We pulled into his long, circular drive, which was illuminated by white lights trimming the roof and bushes along the path. I sucked in a sharp breath. It was the first time I’d been back to the house since the accident. Hunter glanced over at me, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. We both knew how strange and awkward this was. For both of us.

He parked by the garage, and I trailed after him to the house. “No one’s home, if you’re worried about seeing my parents or anything.”

Alone with Hunter? My stomach jumped for completely other reasons now.

He opened the front door, turning on the inside lights. The familiar large foyer glowed with a buttery radiance from the elaborate chandelier above our heads. Trying to ignore the flood of emotion and strangeness, I hurriedly shed the top-tier of clothes, placing my jacket and hat on the foyer bench. I tugged off my muddy boots and left them by the door.

Every time I had ever entered this house it had been on Colton’s arm. Now it was his brother I trailed into the house, a boy who created such nervous butterflies in my stomach I could hardly sit still. A ribbon of guilt wrapped around my gut like a present. I sucked in a breath and forced myself to move forward. The holiday decorations were still up and drew me into their formal living room. The twelve-foot frosted Christmas tree glistened with white lights and ribbons, looking elegant and regal.

“How was your Christmas?” I touched the tree, rubbing the plastic needles between my fingers. I was all for the environment, but a real tree was a must. Fake trees didn’t feel, smell, or look right to me. “Must have been hard.”

“Yeah.” The space between Hunter’s eyes wrinkled. “But not spending it together is how the Harris family celebrates. My parents head off to the Caribbean every year. Colton and I would either hang out and watch movies or go with our friends.”

“They left you guys? At Christmas?”

“And all of January. They invited us to come at first, but Colton and I learned at ten we’d rather be home with the housekeeper than stuck on a boat with them and a bunch of their elitist friends. After that they stopped asking.” He stared at the lit tree. “We could tell they’d rather we not be there. They liked the freedom of not having kids around.”

My family was so different from theirs. Christmas was centered on us kids, especially Reece. I couldn’t imagine my parents choosing to leave us behind to go off by themselves. Maybe sometime during the year, but not at Christmas.

“Never knew that. Colton and I were broken up at Christmas last year. He never said anything, even when he called me.” Colton ended things with me in November, but he called me on Christmas saying he missed me, and we slowly started to talk. We were back together a little after school resumed mid-January. “Where did you go this year?” The thought of him being utterly alone drilled a hole in my heart.

“My friend Krista’s and then Jones’s.” Hunter folded his arms. “His house is always a good place if you want to forget your problems. He has three older sisters who all have kids. One married, two who aren’t, but they all live at home.” He smiled, staring down, looking to be lost in a memory. “It’s so loud and hectic you get lost in the chaos. Their house is like the wild kingdom.”

“Well, you’re always welcome at mine.” The words fell from my mouth before my brain realized what I was saying.

His blue irises glinted as he lifted his chin, catching my gaze. His lip hitched up. “You and I both know that isn’t true.”

My parents didn’t want me hanging around him, but they’d never turn anyone away if they had no place to go. But I understood his meaning. I nodded and looked down at my blue-and-black striped socks.

The door opened, turning both of our heads toward the entry.

“Hey, honey, we’re home,” Chris’s voice hollered from the front door, echoing off the high ceilings. “You better have something to drink in this pitiful excuse of a house.” I heard Stevie snort at his comment, coming in behind him.

Hunter headed for them. “Toilet water. It’s all we can afford here.”

“And let me guess. Your toilet water is Evian.”

“Perrier.”

“Of course,” Stevie responded, taking off her coat, scarf, hat, and shoes, placing them with mine. She ventured into the living room where I was, her eyes growing a bit. “Wow.”

“Wait till you see the kitchen and the pool,” I said.

Stevie slanted her head. “Oh, right.” She nodded. “I forgot you’ve been here before.” Yes. I had been here before. I shifted, feeling the uncomfortable moment pressing down on the room, creating walls between Hunter and me.

