Boys and Girls, Part III: Can't Stay Away

A/N: Keep reviewing my beloved readers!

Chapter 12 – Saving Me

“You guys are so cute!” Stephanie squealed, referring to Ryan and Lani.

The pair joined Stephanie, along with Jacy and Delaney, at a park near Stephanie’s apartment. Joe and Jason were currently at football practice, so their girlfriends decided to meet up with Jacy and the happy new couple.

Jacy snorted. “I liked it better when you guys fought.”

That got a laugh out of Ryan and Lani.

By now, December was already rolling by. Lani had joined Ryan’s family over Thanksgiving, and she had had a great time meeting Mr. Mackey and Ryan’s twin siblings. Lani had totally enjoyed staying with a family who knew the meaning of warmth and acceptance. She had been able to tell that Ryan’s father loved his son, even though he wouldn’t be the NFL wide receiver as once hoped. In other words, Mr. Mackey’s love for Ryan was pure and unadulterated. There were no strings attached.

It made Lani feel that her own relationship with her father was so warped. Capt. Bennett never wanted anything from his daughter, but he expected her to make “smart” choices. She had effectively fucked up that endeavor by breaking it off with Hunter. She wondered if her father had found out about that yet.

“Show me how to throw a football,” Stephanie ordered Ryan.

Ryan snorted. “I don’t think so, Barbie.”

Stephanie huffed at the jibe. “You can’t be mean to me. Joe will hunt you down.”

“Ask Joe to teach you how to throw the pigskin, sweetheart,” he responded, “and see if he doesn’t laugh either.”

“I’ll show you,” Lani volunteered.

“You don’t know how to throw a football,” Ryan teased.

“I surely do,” Lani protested. “My dad played in his day.”

“Football’s changed since the twenties, Lani.”

Her jaw dropped. “You’re so mean! My dad’s only fifty-five.”

Ryan plastered the most charming grin on his face. “That was me exaggerating, honey.”

She hit him lightly before getting up and grabbing the football that lay next to them. She had to persuade Stephanie to get up, so that she could teach her how to throw a football.

Despite Lani’s repeated attempts to show Stephanie the right way of playing, the latter just simply could not get the gist of it. Her throws carried no spirals. Stephanie basically threw the ball into the air and watched it plop back onto the ground in seconds. Her one decent throw ended up hitting an elderly park-goer in the head, and both girls apologized profusely, while the other three were busy laughing their asses off.

Finally, Ryan couldn’t suppress his innate need to show off in front of the ladies. He grabbed the football and hurled it very far away. It ended up flying past the major hill and landing deep in the valley. Nobody wanted to pick it up, so Lani was left to fetch it.

She flew across the lawn down the slope to the valley and smiled as the slightly cooler fall breeze nipped at her skin. Her sable tresses flew in the wind. She found the football immediately and was so engrossed in the beauty of the day that she didn’t see the large figure approaching her from somewhere behind. She turned abruptly and hit the hard chest of a very large man. She raised her violet eyes and gasped when she saw who it was.

“Hunter?”

“Hey, Lani.”

This wasn’t the Hunter that Lani remembered falling in love with a long time ago. This Hunter was dejected-looking. His blonde hair was messy but not in the good way. There were dark circles beneath his bloodshot eyes. Beard stubble was rampant across his masculine features. He almost looked like a vagrant from the neck up, in fact.

Lani regarded Hunter uncomfortably and tucked the football in the crook of her arm. “What’s up?”

“You never called me back,” he spoke in a deep, sad voice. “I tried to talk to you so…so many times, Ailani.”

She averted her eyes. “We had no need to talk Hunter. What are you doing here anyway?”

“I’ve been back in North Mission for a few days now. I’m staying at a nice hotel in LA, but I needed to come back here.” He attempted a smile. “I’ve been strolling this park for a few days, hoping to get enough courage to see you at your apartment again.” He sighed hopefully. “I guess fate brought you to me, huh?”

Lani just frowned, but Hunter wasn’t done.

“I wanted to be sure that you knew I was sorry.”

