“I was just trying to get Stella to listen to reason.” Bradley is practically whimpering.
“You don’t get a girl to listen to you using force, fucker.” Hanks voice has gotten so deep and ominous I’m a little scared. For Bradley.
Releasing my arm, Bradley takes a step back from both me and Hank, sputtering, “I-I wasn’t forcing her to do anything. I was just trying to get her to stop walking away from me so she’d listen. But I’ll leave. For now.” Hank growls again as Bradley backs away, but he can’t seem to stop himself from saying, “Jesus, how did you get mixed up with these asshole jocks anyway?”
Hank steps closer to Bradley with fists clenched.
Raising his hands up like he’s getting robbed, he takes a step backwards. “I’m going. I’m going.” Jogging away, Bradley shouts the rest, “Stella, this conversation isn’t over.”
“Stella, what the hell was going on there?”
“That was my ex. I caught him with my new roommate the second day I was here, and he’s trying to tell me that I misunderstood the situation.”
A chuckle erupts from Hank. “Well, I hope you stay the hell away from him. He’s bad news. I don’t like that he had his hands on you, and Alex is going to burst a blood vessel when he hears about this.”
“Why would Alex care?” Seriously, why would he care?
“Oh, giiiirrrlll… you are clueless, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not clueless. I’m actually quite intelligent.”
“I’m sure you’re smart as a whip, but this thing with Alexwill all become clear to you very soon. It will be illuminating for you.”
“Whatever. What are you doing here anyway? This is the art building.”
“What? I can’t be artsy-fartsy?” defends Hank.
“I didn’t say that. It just surprises me to see you here.”
“Well, I’ll have you know that my mom is an artist and she instilled in me a great love of the arts,” he says with a flamboyant hand gesture. “So, I volunteer to model for a professor friend of my mom’s. Some of the professors have to pay for models out of their own pockets, so this is my way of helping out. I do it for free, hence the volunteering. It’s a great way to share what God gave me with the art world. I mean, have you looked at me?”
I giggle. But then my jaw drops. “Wait, which class are you going to model for this term?”Please don’t say Life Painting, please don’t say Life Painting.
“Life Painting.”
“Oh? Really?” Aw, crap! I’m going to see Hank naked? “I’m taking that class this semester.”
“Well, it’s your lucky semester, little Stella. You’ll get to see me in all of my naked glory.” Leaning a little closer, he whispers but it’s loud and sounds sort of conspiratorial. “You’ll thank me later.”
“Uh-huh.” I chuckle as I do my best to not picture Hank naked. He’s ginormous. I think he may be bigger than Alex. Alex is taller, but Hank is definitely broader. He’s got sandy blond hair is cut short, almost in a military style. He’s got at least one tattoo running down his right arm that looks like it’s made up of thick, dark, vine-like lines. He’s handsome in an angular kind of way with his strong jaw and nose and high cheekbones. His lips are full, and his eyes are gray and kind. Yep, I like him. I just don’t want to see his you-know-what.
“On second thought, Alex probably won’t like that you’regoing to see all of this.” Hank gestures up and down his body. “But he’s going to have to deal.” He winks at me again.
“Okay, well, on that note… I need to get going. I’m going to be late for my favorite class.”
Hank quickly moves next to me so we’re walking side by side. “Is it your favorite because you know you’ll see me naked?”
I roll my eyes, but I’m laughing inside. This guy is funny. Picking up my pace, I walk as fast as I can to class. I hope I get a seat next to Lily and far away from Hank. Lily will enjoy hearing about all of this, and I’m positive she’ll enjoy having a naked football player to paint. By the time I get to the Life Painting classroom, I’m late. Everyone in class turns to see me walking in, followed by Hank. I search quickly for Lily and spot her across the room. She waves and points down. She’s saved me a place, thank goodness. We hug and settle in for class.
“So, two questions: one, why were you late? And two, did it have anything to do with that hunka-hunka man with you?” Lily raises her eyebrows up and down like a dork.
“That’s Hank. He lives in my dorm. He’s going to be our model in this class. Naked. Nude. Sans clothing,” I explain.
“Sweeeeet!” Lily squeals.
“That’s okay foryou.” I groan. “You don’t have to see him every day.”
“Oh, I wish I did.Daaayum! That man is hot, hot, hot. So, why were you late?”