“Okay. Awk-ward.” Chris came up behind Stevie, wrapping one arm around her shoulder till his hand covered her mouth. “Think this one needs a drink. Maybe then she’ll stop talking.”

“Hey!” She laughed, tearing away from his grip. “But I heartily agree with this sentiment. My mouth needs something to do.”

Chris’s eyebrows went up, fully facing her. “I’ll give it something to do.” He stepped up to her with a grin.

“Okay, wow. It went from awkward to nauseating.” Hunter twisted, heading for the kitchen/family room.

I quickly followed him, but out the corner of my eye I saw Chris lean down and kiss Stevie. The Christmas lights dusted her face and cast a glowing light on her hair. My heart twisted in my chest. I was jealous. How easy it was with them. She liked him; he liked her. Simple. Sweet. No baggage or obstacles.

Stevie and Chris came into the kitchen a few moments after me. “Holy shit. You were right.” Stevie slid her hands over the white marble worktops. “This kitchen is gorgeous. I could have sex on these counters.” She laid her head down on the surface.

Chris opened his mouth, but Hunter pointed at him. “Don’t even think about it.”

Too late. We had all thought of it already, and it wasn’t Stevie and Chris I imagined there. The image was so sharp I inhaled and walked from the room, heading for the family room. I curled on the large sectional sofa. What am I doing here? No matter how stupid I deemed being here, there was no way I would leave. The path may have been on fire, but still I took steps down it, knowing I was going to burn.

“Are you kidding me?” Stevie went to the sliding glass door, looking out on the deck and pool area lit with path lights. The waterfall cascading into the pool and hot tub blazed with underwater lights.

Hunter gave them each a beer and came over to me, handing me a bottle of cider.

“Thanks.”

He nodded and moved to the other side of the couch, putting as much space between us as possible.

“How about strip Wii?” Chris jumped over the back, bouncing on the cushions.

“No,” Hunter and I said in unison.

“You guys are no fun.” Chris looked back and forth between us. “Normally you are all for it, Harris. What’s up?”

“Denial of sexual tension.” Stevie came behind Chris, going straight for the hot button.

“Speaking of.” He grabbed her and pulled her over his shoulder, onto the couch. Stevie squealed and squirmed, brushing her hair back into place as she sat up. Chris stretched out his long legs, watching her ruffle her hair, and though he didn’t make a move to touch her, his eyes said enough.

Hunter and I didn’t look at each other, but I could see him shift in his seat.

“All right, let’s play a game.” Stevie clapped her hands. By the time we finally decided on a bowling drinking game, Stevie and Chris were barely paying attention. It quickly lost its interest for all of us.

“Show me where the bathroom is?” Stevie grabbed my hand, pulling me from the room. I knew this had nothing to do with her needing me to show her. Stevie was not the kind of girl who went to the bathroom in packs, unless she wanted to talk.

I took her to the one on the first floor by Mr. Harris’s office. She closed the door and sucked in a breath.

“What?” I folded my arms.

“Is this okay with you?” She nibbled on her lower lip. “I mean are you okay with staying here tonight? Do you want to go? Because I totally will…”

A snicker cracked from my throat, and I turned to the mirror, peeling off the bandage from my cheek. “I love you, Stevie, but leaving is the last thing you want to do.” I caught a glimpse of her in the reflection. A soft smile, one I had never seen, snaked across her face.

“No. But I will.” She placed her hand on my arm, bringing me back around. “I will always pick you first.”

The sentiment hit me, careening into heart. My arms circled around her in a tight hug. “Thank you,” I whispered. Sadly friends like her were rare. I’d hold on to her with all I had. “But, yes.” I leaned back. “I’m fine with staying here.”

Her face grew into a bigger grin. “I don’t know what it is about Tarzan.” She fanned herself. “Thought of myself as more of a Jane kind of girl, but damn.”

“I think you’ve met your match.” I winked and grabbed the doorknob.

“So have you,” Stevie replied. I briefly squeezed my lids together but continued to walk through the door, not responding.