“I knew,” she admitted slowly.

“And?” he asked expectantly.

She frowned. “And what, Hunter? That I’d take you back or something after what you did?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “We were together for three years, Lani.”

“Which makes what you did all the more despicable, Hunter.”

He winced and opened his mouth to say something else, when Lani held a hand up to stop him.

“Good-bye, Hunter.”

She hadn’t gotten a good five yards away when he spoke again.

“You cheated on me first, Lani.”

She froze in place. No fucking way! She spun around and stared disbelievingly at her ex. “Excuse me?”

“You gave up on this relationship a long time ago,” he answered, not angrily, but very seriously.

“How?” she demanded.

“When you decided to devote your entire self – mind and soul – to the Ryan Mackey cheer-up project.”

“How is that cheating?”

“When you spend all that time with another man, Lani, that’s not what you exactly call a loving relationship for us. It may not have been cheating in the traditional sense, but –

“So you’re accusing me of infidelity when all I did was help a friend out?”

Hunter’s eyes glowed. “Except he wasn’t just a friend, was he?”

“W-what?” Lani stammered. “What are you talking about?”

“I knew that something was up between the two of you the day I arrived in North Mission,” he confessed. “You were all bent out of shape around him, and he looked at me like he wanted to kill me.”

Lani hadn’t known that Hunter had perceived everything from the start. It made her feel guilty now because everything he was saying was starting to ring true. Obviously, tension had existed between Ryan and Lani since day one. Lani had started spending more and more time with Ryan out of pity, but soon, she realized that spending time with Ryan was something she actually enjoyed and looked forward to. Hunter may have sunk the relationship because of his actions, but it had been her fault from the start…except not for the reasons that Hunter probably believed.

He looked at her so hopefully, like she was going to throw down the football and jump into his arms at any moment. Instead, Lani gripped the football closer to her body and lifted her head to meet his eyes.

“I don’t love you, Hunter. I’m afraid I never really did. A long time ago…I thought I could fall in love with you, but…” she hesitated before continuing, “…I realized that I was staying with you for the wrong reasons. Dad loves you, and I think…I think that I made myself believe I was in love with you too.” Her eyes lowered; she couldn’t bear to witness the hurt that flashed in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have told you this a long time ago.”

Silence ensued. All that passed between the two was a slightly cool fall breeze.

“Hey, sweetheart,” a voice sounded from behind Lani. “What’s going on?” It was Ryan. He saw Hunter immediately and threw his arm around Lani’s shoulder defensively. Ryan never took his eyes off of Hunter. “What’s he doing here?”

Lani patted Ryan on his shoulder in an effort to soothe him. “He just wanted to talk. Let’s go back, Ryan.” She saw aggression building in Ryan’s very posture as he continued to regard Hunter with the utmost hostility. Lani began walking, and she pulled Ryan with her. He had no choice but to follow, leaving a stunned Hunter watching from behind.

“Are you all right, Lani?” Ryan asked with concern in his eyes.

She nodded. “Yes, I’m fine.”

Ryan tucked a strand of Lani’s hair behind her ear when a primal roar erupted from behind them. Ryan barely had a chance to turn around when Hunter’s fist connected with his face. Ryan fell backwards, and Lani screamed. She attempted to push Hunter away, but he was way too strong; he pushed right past her.

As Ryan began to rise, wiping blood from his nose, Hunter got on him and punched him again in the face. Ryan’s head fell backward, and Lani began pounding on Hunter’s back.

“Get off of him, Hunter! Hunter!”

A trio of heads popped up at the head of the hill. Delaney, Stephanie, and Jacy stood in horror as they witnessed Ryan receiving the cruelest of beatings from Lani’s ex-boyfriend. Lani looked to them frantically.

“Get help, please!”

Lani saw Jacy talk to them briefly before Stephanie headed in the opposite direction. Jacy ran down the hill, along with Delaney.

