CRUSH (22 page)

“Problems?” Hunter asked, leaning casually in
the doorway.

“Yes!” Clay and I both shouted.

“Anything I can do to help?”

“No, I think you’ve helped enough already.
Thanks.” I took a glass from the cupboard and got a drink of water, not asking
either of them if they wanted one. I didn’t care if I was being rude.

Hunter pulled out his phone and glanced at it.
“Four-thirty, Bradley. Looks like it’s time for you to head off to work if you
want to make it by five.”

“I’m highly capable of keeping track of the
time by myself, thank you.”

Hunter shrugged. “Okay. Just trying to help.”
He walked through the kitchen, outside to the back patio, and stood by the pool
with his hands in his pockets.

“What is his deal?” Clay asked incredulously.

I shook my head. “I’m not sure. I’m as
surprised to see him here as you are. I kind of gave him an ultimatum today.
Maybe he’s here to talk about it. I don’t know yet.”

“I don’t want to leave you here with him.” He
folded his arms over his chest.

“You need to go to work. I’ll be fine.”

“I can call in sick. I’ve never done it before.
Jon would believe me.”

“Clay. Go to work. That’s an order. I’ll be
fine.”

“Come with me. You can hangout, maybe catch a
movie or something.”

I laughed. “I’ll be fine. Now go. I need to
talk to him. I’ll email you a link to the page so you can order your tux
later.”

He looked so disappointed. “Okay. Don’t let him
bully you. If you need help, just call me.”

“All right,” I replied, mostly to get him to
leave.

I followed him into the living room and watched
as he gathered his things.

“I’ll text you later,” he said, giving me a
hug.

“Sounds good. Bye.” I waited until I heard the
door close behind him before I turned around, and found Hunter leaning against
the wall watching me.

“You should probably know I don’t like him.”

“Really? Wow. I would’ve never guessed! Thanks
for telling me.” I went over and plopped on the couch.

“I mean it. He gives me the creeps. I don’t
like it when he’s around you. Something about him is off.”

“Hunter, he’s been my best friend for my whole
life. You and I, we’ve been—whatever we are—for a very short time,
even if it doesn’t seem that way. You don’t get to say who’s my friend and
who’s not.”

He came and sat next to me. “I’m not telling
you who to be friends with. I’m just saying he legitimately gives me concern.
He’s very possessive of you.”

“And you aren’t?”

“I am, but only because I care about you, and
I’m concerned.”

“Clay loves me and is concerned about me too.
He’s convinced you’re going to hurt me, and he wants to put a stop to it.”

“No, he’s convinced I’m going to steal you from
him, and
that’s
what he’s trying to
put a stop to. He honestly believes he still has a chance with you. I, on the
other hand, actually do have a chance. There’s a difference.”

“Is that so? Have you come to spill your
secrets to me so we can move on with this relationship then?” I crossed my arms
and bit my lip as I looked at him pointedly.

His face clouded over, and it reminded me of
brewing storm clouds. “No, I haven’t.”

I sighed in exasperation. “Then why are you
here? I thought I made myself pretty clear on things.”

“Because I like being with you, and regardless
of what you said, I still think we are great together—secrets or not. If
you don’t want me as a boyfriend, that’s fine, but I’m not leaving. You can
consider
me
your new best friend.”

I snorted. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Not even a little.”

“Why?”

“I need to know you’re okay.”

He was maddening.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“I thought I just explained all that.” He
gestured toward the door. “Hello . . . psychotic guy.”

“Clay is
not
psychotic. Confused at times, maybe, but not psychotic.”

“That’s your opinion.”

“And it’s the right opinion.”

“Guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.”

“I guess so.” I was feeling extremely
frustrated. I wanted to hit Hunter and then kiss it better. He was driving me
insane.

He stared at the television again. When had
things become so awkward with us? Wasn’t it this time last week we were making
out with each other in this very spot?

“Did you get your class work done, or do you
have homework you want to do together?” I was grasping for straws to fill the
silence.

“No, I’m good. I finished in class.”

“So what do you want to do?”

He stared at me pointedly, his gaze wandering
slowly over me and
back
up again. My breathing
increased as if he were actually touching me.

“Do you really have to ask? I thought you
already knew exactly what I like to do with you.”

I swallowed thickly. “I think I need another
drink. I’m so thirsty today.”

I went into the kitchen, knowing I was running
away, but he was driving my senses crazy. I wanted to forget everything I’d
said and make out. I wanted him to share his secrets and be honest with me,
yes, but I also just wanted to be with him. This was going to be hard.

Filling my glass, I stood at the sink for a
minute, staring out the window into the backyard. I didn’t know he’d entered
the room until I felt his hands slip along my sides, leaning against the edge
of the counter, trapping me there.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked,
nuzzling his face against my hair.

My
racing pulse and how much I want you to kiss me,
I thought with a sigh and closed my eyes for a
moment to enjoy him being there. His breath filtered through my hair, sending
goose bumps trailing over my skin.

I set my water down and faced him. He was so
close, his lips a hairsbreadth away, his eyes, like melted chocolate and
caramel, staring with obvious desire. He didn’t close the distance though,
staying a small fraction away. I held my ground, every nerve in my body
screaming in protest, knowing the pleasure that waited if I gave in. I wanted
to give in.

He continued to stare, his glance traveling
between my eyes and my mouth, waiting for me to make a move. “Kiss me, Cami.”
His voice was low and seductive. “You know you want to.”