Chris was strolling down the hall as I came out, pretending to appear lost. “Oh, is that the bathroom?” He pointed, progressing to the door I exited.

“You’re not sly, Chris.” I shook my head, moving past him. Chris had been here before, and he knew Stevie was still in there.

I quickened my steps so I wouldn’t hear anything coming from there. When I got back to the family room, it was empty. I stood, suddenly lost and alone. A picture of the family when the boys were young sat on the shelf. They looked happy, but I knew appearances could be deceiving. I looked fine on the outside but was a complete mess inside. My response to Stevie was not merely because I knew she wanted to stay, but because I did too. For Hunter.

Fear struck like lightning at the awareness. I had a sudden longing to be near Colton, to feel safe, remember my feelings for him, and to forget the ones for Hunter.

The path to his room was automatic, but I was aware of every footstep up the stairs, apprehension weighing down my heels. I pushed the door open, flicking on the light. The stab of pain behind my eyes was instant. Everything was exactly like I remembered it. The walls were adorned with football memorabilia, and his desk covered with schoolbooks and comics. His king-sized bed against the wall had the familiar green comforter on it. A shelf above his bed held pictures and trophies.

It wasn’t the fact it was decorated the same, it was the realization it was exactly how he must have left it before he came to pick me up that fateful night. The shoes he wore to school that day were kicked off right at the foot of his bed, the T-shirt he had on, hung over his computer chair. His backpack on the seat, his gym bag with his practice uniform still inside by his dresser.

It seemed at any moment he would walk back in. I could almost imagine him coming from the shared bathroom connected to Hunter’s room rubbing his hair with a towel with a big goofy smile on his face at seeing me. I could even smell his shampoo.

I wrapped my arms around my waist as I walked deeper into the room. My eyes latched on to the picture above his bed. The one I gave him after the state championships as a gift. The same one I had in my room. The one of us kissing. I reached up, pulling it off the shelf. I pressed the frame to my chest, swallowing back the surge of grief. My legs caved under the agony, bringing me down on his bed, letting a few tears escape.

I felt Hunter even before I heard him come into the room. It was like his presence brushed at my skin, leaving snail-like trails over me. I stared at my feet, wiping the evidence of my sorrow away.

“It doesn’t get easier coming in here,” he said quietly. “My parents haven’t touched it since his death. I think they keep hoping there’s been some mistake and Colton will walk back through the door.” I glanced up, watching him step into Colton’s room. “It took me awhile to come back in here after I returned home. When I did…” Hunter rubbed his forehead, letting his sentence trail off. “About a month ago, dear ol’ Dad and I had it out when I’d had enough of the immortalized shrine.” He came up, standing over me, looking around. “His football gear and socks are still in his gym bag. How fucking sick is that?”

I lowered the picture still flattened against my chest, staring at the happy faces. “God, we look happy here, clueless to what was ahead of us.”

“You were.” Hunter grabbed the picture from my hands, looking at it. “It’s not a bad thing. We were all naive and innocent once. But there is a moment when life forces you to grow up. Most don’t have to go through something like this, but we all grow up. Loss is a part of life.”

I stared at him in complete wonder.

“What?” He lifted his gaze away from the picture, handing it back to me.

“Nothing.” I took the frame, shaking my head. “You two couldn’t have been more different.”

“Tell me about it.” Hunter chuckled. “Except for our stellar good looks.”

“Ah, there’s Colton coming out.” I laughed.

“We were opposites in most things, but it worked for us. He wasn’t simply my brother, but my twin—it’s a special bond. We may have had separate groups and lives, but I loved the guy more than anything. I would have done anything for him.”

I tilted my head, thinking about the numerous times Colton ran when Hunter called. “And he felt the same about you. Believe me. Out of his friends or me, when it came down to it, you would always win.”

His lips pursued and he turned, walking away.

“Stevie and Chris are getting into the hot tub. Did you want to join them?” His sudden switch in conversation was not lost on me.