Ryan had managed to evade several of Hunter’s clumsy punches. During one particular instance, he ducked beneath Hunter’s right hook and managed to club the bigger man in the face. The hit had been hard enough to push Hunter off of him. Ryan immediately forced himself to his feet, despite the fact that his vision was beginning to blur. Hunter shook his head before regaining his bearings. He leveled a murderous glare in Ryan’s direction.

“Get your fucking hands off of my girlfriend, shithead.”

Ryan sneered. “You’re fucking deluded, asshole. Lani is with me now.”

“Why would she want to be with a worthless gimp like you?” Hunter snarled. Delaney gasped, and Jacy scowled.

But Ryan didn’t flinch. He just lifted his chin and spat out proudly, “Because she loves me.”

Hunter’s eyes flashed envy. He knew Ryan wasn’t lying, but to hear those words from Ryan’s mouth was just too much to bear. He shot straight at Ryan and tackled him in the gut. The wind was knocked out of Ryan as he hit the ground with a hard thud.

“Stop it, Hunter!” Lani screamed.

Hunter ignored her, and remembering Ryan’s weakness, he grabbed the latter's right knee and twisted it.

Ryan screamed out. “Fuuuucccck!” His gray eyes flashed with rage. The strength in his right knee deserted him, but he soon found strength elsewhere. He used his good knee to hit Hunter in the groin, and the latter lifted off of him, holding onto his traumatized crotch in defense. This time, Ryan climbed on top of Hunter and prevented him from inflicting any more bodily harm. Instead, Ryan was the one who doled out the punishment. He clubbed Hunter in the face over and over again, putting all his passion and emotions into his hits. Hunter wanted to fight back, but Ryan was so livid at the moment – enough so that Hunter wasn’t even granted an opportunity at self-defense.

And then Ryan heard it.

“Ryan…” a familiar voice murmured from nearby. “…please stop hitting him.”

Ryan’s forgot his rage momentarily and met the eyes of the woman he loved. She sat on the ground resignedly. Tears pooled around her intense violet eyes. She regarded him with a look of desperation, and even though he hated the guy beneath him possibly more than even Tristan Carter, Ryan knew that his love for Lani was stronger than the hatred he harbored toward anyone else.

Ryan immediately struggled to get off of Hunter, who remained lying on his back in complete shock. When Ryan extended his hand in an effort to establish peaceful relations, Hunter didn’t accept. Just as well, Ryan didn’t want to be making friends with this guy anymore. He limped over to help his girlfriend up. She felt so small and brittle in his hands, even though he knew Lani was neither of those things. As he began to urge her back up the hill, Lani pushed him aside slightly and walked back toward Hunter, who still hadn’t risen.

Ryan turned and regarded the scene with a sad heart. Had Lani fallen for this asshole again?

Lani squatted down next to Hunter and placed a gentle hand on his cheek. She was definitely crying now. Some of her tears fell so elegantly onto Hunter’s face, but he didn’t flinch. Lani appeared to be leaning down. She placed her lips close to his ear and whispered something. Afterwards, she planted a small kiss on Hunter’s cheek. He instinctively grabbed her hand, and Lani allowed him to hold on for a few seconds. When she finally got up and pulled her hand out of Hunter’s, she slowly turned and made her way back toward Ryan and the girls.

Lani urged everyone up the hill. This time, Ryan kept his head turned to keep an eye on Hunter. The bastard had slowly begun rising to his feet. He continued to face the group with an unhappy expression on his face. When Hunter’s eyes met Ryan though, his expression wasn’t full of rage and jealousy as Ryan had anticipated. Instead, Hunter’s eyes widened and quickly lowered. He looked remorseful, watching the girl whom he had loved so dearly walk out of his life…with another man. As Hunter’s eyes slowly rose again, he gave Ryan one last look before closing his eyes in disappointment and turning to leave.

As Hunter walked away in the opposite direction, Ryan turned back around and pulled Lani in closer. He kissed the top of her head and thanked God that despite a few cuts and scrapes to his face and a horrible pain in his knees, he had managed to walk away with the one thing that mattered the most.

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A/N: This just in...psych! Keep reviewing my beloved readers!