I look from my cooler to him, and then back again, trying to piece it together. Not many people at these things like Seagram. It’s a cheap brand, and once the drink gets warm, it’s no good. Many of the partygoers here are either straight liquor drinkers, or they drink beer.
From what I saw inside the cooler, there was only one six-pack of Wild Berry.
“You’re overthinking it,” Hunter murmurs in a growl.
My eyes flick to his, marveling how different yet the same he feels to me. “Am I?”
He licks his lips, and I can’t help when my eyes drop down to their plump surface. They’re wet, slick, and I have the weirdest temptation to see what they taste like. I wonder if they taste like they did in high school? Or if, along with becoming a man, his taste has changed?
“Drink the goddamn cooler,” he grumbles before pushing off the kitchen island.
Just when I think he’s about to meander through the crowd to find Cassandra, he surprises me and stops beside me where there’s barely an inch separating our bodies. His size is large and imposing, but nothing I can’t handle. I’ve known this boy since we were in diapers.
He may exude hatred and anger like they’re a part of him, but I know the truth. He’s hurt by something. And the fact that’s probably the truth, and he’s hiding it behind this façade, kills me that I’ll never fully understand why.
His hand lays flat on the bar as his upper body drifts closer, his shirt barely skimming against my bicep. I swallow hard, trying not to react to his proximity. But it’s useless.
Because with as well as I know him, he knows me better.
“I told you what I wanted, didn’t I?” he says, and the only thing I can do is nod since my throat is frozen. “This can go one of two ways.”
I’m afraid to say anything, not knowing where his head is right now. The smell of whiskey wafts off him like it’s his personal brand of cologne. He may not be trashed, but he’s pretty close to it if he’s standing this close to me and not putting me down.
“One?” He runs his pointer finger along my arm, causing goosebumps to rise in its wake. “You can disappear and go back to wherever you came from …”
“W-What’s two?” I hate myself for asking, but I couldn’t keep quiet, no matter how bad I wanted to.
His heated breath wisps across my neck and cheek, stirring my hair. My body hums from his closeness as if soaking it all in for fear she’ll never get anything as wonderful as this again.
“Come on now,” his teeth nip my earlobe, and the action causes me to suck in a sharp breath and hold it. “We both know you’re not stupid, little con.”
I nearly melt when his entire body presses up against my side. It’s hard to remember I hate him with him being this close to me.
Our bodies are our biggest weakness.
I lick my lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Tension around the kitchen escalates. I can feel multiple sets of eyes on us. Any other time, I would care, but at the moment, I can’t bring myself to go down that road. Hunter knows what his closeness does to me, even though it’s been years since we’ve been this close. His body, his attention, his everything is a weakness to me. I can’t help but succumb to it.
My eyes flutter closed as I get lost in the feel of his body, remembering all the times he made me feel good. How he’s the only person who knows me—the real me.
I gave him my innocence, my life, and my future. And when he sent me away, I never got any of those back. It’s taken me until now to finally realize that. I can be pissed at Hunter all I want to, but deep down, within the very heart and soul of my being, he’s the only man I’ll ever be able to love in that way.
There will be other guys, no doubt. But none who will make me feel as if the entire world is laid out for me, so I can bend it to my will. Hunter gave me everything. It made me feel everything.
With just the mere meeting of eyes, desire, love, and happiness completely enveloped me within their warm embrace. But, within that same embrace, I’ve encountered pain and regret and sadness.
His leg nudges my knee with his. “Get down on your knees, baby.”
Goddammit. The way he oozes sex appeal should be considered criminal. But what he says finally manages to breach the haze of arousal swirling inside me.
Blinking rapidly, I peer around the kitchen and see girls and guys openly staring at Hunter and me. They’re not even bothering to hide what they’re doing, which is the first hint that what he and I are doing is wrong.
Of course, he makes me feel things. He always will. But—and as much as it pains me to say this—he no longer has the right to demand anything.
But maybe, I … “Tell me why you did what you did, and I’ll gladly kneel for you.”
My eyes meet his. For barely a second, I can see the surprise lighting his gaze, but just as quickly as it washed over him, it’s gone. Within seconds, his strong, calloused fingers close around my wrist, and in front of God and all the people he created, he takes me off guard and starts dragging me down the hallway. I can barely keep up with his thunderous pace.
“What the hell are you doing?”
A grunt is all I get in return. We pass by several sets of doors before he comes to the last one on the right. Flinging open the door, he jerks me toward him and then shoves me inside. I stumble over my own two feet before righting myself and twirling on him.
At first, I expect him to shove me in here and leave. That’s what the asshole he is today would do. However, all he does is stand there, only allowing me to see his large, looming silhouette within the doorway. The light peeps in from behind, encasing him in its rays.
Then, my breath stalls in my chest as he takes one step, then two, and slowly closes the door behind him with a click, flicking the lock in place.
Darkness cloaks us both. Not even the window allows the moon’s rays to shine through the blinds. It’s terrifying, being in a room like this with Hunter. But, oddly enough, it’s invigorating as well.
“What are you going to do now, huh?” I ask, attempting not to trip over stuff as my hands feel around for a wall or something.
He’s silent, except for his labored breathing. I’m being as quiet as I can, so nothing slips by me.
I can feel the anger rolling off him in waves. Each swell that comes over me feels like a blade slicing into my skin, begging me to my inner being to bleed in penance.
But for what? Why? After all this time, why is he still angry at something he did?
“Tell me the truth.” His monotone voice drifts through the air like the kiss of death.
After searching, my hand finally bumps into the wall. “Truth? What truth?” I creep up to the wall and lean my back against the unforgiving surface, ready for anything.
A beat of silence, and then another. My heart thuds loudly in my ears as I wait for Hunter to say something else. But he never does. The silence continues to stretch around both of us, teaming with emotions too difficult to decipher.
Suddenly, I feel his wrath and burning heat seconds before he takes me off guard, his heavy body flattening me against the wall. His hands plant themselves right next to my head, caging me in. Anger manifests in the air between us, thickening to the point I can barely inhale without choking on it.