighed him down and made him even more alone than he already was. Sam was the only person to ever say that to him and then Sam even went on to help him even if it doesn’t benefit him.

Hunter sighed as he sat up on the edge of his bed and ran his fingers through his locks. Deep down he knew why he liked Sam, he knew because he could clearly see how kind and sweet Sam is and he was drawn to that. Jealousy spread across Hunter when the thought occurred to him that he probably wasn’t the only one who was drawn to Sam… To his Bambi.

The possessive side of Hunter started to come to life as his fists clenched so tightly they cracked. He wanted to claim Sam, to tell the whole school Sam belonged to him and only him. But he couldn’t. Not if he wanted to protect Sam. Hunter swore from now on he’d do anything he could to protect Sam. Even if it meant he could not be with him, he would always be looking out for him and would make sure no one would hurt him.

He stood up, his feet softly padding on the ground as his fingers ran through Sam’s tousled locks again and brushed them away from his slightly clammy forehead. His eyes ran over the smooth, rounded lips that parted slightly as he exhaled quietly. “I’ll look out for you”

***

Lyle exhaled through his nose in an amused way as he pulled his ear away from the dorm. He shook his head with a grin on his smug face as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets and walked away. He tutted with a chuckle “Oh Lion—what a clumsy Lion.you almost had me fooled you didn’t care”