CRUSH (18 page)

“You hit it again! That’s so awesome!” She
squealed, clapping her hands together. “You make it look so easy.”

I grinned. “Thanks. Now you try it.” I handed
her the gun and helped her get into a comfortable stance. “Okay, remember to
keep looking at your target and gently squeeze the trigger whenever you’re
ready.”

She blew out a soft breath and fired. The shot
went wide again, hitting the next
can
over from the
one she’d been aiming for. “
Owww
!” she howled, and I
couldn’t help my chuckle.

“Kicked you good, didn’t it?” I rubbed where
she’d had the gun nestled against her.

“You could’ve warned me better. That really
hurt!” She looked slightly teary eyed. “I don’t want to shoot this one
anymore.”

I bent to quickly place a kiss against her
shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt, but I didn’t want you
to tense up and be scared either. Tell you what. I’ll use the rifle and you can
use the handgun, and we’ll see how many of these cans we can hit together.”

She nodded as she continued to massage herself.
“Okay. Sorry. I’m not very good at this.”

“You’re doing amazing,” I replied, meaning
every word. “I’m happy you wanted to try it.”

“I like finding out about the things you do.”
She smiled and slipped her arms around my waist, hugging me.

I shifted the gun and hugged her back, taking a
moment to dip down and kiss her sweet lips. “I like it too.”

“I’m glad you were able to get off work,” I
said as we drove back toward Copper City. “I’ve enjoyed sharing things with you
today.”

“Me too. I didn’t know if my boss was going to
let me since I’d taken Wednesday night off for my concert. I had to beg a
little.” She laughed.

“Well, I’m happy you did. I’m looking forward
to spending the rest of the evening with you.”

“We have another spot available at the theater,
you know. If you want a job, you should come apply. We could work together.”

“Really?” This did interest me, not because I
needed a job, but because it would give me the opportunity to be close to her.
I knew Clay worked there, even though she said they didn’t get scheduled
together much these days. It would give me an opportunity to check into him some
more. I’d been forming a few suspicions about him lately and the possible
source of his new income. I was beginning to wonder if he might be encroaching
on the drug scene. I wouldn’t put it past him. He definitely warranted
watching. I didn’t think he was stable, despite Cami’s defense of him. “I’ll
check it out. Do you think they’d let us work the same nights though, seeing
how we’re dating?”

“As long as we do our jobs and aren’t making
out in the supply closets they’re pretty good about letting couples have the
same shifts together.”

“Hmmm. I don’t know. The supply closet thing
might be a deal breaker. I like pushing you into dark corners and doing wicked
things to you.” I shook my head and she laughed.

“You’re so bad.”

I chuckled. “I’ve tried to warn you. You don’t
seem willing to listen.”

“Maybe I like bad,” she challenged.

I placed my hand on her thigh, gripping
slightly. “Works for me.” She was
gonna
be the death
of me.

She intertwined her fingers with
mine—giving me one of her dazzling smiles, and my heart skipped a beat.

“Watch the road, Hunter.”

I sighed. “You distract me too much.”

“I like distracting you, but I also want to
survive.” She laughed.

“Good point.”

“So what do you want to do for our next date?
Or am I monopolizing all your time these days? I know you used to like the
party scene.”

“I haven’t much cared for the party scene lately.
I’m finding myself presented with a new drug of choice.”

She gave me a disparaging look. “So I’m a drug
of choice now? How flattering.”

“If you don’t like it, I guess I could go back
to my old lifestyle. I don’t want you to feel like I’m a burden.”

She squeezed my hand tighter. “Don’t you
dare.
I like that you’ve been trying to stay clean. Plus,
I’m sure Gabrielle would be there, waiting to sink her clutches into you. She
wants you bad.”

I groaned, feeling awful I hadn’t been totally
honest with her on the partying account. True, I hadn’t been to many parties,
but it didn’t mean I wasn’t using. Brushing aside my guilt, I focused on the
subject of Gabrielle. “Don’t remind me. I always feel like I’m part of a
petting zoo exhibit when she’s around. She’s always touching me.”

“It’s funny, but I would’ve imagined she’d be
exactly your type.” She was frowning.

“And why would you think that?”

She lifted her shoulder slightly. “I don’t
know. I guess because she’s been everyone’s type before you.”

“Which is exactly why she isn’t mine.” I didn’t
want Cami thinking Gabrielle was competition.

“You don’t think she’s gorgeous?”

“She’s very good looking, and she knows it and
uses it to get what she wants from guys. It’s not attractive at all.”

“You really don’t care for her, do you?”

“Not in the slightest, especially when there
are much prettier girls to be noticed.” I winked and she blushed.

“How do you know I’m not using
my
looks to get what I want from you?”
She grinned slightly as I turned into the parking lot of the grocery store.

I stopped the car and leaned over, pulling her
face close to mine. “Cami,
please
use
your looks to get whatever you want from me.” I pressed my lips to hers. “I
like it.”

She grinned and kissed me back. “What do you
want to make for our dinner?”

“Honestly, skipping dinner and doing this all
night is sounding pretty good to me.”

Her stomach chose this minute to growl, and we
both laughed.

“Okay, message received—food first,
kissing later.”

“Sounds wonderful.” She sighed against my lips,
and I had to kiss her one more time. Her stomach growled again.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go buy some food.” I
reluctantly moved away and got out of the car, going around to open her door.