“You’re asking if I want to get into a bacteria-breeding cesspool with two people who will proclaim bathing suits optional as a declaration to go naked and do things I don’t want to see a friend doing.”

“It’s a no then?” He turned back around to face me, a smile tugging one side of his mouth.

I smiled back. “What do you think?”

“No. I agree, but I swear you are probably the one seventeen-year-old girl who thinks of a hot tub as petri dish.”

“Instead of a seduction mechanism leading to sex? Girls aren’t stupid, you know? We realize when a guy asks if we want to go hot tubbing, it’s basically code for ‘I’m hoping this warm water and lack of clothes leads to sex.’”

Hunter popped up an eyebrow at my comment. “We’re guys; we’re always hoping it leads there.”

My cheeks flushed. The topic of sex should have been off limits between us. “I sound like such a prude. I swear I’m not. Once you learn stuff like that in science class, you don’t unlearn it.”

“I know you’re not.” Hunter stood in the doorway, a strange expression I couldn’t decipher extended over his features, and then quickly disappeared. “I’m actually not a hot tub guy either. Never liked it.”

I eyed him. “Please don’t tell me you never used it as a lure to get a girl in a very tiny bikini or nothing at all to have sex with you.”

“Never,” he answered, a sexy, bad-boy side grin on his face.

“Liar.”

“Jaymerson.” He stared straight into my eyes. “I don’t need a ruse to get a girl to want to have sex with me.” He dipped out of the doorway, leaving the room, walking down the hall.

Air sucked noisily through my nose. No. Hunter did not need any kind of trick. He was a walking seduction.

With another shaky inhale, I lifted myself from the bed, placing the picture back on the shelf. I needed to get out of the room. It seemed terribly wrong for my heart to be pounding, my skin flushing over Hunter, while sitting on Colton’s bed.

This was really fucked up.

I stepped into the hallway, shutting the door behind me. I looked toward the stairs. I could hear Stevie and Chris play-fighting on their way to the hot tub. The sounds of giggling and yelping, echoes of towels snapping before the door closed. I turned to stare at the light coming from the open door on the other side of the joining bathroom. Hunter’s room.

Fear and logic battled in my heart. Fear was a strong ruler, dictating most of my actions. Also the terror of rejection pinned my toes to the floor. Grab the bull by the horns and hold on tight. Grandma Penny’s voice sounded through my head, making me groan and laugh at the same time.

I knew this wasn’t exactly what she had in mind, but I was going to live by Grandma’s philosophy. It took her losing someone to see how precious life was. I didn’t want to look back and realize I let these times go by because I was scared.

I don’t know if I walked to his room with any thoughts past getting to the door. All I knew was I wanted to be around him. I didn’t want to think beyond that. I landed in his doorway, resting against it, searching around his space. I had briefly been in here before, looking for Colton, but hadn’t lingered. The room was designed identical to Colton’s, down to the huge walk-in closet and large bay windows.

But unlike Colton’s, Hunter’s room was void of any trophies or football memorabilia. It was actually empty of anything personal. On the wall with the entrance to the bathroom, was his king-size bed, donned with navy-and-grey bedding. Plain wooden nightstands framed the bed. On the other wall was the walk-in closet, a workstation with a top-of-the-line computer and flat-screen TV. No pictures, posters, or objects gave it personality.

My attention was quickly ripped from the lack of items on his walls to the lack of clothing on his body. He strolled out of his closet, stripped of his long-sleeved Henley, his jeans dipping low, and holding a T-shirt.

Several tattoos inked his back and down his side, but it was the one scrolling up his arm to his shoulder which captured me. It was a beautiful dragon, the tail of the beast wrapping down his bicep. The most beautiful part was the work around his shoulder. The neck of the dragon split in half, two heads curling on either side of his shoulder, looking at each other. Twin dragons. But one of them had a number twenty-two scrolled on the back of its neck. Colton’s football jersey number.

