Page 147 of The Genius
“Did you hear the good news?” She smiled up at him. “Marco and Shelly got married yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” Solomon looked to us. “Congratulations. I’m sorry that I missed out on your wedding. Work has been intense these past weeks and I couldn’t…” He trailed off, distracted by something behind us that made his eyes narrow and his stance grow more rigid with his shoulders squared.
I turned my head to see Hunter and Archer returning from a morning run. They were talking and it took a few seconds until Hunter spotted Solo and the rest of us. The second he did, he stopped and stared.
Putting his hand on Hunter’s elbow, Archer said a few words and they walked toward us in a steady pace with tense expressions on their faces.
“You came,” Archer said when they were closer. “I’ll give you a hug later when I’m not as sweaty.”
“I’ll look forward to it.” Solomon turned his head from Archer to Hunter. The tension between them was tangible.
The rest of us men exchanged glances, silently alerting each other that a fight was in the air and that we might need to intervene.
“What do you want?” Hunter’s voice was low and cold.
“I’m here to celebrate, just like the rest of you.”
With a sideways glance, Hunter looked to me. “Where’s Willow?”
“I don’t know.”
“She’s not in the dorm,” Storm added. “Tristan and I looked but we couldn’t find her.”
Mila, who was following the meeting between Hunter and Solomon with a concerned expression on her face, spoke up. “I think Willow and Raven went to swim in the lake.”
Solomon turned his head in the direction of the forest trail that led to the small lake. “I’m going to go and talk to her. It’s time to clear the air between us.”
Hunter stepped in his way. “There’s nothing to clear. It’s been years and she never talks about you. I doubt she remembers much about you.”
Solomon folded his hands into fists but didn’t respond.
“Me, on the other hand,” Hunter said and tilted his head, “I remembereverything.”
Solomon’s jaw tightened. “Me too.”
“I’ll let Willow decide if she wants to talk to you. My guess is she’ll want to leave the minute she hears that you’re here.”
Solomon looked down, his chest lifting and falling. “I can’t force her.”
“That’s fucking right.” Hunter stepped closer, his voice threatening. “If you as much as look at her the wrong way, I’ll kill you.”
The two men stared at each other – Hunter with protective rage that made his nostrils flare, Solomon with suppressed emotions that had to take a lot of discipline not to show.
“I’m not here to fight you,” Solomon muttered like a warning, his skin drawn tight over his cheekbones, his eyes haunted.
“And I’m not here to kill you, but I will if you get too close to my sister.” Hunter backed up four steps before turning his back on us and walking toward the lake. I had no doubt that he was heading to give Willow a heads-up that Solomon had arrived.
“He doesn’t like you.” Shelly spoke the obvious and it somehow lightened the heavy atmosphere.
“Fuck, thank you for pointing that out, Shelly. I did get some vibes but wasn’t sure how to read them,” Tristan said.
Punching Tristan on the shoulder, I warned him. “Don’t mess with my wife.”
Tristan held up both his palms.
“Are you two the only old people here?” Solomon asked Archer and me.
“Old? In what universe is thirty old?” I asked in a tone that sounded offended.
