This time his teeth ground together, but still he ignored Hunter.
"Maybe someone's relieved you of the duty. She is kind of a flirt, you know. I wouldn't be surprised if she's with some guy right now --"
Cooper cut him off, too angry to remain silent. "Shut the hell up, Gallagher. You don't know anything about Rachel."
The other man's green eyes glinted with trouble. "That's where you're wrong, mate. I know more about Rachel than you'll ever know. Did you think we're actually studying at those meetings?"
Growling, Cooper turned to face Hunter. He knew that Rachel would never, ever sleep with Gallagher, even though it was a surprise that he was her tutor.
"Are you so hard up that you have to make up stories, Gallagher? Jesus." He leaned closer, capturing Hunter's gaze and lowering his voice. "If you hurt her -- I don't care what it is, if you make one wrong move, you'll be sorry."
"More threats? Don't make any you can't follow through on, Winters."
Cooper laughed harshly. "Believe me, Hunter, I can and will follow through. Leave Rachel the hell alone."
Anger glinted in Hunter's eyes. "Can't do that. I'm her tutor, remember? And I think the library is just a little too public for what I have in mind for our next session. . ."
Cooper lunged at him, his fury ripping rationality from his mind. He only got two good punches in, though, before he was restrained. Glancing back, he saw the manager of Joe's, a big, thickly muscled guy. "Out." The man demanded, giving him a shove towards the exit. Struggling to tamp down on his anger, Cooper headed outside, still fuming. He strode down the street, not paying attention to where he was going.
What the hell is Hunter's problem? He took every opportunity he could to harass Rachel, a polar opposite to their old relationship. And his attitude to Cooper wasn't any better. They'd been friends, until the week after Rachel's mother had died. Neither of them had known at the time what had happened, but where Cooper had waited for Rachel to return, Hunter had turned angry. He fed into the rumors that Rachel had left school because she was pregnant, or on drugs, sticking to them even when Cooper confronted him. That rift had only grown in high school, until he no longer recognized Cooper. He'd had the suspicion that Hunter had cared about Rachel as more than a friend, but that didn't excuse him.
Cooper shook his head. He'd probably never figure Hunter Gallagher out, and trying was a waste of time. All he could do was warn Rachel.
******
Rachel grimaced, all but falling into a seat at the back of the large classroom of social psych, the last class of the day. And what a day it had been, starting when her phone had woke her up half an hour late, up to the point where it had started pouring rain on the long walk across campus. Shivering in the air-conditioned -- air-conditioned! -- room, she pulled out her notes, barely noticing when Hunter entered and took up a seat a row in front of her.
The class started, the professor droning on about cognitive dissonance, and Rachel struggled to keep her eyes open. Losing the fight, she awoke when someone nudged her. Her eyes flickered open to see the girl next to her grinning knowingly.
"Thanks." She said, stretching and gathering her blank notebook up.
"No problem."
Still groggy from the too-short nap, Rachel rose from her seat and headed out the double doors. Hearing the rumble of voices outside, she slowed, not wanting to make idle chit chat. When a reasonable amount of time had passed, she left the building, noticing a group of guys not too far ahead.
"I'm telling you dude, she's easy. You just gotta know what buttons to push."
"No thanks. I don't need your leftovers, Rob!" The group burst into laughter, then quieted down as another guy piped in.
"Rachel Durand is hot, you can't deny that." She nearly gasped. These guys were talking about her?
"Definitely fuck-able. She's horny, man."
"You would know, right Draper?" Again, the group burst into laughter, and Rachel turned onto a different path.
She recognized that voice. Hunters. Fuming, she hurried out of earshot of the idiots, indignation welling up inside of her. Why the hell did they have to talk about her like that? She'd never slept with any of them; she'd never slept with anyone for that matter. But they still made those maddening jokes, told those sick lies about her. She knew they shouldn't make her so angry, but it was so pointless. What did they gain from doing it?
