Page 18

Story: The Feud

18

HUNTER

“S o, you’re telling Faith—I mean, Luna —who you really are tonight, right?” Ty says to me on the speakerphone as I drive. “Or is ‘Trucker Thor’ just going to do this thing on his own?”

I spray myself with a new bottle of cologne I picked up tonight as I pull up to a stop sign. I need to mask my scent in case Faith smelled me when I accidentally walked by the rollup area tonight. My thoughts have been racing all day.

“I haven’t decided yet,” I say. “It’s going to be a snap decision.”

“Dude, tell her. How many times do I have to say it? What? Are you going to walk around the restaurant floor all summer not saying a word to anyone in case she hears your voice?”

“I’m going to tell her,” I grumble. “I just have to find the words.”

“It’s easy. ‘Hey, this is weird but…I really like you and I’ve got this double-identity thing going. I thought you should know. So, I’m kind of like Clark Kent in the sheets, Superman in the streets.’” He pauses. “Or, wait, is it the other way around?”

I laugh. “Look, man, I’ll be fine. Thanks for getting that eighteen-wheeler on short notice. You really are the best right-hand wizard a recently rich football prodigy could ask for. I don’t know how you find these things.”

Ty laughs. “Why, thank you. And let’s not change the subject. You’re about to have a rendezvous with a girl in a truck…and she doesn’t even know your real name. She hasn’t even seen your face. You’re completely insane.”

“Well, what else is new? Come on, man, I haven’t felt this way about a girl in, well, ever. I’m just going to do what I feel is right. I’m almost there. Gotta go.”

I hang up with Ty and take a deep breath.

I’m almost there but I need to think. I put on my favorite song, “Creep” by Radiohead, and smell the fresh air coming through the window.

I think back to the conversation I heard my last ex having—right before she became my ex.

Tracy had been my high school girlfriend since sophomore year of high school, and we dated long distance all through college. It wasn’t an ideal setup, but I loved her and I’m nothing if not loyal. I wasn’t about to throw away what I thought was true love for some college football groupie, though the temptations were fucking plenty .

And then I went to her place one off weekend to surprise her—actually, it was almost a year to the date. I’d just been drafted number four overall, and there were speculations far and wide over what my salary would be. Houston hadn’t had a top quarterback in a long time, and I was the highest quarterback pick in the draft. Sports pundits were throwing my name around with the greats.

Hunter Holloway is the next Aaron Rodgers.

No, he’s more of a Joe Montana type. He’s more mobile. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets fifty million.

The money didn’t matter to me, really.

The big money, in my mind, was just a bonus for being able to continue playing the sport I loved. After being injured for a full year, some had given up on me. And then I got drafted—it was such a surprise I didn’t even have my family with me when I got the call.

That day last April, I drove all the way from Florida the day after, with only na?ve love in my heart, thinking about the people in the trailer park I’d be able to fix up.

I’d had that jalopy for ages. The thing would break down every three weeks it seemed.

On the ride home I was ecstatic—had a huge smile on my face the whole way. I was too wired to even call anyone back home and tell them I was coming.

I was getting a new car. My mom’s credit card debt was going to be paid off, and that college degree she always talked about getting? Well, if she still wanted it, money wasn’t going to be the reason why not anymore.

Tracy is over at Mary’s trailer having some drinks, her mom said when I arrived.

I walked toward her trailer happy as could be, roses in my hand because she loved them and I loved her.

And then I stopped short when I heard Tracy bragging to Mary and her two sisters, drunk and boisterous.

I’ve put in my time. And now that he’s rich, I’m going to be rich, too.

Do you love him?

What is love, really? Tracy was saying. I stopped short, my heart hammering as I started listening. Hunter is my ticket out of here. Love is…an illusion. It’s a big fat lie. I mean, whatever, I’ll play nice with him and everything, but once we get married and I’ve got him locked down with a kid? Well, that’s all I’m worried about. Hunter himself is…I mean, he’s fine. He’s whatever. He’s Hunter. A big mostly dumb jock oaf who is more athletic than ninety nine point nine percent of the world because of some lucky genes. And the sex is great. But I’m enjoying hooking up with other guys, too.

My heart dropped to my damn feet and I don’t think it ever came back up.

I stood there, gripping those damn roses like an idiot. Then I gave them to her anyway. Told her it was over. No yelling. No theatrics. Just done.

I was worth more than a whatever .

And now, as I pull up to the black semi parked in the field, my pulse quickens. Part nerves. Part adrenaline. Part something I haven’t felt in a long time—hope.

Maybe I’m crazy. Maybe this whole thing is insane. But Faith—Luna—this woman? She’s making me believe again. In love? I don’t know. That might be pushing it.

But in something .

She loves Thor the trucker. Not Hunter Holloway, the cocky, wounded athlete who fought her dad in church. She doesn’t know the truth yet.

But she will.

Time to come clean. To end the charade. It’s the right thing to do—and then maybe we can see what’s real between us.

Just then, my phone buzzes with a message from her.

A voice memo.

I tap it, and the sound flows through my truck’s Bluetooth speakers. And holy hell—one second in and I know exactly what it is.

She took my instructions. And she went one better.

She recorded herself pleasuring herself for me.

All of my blood shoots straight to my cock. That sweet voice of hers has been seducing me since day one. And now her soft moans are filling my truck, heating my skin, shortening my breath.

I’m rock hard. Palming myself through my jeans. Imagining her lying on that bed in the back of the semi, blindfolded, touching herself for me .

No.

For Thor .

I listen to the whole thing. Every second of it. And it’s well over the minute I instructed her to go.

Naughty, naughty girl.

There will be consequences for that.

I kill the engine, open the door, and step out into the warm night. Stars stretch out over the field, and the only sound is the faint chirp of crickets.

Well. Let’s see if we can change that.

I get a sudden rush of anxiety and start second-guessing everything.

Maybe I should get back in my truck. Leave. Make up some excuse—say something came up. Let Thor fade into a sexy memory she forgets in a few weeks.

But then I think about our conversations. The way she talks to me when it’s just Thor and Luna. No expectations. No masks—except for the literal one. And somehow, with her, it’s like I’m more myself than I’ve ever been.

She doesn’t want my money.

She just wants me . The dirty-talking, truck-driving, fantasy-weaving man she trusts enough to strip for.

And that…that is hotter than anything I’ve ever experienced.

I exhale. I’ve got to tell her the truth.

Now or never.

I open the truck door and shut it softly behind me.

Her breaths are the first thing I hear. Soft. Shaky. Waiting.

I ease the curtain open just enough to peer through.

There she is.

Blindfolded. Kneeling on the bed. Her wrists tied together with a hair tie, her golden hair tumbling around her bare shoulders.

She’s completely naked.

My chest tightens.

“Hi, Thor,” she whispers, voice barely audible.

“Hi, Luna,” I say.

There’s a pause.

This is it.

This is my moment.

I should say it right now. Tell her who I am.

But then I glance at the note I left her—the little game we started. Her handwriting on it.

She checked hell yes .

My lips twitch into a grin. “I see you went with the right answer.”

She giggles softly. “Was there another option?”

God, my cock aches.

“Luna, baby…”

I step closer, around to the side of the bed, my belt buckle now level with her blindfolded gaze.

I brush her hair back with my fingers, threading them slowly through the silky strands.

“Yes, Thor?” she whispers.

“Lie down.” I swallow, my voice low and steady. “I’ve got something I need to tell you.”