Hunter-

Gosh,
she’s gorgeous
, I thought as I sat staring
at her from my desk chair in my room. She was asleep, her beautiful red hair
spread across my black pillowcase. Her face looked peaceful, flawless in her
innocence. She was so trusting.
She’s the
only girl I ever want in my bed again.
The thought hit me hard, and I
closed my eyes. I had fallen for her, and I knew it. I’d never had these kinds
of feelings before, but somehow I’d expected it to take longer. I wasn’t
prepared for it to come racing in this way, capturing me.

I briefly turned my attention to the musical
still playing on the television in the corner. We’d been cuddling on my bed
while we watched it, but I kept getting distracted kissing her and not paying
attention. She hadn’t seemed to mind much—fully reciprocating in fact.

She had no idea how many secrets I had hidden
away from her in this room, most of them buried in the bottom drawer to my
left. I wondered for the millionth time what she would do when she found out
the truth, how badly she’d feel betrayed.

There was a soft knock at the door, and it
opened slightly. “You here?” Chris called peeking in. His eyes landed on Cami,
and a frown crossed his face. “Hunter . . 
. ,
”
he whispered emphatically, and I widened my eyes to shush him. “Out here, now,”
he practically ordered.

I got up and followed him into his bedroom at
the end of the hall. He shut the door behind me.

“What the heck is going on?” he asked and I
heard the frustration in his voice.

I sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m crazy about
her, Chris, that’s what’s happening. I need your help.”

“Hunter, she’s seventeen. She’s too young.”

“I know how old she is!” I snapped, feeling my
carefully maintained threads of control unraveling. I sighed trying to calm
down. “I don’t think you understand. I don’t care if she’s seventeen or forty.
She’s the one, Chris. I know she’s young, and her life is just starting, but I
also know she’s the one I want. I feel it burning inside. It’s killing me to
keep lying to her. I’m gonna blow everything.”

“You can’t let your feelings for her get in the
way, Hunter. If we don’t get these deals to go down right, we’re screwed.
You’re putting her in danger too. What if she got caught up in the middle of a
drug war? That’s bad news, and you know it.”

“I’m aware of that, and I’m desperately trying
to separate her from that part of our life. I tell myself to walk away, but I
can’t keep my hands off her.”

 
“So, I’m guessing the no-kissing policy
didn’t go over so well?” he asked wryly.

“That’s the understatement of the year.”

“How close are you two?” he asked bluntly.

“Close enough we’ve talked about how things
will work out for us after graduation when we move back to Tucson. I’m not
kidding. She’s the one I want.”

He sank down next to me. “That’s not what I
meant.”

I sighed. “I know.”

“Are you going to answer me?”

“No.” What Cami and I were doing—or not
doing—was no one else’s business but ours as far as I was concerned.

He stared at me pointedly. “If you’ve slept
with her, her parents could have you arrested since she’s a minor. We’d have
cops swarming all over investigating
us
.
Most police departments don’t take kindly to that sort of behavior, you
realize. That’s the last thing we need.”

I didn’t reply to his implied question. “How
would you feel if someone was asking you to lie over and over again to
Sheridan?” I asked, moving the subject forward by making it personal. “And how
would you feel knowing those lies were placing her in a dangerous situation?”

“It would kill me, man.”

“Well, I’m there. This is my life, and I hate
every second of it.”

He sat there in silence, staring at his hands
as if they’d somehow provide answers. “Are you sure this isn’t just some sort
of infatuation? That can happen in high-pressure situations.”

I chuckled wryly. “I’m sure. She’s not even
aware there is a high-pressure situation, and I’m not that desperate. If I
didn’t think it was real I wouldn’t be so concerned. There’s been something
between us from the very beginning.”

“Well, it seems we’re caught between a rock and
a hard place here.”

I nodded. “I’m aware.” He looked so
disappointed. “I’m sorry I botched this all up. I guess we found out what I was
made of and it wasn’t any good.”

“Don’t talk that way. And you’re sure this is
legit, not just because some other guy is after your girl?”

“I wouldn’t do that, Chris. You should know me
better than that.”

“I do know you well, but you’re acting out of
character. You’ve never been one to rule from the heart before.”

“That’s because my heart never belonged to
someone else.”

“Does she know how you feel?”

“No.
I
barely know how I feel. It’s too fast—too sudden—I don’t want to
scare her off. I can’t tell her when she doesn’t really know who I am. If she
says it back to me, who is she in love with? Me, or the person she
thinks
I am? It’s too screwed up right
now.”

Chris patted me on the shoulder. “I’m sorry,
bro. I really am. Please know that even though things are weird, you’re first
and foremost my brother—you have been since the first day your sister
introduced us. I want you to be happy, and I want things to work in your favor.
All I can do is tell you to keep hanging in there. I’ll do the best I can to
help you, and we’ll see if we can work our way through this mess.”

I sighed with relief knowing I wasn’t in this
alone—someone was on my side and understood what I was going through. I
was tired of this frantic, worried energy constantly running just under the
surface.

“There’s a possibility I can get a job at the
theater working with her. Should I do it?”

“I’d say go for it as long as your crush
doesn’t interfere.”

I gave a sardonic laugh. “A crush. Thanks for
taking me seriously.”

“I get it. Just do the best you can. And try
not to do anything . . . stupid . . .
relationship wise, I mean. That can only lead to more bad for both of us.” He
glanced at his watch. “When do you need to have her home?
It’s
ten now.”

“She has a midnight curfew, but she wanted to
meet you.”

“Well, go wake her up then,
nephew
, and let’s get this awkwardness
over with.” He shooed me off the bed.

“Yes,
uncle
,”
I replied with a grin and he groaned.