Her phone rang, and she gratefully pulled herself from her thoughts to answer it. After making plans to join Cooper and some of their friends at the dining hall, she hung up and continued on the path. Shivering in the cool night air, Rachel wrapped her arms tighter around her, trying not to let her imagination get the best of her. The lights here were few and far between, leaving gaping shadows to dance along the path. Distant voices just reached her ears, unintelligible signs of life. Speeding up her pace, she reached the main road and headed for the dining hall, more than ready to finally relax.
*****
Hunter knocked softly on his father's door, knowing that the old man was stringent about procedure. At the bid to enter he gently pushed open the door, shook his father's hand, and settled gracefully into a chair.
"What can I do for you, Hunter?" He could have laughed at the attempt at casualness. His father was nothing if not formal, and only an idiot would take his friendliness for weakness.
"I want a bigger role in the company," Hunter began. His father hated when people beat around the bush, and there Hunter was going to use every insight he had on the man to get what he wanted.
"I'm assuming you have a legitimate reason for thinking you merit this." His father leaned back in his chair, crossing his hands on his desk, his eyes missing nothing.
"I've been working with Kevin Duvaldi for a year now. I think I've learned everything I can from him, and I know the inner workings of the company at least as well as he does." He glanced at his father's expression, but it was blank and unyielding. He'd have to make a damn good case to make any headway, and he started by reciting what he'd learned, moving on to ideas he had for the company.
An hour later, he finally finished, and waited long minutes for his father to make a response. His heart pounded in his ears; he couldn't ever remember wanting anything this badly, he'd never worked so hard in his life.
At last, at last his father drew a breath to answer. "You've shown great potential. I will take your proposition into consideration, but know that you will get no preferential treatment because you are my son."
Hunter nearly scoffed, nearly threw away everything he'd just gained a finger hold on, but restrained himself -- just barely. His father had never given him preferential treatment in anything, let alone his precious company. Where his mother was selfish and attention seeking, his father was a cold workaholic.
"Thank-you, Mr. Gallagher." With that, he left the study, breathing a sigh of relief as he did so.
Inside, he did a little victory dance. All that work, all that time, was about to be rewarded. The only thing he really cared about was within his grasp -- and he needed a little stress relief. Preferably in the form of a little Jack Daniels and some curvy, willing woman.
Grinning, he snagged his coat from the rack by the front entrance and headed towards Rico's.
*****
Hunter laughed as he won another round of pool, taking the money he'd won from some schmuck. He'd been playing pool since he was nine; no one was better. He waved off the next contender, heading back to the bar for another glass of Jack and coke. Sitting on a stool to wait for his drink, he glanced over at a group of people who'd burst into laughter. A couple disentangled themselves from the crowd and joined the queue at the bar, and Hunter recognized Rachel Durand, some guys arm hooked around her waist.
"Sam Adams and a vodka tonic!" the guy shouted to the bartender, then leaned Rachel against the bar. Hunter couldn't hear what they were saying, but from the low tones and Rachel's soft laugh, he could figure it out.
The wait seemed to stretch on and on, and he could hear nothing in the din of the bar but the soft murmur of voices and the flirtatious looks they shared. The bastard's hands slipped down to settle on her hips, as he leaned in to whisper something in her ear, and she tilted her head back in laughter.
By the time his drink arrived, Hunter's teeth were clenched and his heart was beating a quick rhythm in his ears. What the fuck was she doing? He knew what those guys wanted, mostly because usually he was one of those guys.
He watched as the guy led her over to the pool table, and leaned over her, pretending to teach her how to shoot. Hunter scoffed. Rachel was a damn good pool player; this idiot was obviously trying to cop a feel. Taking a swallow of his drink, he watched as Rachel bent over and made an easy shot, laughing. She pressed a kiss to the strangers face and Hunter had had enough. Spinning away from the bar, he grabbed his keys and stormed out, slamming his car door and jerking the car into traffic.
*****
Rachel giggled, checking up and down the street for a cab as they left the bar.