I licked my lips, and his eyes instantly
diverted to that spot. “You’re right, I do want to,” I replied in a quiet
voice, wondering if I might melt right here, trapped in the circle of his arms,
yet hardly being touched.

“Then do it.”

“I can’t, Hunter. You know how I feel.”

There was hurt in his eyes. “Yes, I do. I wish
there was some way you could trust me anyway—some way for you to know I
wouldn’t ever willingly do anything to hurt you.” He didn’t move, his gaze
continuing to rove over my face as if searching for an answer.

“I want to believe that,” I replied honestly.
“It’s just hard to trust blindly after everything that’s happened recently.”

“Let me make it up to you.” His mouth was so
close to mine I could almost feel it brushing against me as he spoke.

“Hunter,” I licked my lips again, knowing I was
faltering. “I . . . I . . . ”

“Cami, we’re home,” my mom’s voice echoed
through the house.

“They’re early,” I whispered in dismay, knowing
our moment was interrupted. “We’re in the kitchen,” I called out louder.

Hunter sighed heavily. “We aren’t even close to
finished with this discussion.” He picked up my glass of water and slipped it
into my hand before moving to lean against the counter next to me.

I gulped the water down, trying desperately to
calm the fire he’d ignited. How could he stand there so casually, as if nothing
had happened? I looked up at him and he winked.

“Later,” he promised, and little butterflies of
anticipation took flight in my stomach.

Hunter-

“Morning, Goody. How are you today?” I asked
,
leaning against the locker next to hers with what I hoped
was my sexiest grin.

“Morning,” she replied brusquely, slamming her
locker and stepping around me. She continued on down the hall.

Crap. Something was wrong.

“Hey, where you off to in such a hurry?” I
moved quickly to keep pace with her.

“It’s called class, Hunter. I do the same thing
every day. Maybe you’ve noticed.”

I searched for a reason she’d be upset with me.

“What’s wrong, Cami?”

She shot me a glare. “As if you don’t know.”

“I wouldn’t ask if I knew. Tell me what’s
wrong.”

She stopped dead in her tracks. “Don’t play
dumb with me. I saw you.”

“Saw me?” A little dread crept into my voice. I
knew what she was talking about.

“Yes, unless you let someone else borrow your
car to sit parked down the street from my house all night. Why are you watching
me?”

I scrambled for something to tell her, anything
that might make sense.

“Oh. You saw my car.” I laughed trying to buy
some time. “Um . . . I got a flat after I left yesterday. I
called my uncle to come get me, but we had to take the tire in and have it
fixed. We just left it there until early this morning when he had to leave.” I
was lying to her . . . again. I couldn’t tell her what I’d
really been doing on her street. She’d never believe me anyway.

She visibly relaxed. “Why didn’t you come and
ask my dad for help?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not very high
on the list of people your dad admires right now. Having him stay up to help me
get a tire repaired wasn’t about to endear me to him any further. Besides,
Chris was more than willing to help me.” I smiled, trying to soften things.
“Can I carry your books?”

“I’ve got her books,” Clay said, sweeping up
beside me and taking them before she could respond. “We have band together,
remember? Come on, Cami.”

He linked arms with her and practically dragged
her down the hall. She shot me an apologetic glance, but continued on her way.

I headed toward class, my mood instantly
boiling at the sight of Clay. I was tired of having this kid always interfere,
and after what I’d seen last night, I
knew
he wasn’t good for Cami. I’d been right to call him a psycho, but there was no
way I could call him out right now. It would only draw more attention to
me—something I couldn’t have happen. I’d give anything to go a round or
two with him, just to show him what was what. That sparked another thought in
my head. If I couldn’t beat the crap out of him, maybe it was time to start
messing with him instead.

I purposely waited as long as I could so I’d be
the last guy into the weight room. Cami had choir class second period, but Clay
had this class with me. Casually, I walked in and surveyed the area.

He was against the farthest wall, doing the
bench press. I moved to the bench alongside him, pausing and obviously checking
out how heavy he’d weighted his bar before adding ten pounds more to my own. He
glared at me as I started easily lifting. I pretended not to notice, continuing
my workout. He finished one set before getting up to add more weights, so we
were equal.

I couldn’t help the internal smile. We were
so
going to play this game, and I was
going to win. I went through my rotation, got up, added more weight, and
started again. Soon after, Clay was readjusting to match me. I had to admit,
while I knew he’d been working out, I didn’t think he would do so well. Kudos
to him, but I was getting tired of this.

I stood and loaded the bar to my max weight,
watching his eyes grow bigger and a little desperate looking. There was no way
he’d come even close, and he knew it. I finished lifting and moved on to a new
station. Clay didn’t make any attempt to best me for the rest of the period.
Hopefully, he’d get the underlying, subliminal message as well.

I groaned and rolled my eyes, wanting to bang
my head aimlessly against the cafeteria table.

“Hey, Hunter,” Gabrielle said, sliding into the
empty seat beside me.

Could this day get any worse? I glanced at
Cami, who was shooting daggers at me. I looked over at Russ. He gave me a
confused shrug; there wasn’t going to be any help from that corner. Clay on the
other hand was looking quite pleased with the whole situation, and I wanted to
mash his face in. For once I wished the school had an open campus. Situations
precisely like this one would be so much easier to avoid.

“Can I help you?” I asked, trying my best to
sound polite through gritted teeth.