CRUSH (19 page)

“I really hate that,” he complained.

“I know. That’s why I love saying it so much.”
I left and made my way back to my room.

I hated waking her up. She looked so sweet
lying there; I wanted to watch her for a while longer. I ran a hand through her
curls, and she stirred slightly.

“Cami, honey,” I whispered, leaning closer and
brushing my lips softly against hers.

She made a sweet whimpering sound, stretching a
little before stilling again.

“Goody, it’s time to wake up. My uncle’s here
and wants to meet you.” I kissed her cheek and down her neck, nuzzling my face
there.

Her hand drifted up to rest against the back of
my head. “
Mmm
, that feels so good,” she mumbled. “I
wish you could wake me up this way every day.”

I smiled against her skin. “So do I.”

“It would be so nice.”

Maybe
someday
, I thought.
If we all get through this unscathed and you
decide you can ever trust me again.

“Did you hear me say my uncle is here? He’d
like to meet you.”

She stiffened. “Oh no! He came? He must think
something terrible is going on with me in your bed this way.”

I chuckled. “He was mildly alarmed.”

She blushed. “I’m so embarrassed. I didn’t mean
to fall asleep. I just got so relaxed I drifted off.”

“Yeah, I know. It was devastating to my ego. I
was right in the middle of kissing you. It made me feel great.” I smiled and
tweaked her nose.

She made a nervous giggle. “I’m really sorry,
Hunter. Honestly, I didn’t mean to.”

“No worries. We did a lot today. You needed the
rest. Besides, I enjoyed watching you sleep. You look very pretty in my bed.”

“You’re a smooth talker, you know that, right?
I can’t ever tell when you’re being serious, or messing with me. I bet all the
other girls eat right from your hand, don’t they?”

I shrugged. “I’m not trying to be a smooth
talker, there are no other girls, and if I did want someone to eat from my hand
I’d want it to be you. How’s that?”

She shook her head and grinned. “Yep. I need to
watch out for you—definitely a smooth talker.” She ran her hand down the
side of my face. “Do you have a hairbrush or something I can borrow? I’d like
to straighten up to meet your uncle.”

“Right through the door there into the
bathroom. Help yourself to anything.”

I offered her a hand, pulling her to her feet
before settling back into my chair as I waited. I wish she didn’t have to go
home. I liked having her here. It was nice to spend the evening at home with
someone for a change.

Hunter-

I tried to remember what day it was. Sunday?
Maybe? I sunk deeper into the leather couch at Derek’s house. Man, I was messed
up—stoned out of my mind, I just wanted to close my eyes and sleep for
hours.

Chuckling, I stared at the haze floating in the
room. Hell, a person could get mellow just from walking in here. I could barely
make out the forms of other people lounging around the room. This was so bad.

My mind casually drifted to Cami, and I closed
my eyes as a feeling of panic welled up inside me. If she ever saw me like this
she’d probably run screaming in the other direction. That was a sobering
thought.

I felt bad. She was working at the theater
tonight, so I’d taken the opportunity to hit some people up. I knew she
wouldn’t approve in the least, and I hadn’t intended to get this stoned, but
things had gotten a little out of hand. One minute I’d been
chillin
’
with Derek talking about casual stuff, the next he was selling me on the idea
of starting to deal with him and how much money we could make if we expanded
our reach a bit. He definitely had a head for his business and before I knew
it, I was agreeing to it. Afterward Derek and I had gotten a little
celebratory, and the party had escalated from there.

Cami couldn’t find out. She’d never understand,
and I’d never be able to explain why it was so enticing to me. I sighed. She
was so beautiful—so good. I tried to keep hold of the picture of her
swimming inside my mind, but it was difficult. I wished she was here—so
much I could almost imagine her body pressed up against mine right now, the
feel of her nuzzling my neck as her hands slid lower down my body, slipping
into my waistband.

Whoa!
My eyes popped open to find Gabrielle cuddled
up against me, her hand traveling in a direction I had no desire for it to go.

“What the heck?” I said, pushing away. “Get off
me!” I gave her what I hoped was a good glare, but I could tell she was pretty
out of it.

“What’s a girl
gotta
do to get your attention, Hunter?” she whined and poked out her bottom lip in a
pout before collapsing against my chest.

Great.

I sighed. “I’ve noticed you fine, Gabby. You’re
just not my type.” I shoved at her but she didn’t budge.

“I’m everyone’s type,” she mumbled against my
chest, and I felt her kiss me through my shirt. “You need to give me a chance
to show you.”

“Some other time, then. I’m with Cami now.” I
lifted my heavy arms in an attempt to push her away again, knowing there would
never be a time I wanted this girl.

“I don’t see
her
here anywhere. Come on, Hunter. It’s not like you have to marry
me. Let’s just have a little fun together.” She moved, straddling me, her hands
grabbing the hem of my shirt and pushing it up.

I stared at her incredulously before I grabbed
and shoved it back down. “Get off me. Now,” I said with what I hoped was deadly
calm.

She giggled. “Quit being such a baby. It’ll be enjoyable.”

“What part of
no
don’t you understand?” I asked in exasperation.

She laughed some more. “The ‘no’ part.” She
bent and kissed the side of my face.

I shoved her hard enough to send her sliding
backward off my knees onto the floor.

“
Ow
! That hurt!” she
screeched, rubbing one of her knees.

Several other people in the room started
laughing.

