The sun was setting as he finally, made his way home. His muscles ached and he had probably worked off a few pounds but Hunter felt great. He welcomed the exhaustion that settled within him. It had taken him years to be free and every moment since he enjoyed it. Hunter Jameson had earned his right to freedom and safety. He had earned it with every bump, bruise and broken bone, and he damn well was going to enjoy it.
Unlocking the door to their room, he dragged in his bicycle. It wasn’t pretty to look at, but Hunter had worked night and day to build and maintain it from salvaged parts. Taking in his surroundings, Hunter grunted at the term “home”. This wasn’t home, it could barely be classified as a room but he and Sunny were happy there. Happy and safe; something neither of them had had much experience with in life. So they were trying and learning to be normal.
Sunny was passed out across his bed. The guy was lean, but abnormally tall. His legs dangled over the end of his twin-sized bed. No matter how much time passed Sunny never looked older; perpetually a man-child, always seemingly looking for trouble. Hunter shook his head at the thought and made his way into the bathroom. Since leaving their last home at 17, he and Sunny had been joined together.
Good or bad, thick and thin, the two of them were a matched set. Once he had washed the day’s dirt off, Hunter too collapsed onto his bed. A few hours of sleep before he was off to a second job, the one he shared with Sunny. It was the best of both worlds; paid to barely work alongside his best friend…his brother. Finding work for both of them had been a fluke; their uncanny ability to manage drunk and stupid people was fate. Years of being a victim to the same behavior had taught them both how to take advantage of the situation. Now each man benefitted from the countless hours of torture and abuse, always ready for the tables to turn and for the time when it would be their turn to dole out the punishment.
The sun had long since set, but the heat and humidity still held the city in its grasp. The line leading to LIVID’s entrance stretched around the corner. Women scantily dressed, hoping to catch the bouncer’s eye and men donning their best in hopes of looking like they didn’t care one way or another. Hunter laughed to himself as he eyed the crowd. “Always the same, the same desperation and hunger” Hunter spoke to Sunny as he glanced at his clipboard. It never failed to amuse him. Sunny laughed as he lifted the rope to allow entrance to yet another pair of bottled blondes.
Sunny’s eyes followed the women into the club; the sway of their hips like a siren’s song to him. This was Sunny’s element. Where Hunter enjoyed watching human behavior and learning the telltale signs of them, Sunny loved people. He loved to be in the midst of the desire, the anger, and the joy. It was as if he couldn’t experience it without feeling the extreme version. This made him dangerous; to himself and to the others he drew in. Hunter cleared his throat to draw Sunny’s attention. The smile the man gave him only reinforced Hunter’s belief.
Sunny was on the hunt. He needed a new high and those ladies had just pushed themselves to the top of the list in his opinion. Hunter could only shake his head at his friend’s thoughts. Trouble would find him, it always did and then it would be his job to save Sunny…as usual. This was supposed to have been easy money and even easier work for the two men, but Sunny’s need to push the envelope had made it much harder than Hunter had ever wanted. With his attention once again on the crowd before him;
Hunter motioned to Sunny. It was easier to let him leave, than it was to try and focus on the always growing crowd and his constantly wandering eye.
There was never a lack of female attention…or male for that matter either. Hunter Jameson had been blessed and cursed with good looks. With his father’s size and his mother’s southern Italian coloring; he had been hard to ignore, but now as a man he was quiet and dangerous. The perfect combination; like catnip to women, constantly drawing them near. His quiet demeanor lent to his dangerous aura, but in truth he’d learned to keep quiet from an early age. Where he was dark, Santino “Sunny” Rojas was light.
Not even the sun shone brighter when Sunny was having a good day. It was what had drawn him to the boy all those years ago.
Having landed in yet another foster home; this time because of his drunk father believing he could drive him to school on his way back from a night at the neighborhood bar, Hunter was angry. He was beyond angry and was eager to find someone to release it on. Tired of being treated like nothing, he was ready for someone else to share the misery. The foster home du jour was more like a sweatshop, than a home. Children hoarded with the hopes of getting the maximum payout possible. There was no safety or kindness to be found here. Hunter could still see the vacant stares when he closed his eyes at night.
Looking for a fight, Hunter instead had found a friend. “You can beat the shit out of them or you can beat them…period,” Sunny’s words still rung through his mind whenever the haze of rage began to surface. Sunny had taught him that the best course of action was revenge. Hunter learned to live, to survive in spite of everyone and everything. No matter how badly beaten or verbally abused Hunter was, he survived…they survived. Year after year, they found each other over and over again in the same shitty foster homes. They were sent to the homes where the unwanted and unruly were sent, until they were strong enough to set themselves free.
So now it was Hunter’s turn to save Sunny. To save him from his need of excess and control. It was a hobby of his; Sunny loved to play with people and manipulate situations. He tried to, for once in his life; to be in control of the situation. Except things usually spiraled out of control once people became aware of his games. Then it was Hunter’s responsibility to make sure that Sunny survived relatively unscathed.
How many times had his fists solved Sunny’s problems? How many times had he sworn that it was the last time? Hunter had given up count and prayed that Sunny would grow the hell up. Praying and wishing was one thing, things that Hunter had never really believed in as a child. It’s hard to muster up belief in good when all you’ve known is bad. Still he held out a sliver of hope that they deserved some happiness, because if not…what the hell was the point? Things had been getting out of hand at a faster rate, Sunny’s need to stir shit up escalating. He had caught whispers of things happening at work; the club and grocery store both. Sunny had been skilled at avoiding and deferring all his questions lately, but Hunter knew…he could feel it. A shit storm was brewing with his friend at the
center.
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