“It’s beautiful.” I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“Thanks.” Hunter reached up, running his hand over the markings. “Benji just finished filling it in.” Hunter touched the number on the dragon’s neck. “Even if he’s not here anymore, Colton always will be part of me. I don’t stop being his twin.”

I pressed my lips together, the emotion in his voice reaching my heart. I stared at the details of the tattoo, but my gaze slipped slowly to his torso, greedily taking in his toned abs and the deep V indention hinting above his jeans. I heard him snort, and I lifted my gaze, realizing he caught me ogling him.

“Sorry.” I looked away but quickly glanced back through my lashes. His torso was meant to be stared at: trim and muscled in all the right places but not bulky. Less bodybuilder more swimmer.

“Sorry for what?” he replied.

I shifted my weight, my mouth opening. “I mean, is that even fair?” I motioned to his chest.

“Are we competing?” Hunter lifted his brow. “Because if we are, then it’s only fair I see you topless.”

I blushed, trying not to think about his retort. “It’s just mean. What? You do, like, two sit-ups to get those abs?”

“Hey, I work hard. I do at least five before eating a whole pizza,” he teased.

“Bastard.” I gave him the evil eye.

“How do you know my middle name?” he joked, covering the beautiful canvas with a grey shirt he tugged on. Damn.

“What is your middle name?” I asked.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Yes, I do.”

He sighed, straightening his shirt. “Browning.”

“Browning? Like the guns? Hunter Browning. Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Wow.” I chuckled.

“My parents wanted to make sure everyone knew we came from famous lineage. Old money.” He scoffed. “Manufacturers of rifles. Talk about a lineage of blood and death. Not an ancestry you should be proud of.”

“But that doesn’t matter around here. It’s about the prestige and pedigree.” I tucked my arms over each other. “And if you don’t have status, they name you after every grandparent you have.”

“Jaymerson is your grandfather’s name, right?” He sat down on his bed.

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“I must have overheard you tell someone.” He shrugged. “Jaymerson, what?”

“Jaymerson Vanessa,” I said. “Covered a grandparent on either side of the family.”

“It’s pretty.”

“Thanks.” I shuffled my foot, patting it into the rug.

“Jaymerson Vanessa?” His husky voice wrapped around my name.

I looked up.

“Are you going to come in or should I put a pillow at the invisible line at my doorway for you to sleep on?”

Fire bloomed through my entire body. How could he read me so easily?

I took a step, breaking the hidden thread that held so much weight. I kept my arms folded, watching my socks move over his carpet, until I arrived in front of him.

“You want to sleep here?” he asked, almost in a whisper. I knew he meant only sleeping, not sex.

My voice couldn’t find the way to the surface, and I nodded.

He stood up, brushing past me, and went into his closet. He returned promptly with a pair of cotton shorts. “Here.” He threw them at me.

I actually had a pair of pajamas in my bag, locked in Stevie’s car, along with a toothbrush, but I wasn’t going to interrupt Stevie to get her keys. Plus I didn’t want to leave this room. I might come to my senses and run. For once I didn’t want logic coming into play here.

I grabbed the shorts and walked around to the opposite side of the bed. I sat, slipping off my jeans and socks, pulling up the borrowed shorts quickly. I stood, clasping them at the waistline so they didn’t drop back to the floor. They were huge on me.

“Uh?” I turned to him.

“Come here.” He chuckled, wiggling his finger for me to move to him. He sat while I strode over, stopping in front of him. He inched me between his legs, corralling me close. “There is a tie on the inside, but it’s double knotted.” He reached up, flipping the large waistband to face him. His knuckles swept along my lower abdomen, flaring my body with tingles. He tugged at the cord, bringing the shorts closer around my hips.

Standing there between his legs, his breath and fingers tickled the skin across my stomach. Every sense was on overload. The side of his hand skimmed below the band on my underwear, and I felt all my muscles tighten. I struggled to breathe properly. How could he affect me so much, but he seemed calm and at ease?

