I can’t help but grin. He’s too cute. And just when he’s about to say something, the classroom door bolts open, and the guy that called Gunner stupid earlier, appears. He’s wearing a t-shirt that says, ‘That’s a terrible idea, hold my drink’. The smug smirk on his face as he visually undresses me makes me want to smack him. If my daddy were here right now, he’d ask him what his problem is. “Your hubby know you’re out here with this jerkwad?” He asks, but his tone is playful, even though his words are snide.
“I’m not married.” I give him a dirty look. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“You sure?” He teases, looking me up and down. “You look awful married in that outfit.”
Gunner intervenes. “Hey, why don’t you leave the lady alone, hm?”
I put a hand up. “It’s okay, Gunner.”
Jerkwad scoffs. “Gunner? That your name, partner?”
“You got a problem with that?” Gunner asks, and I notice that he hasn’t got a glimmer of fear in his eyes at all. Not sure to take that as him being foolish, stupid, or if this boy really can hold his own.
“And what if I do?” Jerkwad asks, but he doesn’t take a step towards Gunner, smartly.
“Then we’ve both got a problem, I suppose. The way I see it, you’ve got two choices here. Y’all can walk away or y’all can start something in this hallway and get yourself suspended.”
“Or I can haul your skinny little ass into the stairwell and beat the shit out of you.”
Gunner gets a cocky grin on his face that I can't help thinking is sexy. “You can try.” he scoffs, but he might as well say, ‘good luck’ based on his tone.
Jerkwad just smiles like an idiot and walks away. As soon as he’s out of earshot, Gunner says. “That’s what I thought.”
“You weren’t afraid of him at all?” I ask, noting the Jerkwad is at least an inch taller than Gunner, and he looks like he spends some time in the gym, but with just a moderate body, whereas Gunner is built naturally, and I'm guessing that’s from his years on a ranch.
He waves. “I’ve got four brothers, all older and bigger than me, and I can take them all with one hand tied behind my back.” His tone is casual, not like he’s bragging. “Besides, he didn’t insult my hat. That’s usually where I draw the line.”
I can’t help but chuckle. “He’s just a jerk. And anyone who knows me knows that he’s just stupid. The fact that he asked if I was married proves that.”
“Guys like that come a dime a dozen. I’m not afraid. Besides, I've been able to talk my way out of most fights I've been in. Anyone aggressive like that hasn’t got the brains to think through a meeting of the minds. And he’d be an idiot to start something right here in the hallway. Nah, he’s just looking to impressyouis all.”
“Impressme?” I point at myself, with my face saying, ‘I don’t think so’.
“Well, why else do you think men act like that.” he says as more of a statement.
“Testosterone.” I shrug.
“Well, that’s part of it. But my brother Blake has always told me that men only act like assholes because of a lady; whether it’s to save their honor or to hook up with one.”
“Is that true?”
“In my experience, yes.”
“What about the male ego? My daddy’s always talking to me about that.”
“Well, that’s true, too, I suppose. My brothers and I aren’t much into that, I guess. Ain’t no such thing as an ego when you’re knee deep in horse shit or when you’re shoving your hand up the innards of a mare or a stud, see. We’re all equal when doing things like that.”
I wince. “Do you do that?”
“I grew up on a ranch, darlin’. It comes with the territory.”
“That why you’re in school? So you don’t have to do that anymore?”
He frowns and shrugs. “I never minded. If it’s an animal’s life at stake, you pull out all the stops.”
“I can’t argue with that. I love horses, too. All animals, really.”
“Same here. We’ve got some barn cats, and we had a dog once, but he died a while back.”