“It’s not like he didn’t warn you, though.”
Derek chuckled. “Come here, Gabby, baby. I’ll take care of you.”

She gave me a glare and moved in his direction.

“Dude, I’m out of here. Sorry.” I got up and
stumbled across the room over several bodies on the floor. “I’ll text you
tomorrow.”

“Later, man.” He was making out with her before
I was even through the front door.

I dug my keys from my pocket and got into my
car. I hesitated before putting them in the ignition. I was in a pretty bad
state. I should definitely not be behind the wheel right now.

Starting it, I carefully drove a mile down the
road to the theater. I pulled into the parking lot and sat there for a few
minutes. I tried to decide if I was brave enough to go into the theater and
face Cami, before making up my mind to sleep it off in the car for a little
while. If I could take a nap I’d probably make it home safely.

I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

“Hunter? Hunter?” The voice sounded far away,
as did the incessant tapping sound. “Hunter, are you okay?”

Cami. Just the sound of her voice made me
smile. I slowly opened my eyes, trying to orient myself.

“Hey.” I smiled when I saw her standing outside
my window.
 
“What’re you doing
here?”

She looked at me, puzzled. “I’ve been at work,
remember?” She pointed, and I glanced toward the theater.

Oh,
right. Crap.

“How long have you been here?” she asked with a
worried frown.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. A few hours maybe?”

“Will you please roll down the window or open
the door so I can hear you better? Aren’t you here to pick me up?”

I was in so much trouble. “Sure,” I replied,
leaning across the car to open the door on the other side, hoping it would let
out any smoke smell clinging to me while she walked around the vehicle. I
quickly turned on the car, flipped on the fan and rolled my window down as
well.

She climbed inside and turned to look at me in
distaste. “What in heaven’s name is that odor?”

Damn.
I remained silent for a moment.

“How was work?” I asked cordially.

“Oh my gosh! You’ve been smoking weed haven’t
you?” She looked horrified.

Among
other things,
I thought. “It’s not like
that, Goody,” I began to explain.

“Don’t call me that. Where have you been
tonight?”

“Derek’s. He had a party, and I figured since
you were working I’d go hang out.” I could see the horror and disgust written
all over her face.

“Get out of the car!”

Wow, she was really angry. “Why? It’s my car!”

“Then you better get out if you want to keep
it. There’s no way I’m letting you drive in this condition.”

“I’m better now that I’ve slept a little,” I
complained, but I did as she asked, walking over to her side.

She stormed past me.

“Cami,” I said, grabbing her. “Don’t be angry
with me, please.”

She pushed her way from my grasp, going to the
driver’s side and getting in. I stood there staring at her for a moment before
I got in. As soon as I was buckled up, she put the car in gear and took off.

“Who else was at this party?” She was fuming.

“Lots of people. I don’t remember everyone.” I
leaned my head against the seat. This was going from bad to worse.

“Were you with any girls?” She was clenching
her jaw—she didn’t want to hear the answer.

“Gabrielle hit on me. I told her no thanks.”

“Hit on you how?”

“I woke up and she was cuddled up against me.
She tried kissing me.”

Her hands were white knuckled on the steering
wheel. “Did you kiss her back?”

“What? No! You’re kidding, right? I told you
how I felt about her.”

“I thought you also said you weren’t going to
do drugs anymore.”

I laughed wryly. “I’m pretty sure I never said
that.”

“You said you hadn’t felt the need to continue
attending parties.”

“Yeah, meaning I was enjoying spending my time
with you more, not that I was going to quit using. Don’t be putting words in my
mouth, Cami.”

She gave me an incredulous glance. “Well,
pardon me, Mr. Perfect. Excuse me for caring.”

I dragged my hand through my hair. This was
so
not going the way I’d hoped.

“I’m sorry. Things aren’t coming out the right
way. Please know I would never do anything with the intention of hurting you.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you intended to or
not. The point is you did.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, turning to look out
the passenger window. There were so many things I wished I could tell her right
now. Things I felt would possibly make it better, or at the very least, help
her understand where I was coming from, but I couldn’t do it. Not yet.

She was positively rigid as she drove, not
speaking at all until she pulled in front of my condo.

“Are you coming in so we can talk about this?”

“No,” she answered flatly, tossing me my keys.
“I’m going home. I have homework I need to finish before tomorrow.”

I dropped the keys back into her lap. “Take my
car then. I don’t want you walking across town in the dark.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want anything of
yours right now, Hunter.”

Her words stabbed me painfully, twisting into
my heart. “It’s either drive it home, or let me drive you home. I won’t take no
for an answer.”

“I’ll call Clay.”

Score,
Cami: a billion. Hunter: zero.
I
thought I might actually feel a panic attack coming on thinking of her being
with Clay.

“Then call your dad if you need too, but I
think you should just take the car. You can come pick me up for school in the
morning. I want to work this through with you, Cami. I know what I did was
wrong, but I can’t fix it unless you talk to me. I know you’re angry, so take
the car for now, and we’ll discuss it later when we’ve both had a chance to
cool down. Okay?”

She sat staring straight ahead for several moments
before she finally picked up the keys. “Fine. Now get out.”

I did as she asked, and she hardly waited for
me to step onto the curb before she was speeding away.

I’d made a mess out of everything.

Cami-

I cried, burying my face in the pillow, not
wanting to see the picture, but not being able to look away either.