I’m starting to see what he means about me making his life easier if I could win his friends over.
I’m starting to see why it doesn’t even matter if he likes me the way I want him to—this is never going to work.
That’s the thought in my head—and the look on my face—when Hunter’s gaze swings in my direction. He loses his easy smile and pushes back his chair, then he walks over to my side of the table. “Hey. You good?”
I force a smile, glancing down at the table instead of at him. I can’t look at him when I’m about to lie to him. “Yeah. I’m good. Um, I just… my mom’s on her way, so me and Sara won’t be able to go to the movies with you guys.”
He scowls. “Already? Didn’t you tell her we were all gonna catch a movie after—?”
“Yeah, but it’s—she got called in for an evening shift, so she won’t be able to pick me up later.”
“My mom can give you a ride home.”
I shake my head, offering up an apologetic smile. “We’re leaving. Sorry.”
Seeing right through my excuse, he looks me dead in the eye and asks, “You’re not having fun, are you?”
I shrug, not knowing what to say. “I like spending time with you…”
“But you don’t like my friends.”
Still avoiding his gaze, I try to explain it without placing all the blame on Valerie. “I just don’t really have much in common with them.”
“You haven’t spent enough time with them to know that.”
“I don’t like seeing you with Valerie,” I admit.
He rears back a bit, clearly stunned to hear that. “What? Why?”
“She likes you,” I say, so uncomfortable I want to crawl out of my skin. “And maybe you like her, too—”
“I don’t,” he says, not letting me finish. “Not like that.”
“Well, it’s hard to tell,” I say, flushing with a mix of pleasure and embarrassment. “You kinda… I don’t know, flirt with her a little.”
“I flirt with her?” he asks, breaking into an amused grin as realization dawns on him. “You’re jealous.”
Oh my God. A blast of burning heat rushes to my cheeks. I wish I could crawl out of my own skin like a snake and slither away into some clever hiding spot where Hunter Maxwell could never find me.
The closest thing I can do is explode up out of my chair, so I do that. My face is on fire as I gather my bags and slide my purse strap up over my shoulder. “I did not say that.”
“Didn’t have to.” He grins at me, his brown eyes dancing with amusement. “You sure you want to bail? Leave me here alone in a dark theater with Valerie? Maybe you should tag along and make sure I behave myself.”
I know he’s only ragging on me, but I scoff at him anyway. “Please. I’d never babysit a guy. My mom taught me better than that. If you like Valerie, there’s no way you like me. If you don’t like me, then—”
He stands just as abruptly as I did, moving so close he’s practically on top of me.
My words halt and my amusement fades. His handsome face is so close to mine, my heart sinks. I can’t think straight when he stands so close to me.
“Then what?” he challenges, looking down at me and holding my gaze.
Stampeding wild animals stomp through my chest as I look back at him. I can see from the glimmer in his eyes, he knows exactly how he’s affecting me.
“Don’t torture me, Hunter.”
“This isn’t what it feels like to be tortured by me, Catnip.”
My heart seizes again at his response and that nickname. He’s toying with me, but he means no harm. I’ve given him enough insight that he knows my weak spots. It might be silly, but when he calls me that, he turns my brain into celery juice.
If this isn’t what torture feels like, I don’t think I could bear it. My heart is already in the palm of his hand, his fingers positioned around it so perfectly, the faintest squeeze is unbearable. I can only imagine the damage he could do if he wanted to break it.
I like him way too much. Part of me thinks maybe Mom was right about spending time with him, but mostly I don’t care. It might be a really bad idea to fall for him, but I’m probably gonna do it anyway.
As if he can sense how close he is to winning the war waging inside me, Hunter reaches out and tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. His touch is so casual, so seemingly harmless, but it lights up every nerve ending above my neck and sends a jolt of awareness down my spine.
Heat suffuses my face—not from embarrassment, but something else altogether. I look down, no longer able to hold his gaze. I know this casual little touch probably isn’t anything to him, but it’s a lot for me. I’ve never had a guy touch my face this way—or at all.
It makes me wonder what it would be like if he kissed me. Would he touch my face and draw me close? Would it be slow and sweet and so tender my heart would explode?
He drops his hand and takes a step back, leaving me here with my head in the clouds.
“All right,” he says, the lightness of his tone relaying that he’s gonna let me off the hook—for now, anyway. “I guess we’ll catch a movie some other time.”
I look up just long enough to catch his gaze, but then Mark calls out for him. Hunter needs to head back to his kingdom, so he spares me one last charming little smile, then he moves past me and goes back to his friends.
I’m feeling a little floaty, my heart so light in my chest, I’m surprised it doesn’t lift me off the ground. A tiny smile plays around my lips—at least, until I look up.
Valerie is standing just a few feet away, her feet cemented to the ground. I can see by the look on her face that she just witnessed Hunter touching me, and if blue eyes could kill, hers would be roasting me alive.
“Huh. Guess I won’t be able to squeeze all of Hunter’s trash into that tiny receptacle,” she says, her eyes moving up and down my body with the sharpness of a blade.
Since she wants to cut me so badly, I offer her a little smile to show her I’m unscathed. “Aw, don’t feel bad. Keep eating those salads and I’m sure eventually you’ll fit.”
It takes a moment for my barb to land, but when she gets it, her eyes narrow and she glares at me. “Watch it, Riles. You don’t want to make an enemy out of me.”
I don’t bother to mean mug her back. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be,” she states.
“Why?” I challenge, cocking my head. “What exactly are you gonna do to me?”
Her eyes narrow even more, but she doesn’t seem to have an answer for me.
I’d say she’s all bark and no bite, but she’s not—Sara’s social isolation is proof of that. But that’s the thing—Valerie reigns over a kingdom I don’t care about. She could cut me down socially… but I’m already in social Siberia with Sara. Hunter’s the only socially relevant person who pays me any attention, and she can’t take him away from me. As much as she’d obviously like to, she doesn’t have that power.
She can’t do anything to me, and I can see her simmering as she realizes it.
Finally, she says, “Stay away from Hunter.”