“There.” He finished knotting the string, his hands going to my hips.

“Tha-anks.” A frog croaked, dying in my throat.

“What are friends for?” He stood, his hands still on me, but dropped them the moment he was fully on his feet, moving around me.

Friends. Right.

He clicked on the lamp at his bedside, then walked over to the door, closing it and turning off the main light, dimming the room to a shadowy glow.

I crawled on the bed, plopping myself in the middle. Don’t think. Don’t think. I repeated over and over to myself. “Why is your room void of you? It holds nothing personal.”

He walked back to the bed. “Because this place isn’t home to me. It’s where I live sometimes, but it’s not my home.”

“Where is your home then?” A sudden sadness for him, the lack of family who supported and loved him, washed over me.

“Not sure I really have one,” he replied. “But I’m the most relaxed at Jones’s, Doug’s, or Krista’s.”

That girl’s name again. Who is she? What did she mean to him? I hated being jealous. It wasn’t something I dealt with much before. Hunter seemed to raise this possessive beast in me.

He sat at the end of the bed, the hum of a zipper, the swish of fabric being pulled off. I bit my lip. He stood and leaned over to turn off the lamp. The boxer-briefs type.

The room went black, and I blinked trying to adjust my vision to the darkness. A glow from the twinkle lights outside leaked through his blinds. His outline moved, pulling back the covers. The bed indented with his weight.

“Scoot over.” His voice was low as he nudged me over. He seemed so relaxed as if this was no big deal. It probably wasn’t. He undoubtedly had girls in his bed all the time. I was the one making it an issue. But I wasn’t just any girl. Like he wasn’t just any boy. And this was anything but a boy and girl sleeping in the same bed together. Innocent as it could be. It wasn’t.

I crawled to the top and slipped under the comforter, sinking into the pillow. Every move Hunter made settling in was like an injection of adrenaline to my system. He stretched his legs, bumping into mine.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, letting his head drop to the side. “Not used to sharing. Kind of a bed hog.”

“You have a king and you’re bitching about room? Mine’s a double and that’s luxury to me. I had a twin till last year.” I turned on my side, facing him. “And until we moved I had shared a room with my sister.”

“Harsh,” he teased, folding his arms under his head.

“I know, right?”

He tipped his head farther to the side to see me, the light outside reflecting off his irises. “I could learn to share.”

I gulped. Did he mean what I thought he did?

He angled his head toward the ceiling again. “Having a twin brother, you get used to sharing, or fighting, over everything. He usually won, and I was fine with it. It never bothered me…there were only a few things I knew I never could share.”

“What?”

He didn’t answer but shifted to his side facing me, laying his head on the edge of the pillow. His mouth was only an inch from mine, and his breath fanned down my neck. Oh. My. God. Thoughts in my head hit the pause button. His lips and body were too close and warm to let logic enter my mind. We both lay there, watching each other, hesitant to cross the invisible line, step over the edge and let ourselves fall. It was too dangerous and forbidden.

How silly it was to keep putting myself in situations like this and feigning innocence. I knew what I was doing. Even going against what I thought was right, I still found myself lying in bed next to Hunter Harris, wanting more.

His body beckoned me to touch it. To feel the ripple of his muscles under my fingertips, the warmth of his skin beneath his T-shirt. I balled my hands into fists, the desire overpowering my senses.

“What?” he whispered, causing my lids to flip back up. I hadn’t even realized I had shut my eyes, squeezing them like I was in pain.

“Nothing.”

“Is this too weird…or uncomfortable?”

“No.” I shook my head. Actually it was, but not for the reasons he was hinting at. “I feel safe here.”

He continued to stare at me, not embarrassed or bashful to blatantly watch me. Colton and I had a staring contest once. He lasted for ten seconds before blushing and laughing like a schoolboy. I hadn’t thought about it then, but true intimacy probably scared the bejesus out of him.

Now I was the one blushing.

He moved his knee, and his skin rubbed against mine. I swallowed, almost choking over the thickness in my throat.

He reached out one finger, tracing the tattoo on my arm, tucked under my head. He didn’t say anything but let his hands speak instead. He pressed his lips together, outlining the last feather before drifting to my cheek. My heart thumped so wildly in my chest I was sure he could hear it. His thumb padded over the cut on my chin and skimmed my bottom lip. I had the consuming need to let my tongue wrap around his thumb. Kiss me, a voice cried inside me, flooding my face with more heat.

It was like he heard me.

He tilted forward; his hand gripped the side of my face. His eyes watching me with reservation, like he was waiting for me to stop him.

I should have. This was foolish and wrong in many ways. But I knew I wouldn’t. I wanted this more than anything.

His gaze on me changed, narrowing in on my mouth, it burned with want as he pulled my face closer.

This is happening.

It felt like forever, but finally his lips touched mine. His fingers held my face still as he brushed his sensually over mine. The feel of his mouth was like someone fired a flare up my spine, halting oxygen in my lungs. He nipped my bottom lip, tugging and sucking it, slamming fire through me. I moved in closer, my leg hooking over his hip. His hand slipped up the back of my neck, gripping my hair roughly as his mouth came down on mine with ferocity. A strange noise came from me, my leg clutching him tighter, pulling him into my body, kissing him back with matching intensity. A rumble came from his chest, rolling me on my back as he moved over me, fitting perfectly between my legs.

Oh Jesus, he felt good.

Hunter’s hand glided up my side, drifting under my shirt as his kiss deepened.

Buzzzzz. His phone rattled the nightstand, making us break a part.

Seriously? Now? I hated his phone.

He pulled back, staring at me, then at the phone. He swore under his breath and moved off me, picking up his mobile. He tapped at the screen, reading. My gaze went to the clock on the side of his bed—2:14 a.m. Who would be texting him at this time?

Sunny. The answer was quick. She was probably hoping he had gotten rid of me by now and was looking for a late-night hookup. Or was it this Krista he spoke of? Insecurity, guilt, embarrassment finally decided to show up, feeding off the silence and awkwardness between us.

Hunter grumbled and rolled to the edge of the mattress.

“What’s wrong?”

He pinched his lips in a thin line, shaking his head. “I have to go.”

“What?” I sat up.

He grabbed his jeans off the end of the bed, pulling them on.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll be back.” He tipped forward, snatching his shoes. He shoved his feet in his boots and laced them.

“Are you serious? It’s two in the morning.”

This wasn’t the first time he had left me, running to whoever was texting or calling him. This took me back to the numerous nights Colton and I were hanging out and Hunter would call, dragging Colton away from me. Was he a drug dealer?

“I know. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

He stood, tugged on a hoodie, and moved toward the door, his eyebrows pinched.

“Hunter?”

He gripped the doorknob and glanced back at me, eyes softening as his eyes slipped over me. “Don’t move. I’ll be back later. I promise.” He slinked soundlessly through the door and was gone.

Flabbergasted, I sat gaping at the door. What was he doing in the middle of the night? He was secretive and cryptic about his life. Besides his close friends, I was one of the few who saw beyond his reputation, but I had been looking. Hard. And he still was a mystery to me.

I flopped back on the pillow, my hand rolling over my mouth, still feeling the sensation of his lips on mine. Holy crap. We kissed, again. But then he left. My hurt and embarrassment wanted me to get up and leave, but a stronger desire to stay here in his bed won out. Stevie would go if I asked, but I didn’t want to do that to her. She seemed to be enjoying Tarzan—possibly a little too much—right now. Another reason I did not want to look for her.

These were all excuses. All reasons to snuggle deeper into his comfy bed. My nose drifted over the sheets, smelling his scent.

Stop. Jaymerson. Now. You are only friends. Friends who kept kissing.

My mind went around and around with examples showing there was nothing between us except the bond of Colton’s death, the comfort and desperation to find someone who understood, when finally the cocoon of his blankets silenced the voices, taking me away to sleep.