Never Been Kissed(88)

“I need to get her out of here. She’s going to come up and wake up Matty. Not to mention, she’s going to be pissed when I’m not available to screw around with.”

I frown, chewing on my lip. “Who raised her? I mean, frak, was she raised in a barn? Where the hell are her manners? Bloody hell.” I wave my arms around the room for emphasis.

Hunt grins, and leans in and kisses me, hard and fast. I make a disappointed sort of noise when he stops, but the smile he gives me is so beautiful, I just want to sit and stare and make that embarrassing noise all the time.

“How do you always do that? Make me laugh?”

“I’m actually Hermione Granger, but you can’t tell anyone.” My heart squeezes when he leans in and kisses me again, slow and sweet with a lot of tongue. My hands have gone to either side of his neck, squeezing, bringing him closer. Frak, I had plans tonight.

Hunter pulls back, lands a light kiss to the corner of my mouth. “I know who she is. And babe, you’re hotter than Emma Watson.”

I smile, and skitter my eyes away. I don’t know if he means it, and that scared part of me deep in my core knows I can’t trust his words. I’ve fallen for words like that many times before, from other boys, from family.

“Okay,” I say, kissing him. I don’t want him to talk anymore. I know I’m not hotter than Emma Watson. Plus, she’s British, which gives her a whole lot of points for being way cooler than me.

“I don’t like that,” Hunter says, pulling away from me when I was not done kissing him yet.

“Huh?” I’m ignoring the hard look in his eyes when he’s this close to me. I ignore the hard set to his jaw and mouth, the way his veins and muscles of his neck pop underneath my palms, tense and angry.

“I want you, Sera. You’re the only one I want.”

“Okay,” I whisper, heart beating too fast, and there’s not enough oxygen ‘cause Hunt is up in my face and stealing all the air. I want to run away; I want to stay and let him try to convince me.

“No one has loved Matty before, like he’s a part of me, not like he’s an extra person. No one’s ever read to him in his whole life. He’s happier when he’s with you. And so am I.”

Looking into his beautiful face, I can’t tell if he’s lying. He might be even a better champion liar than I am. The precise movements of his hands, almost shaking me trying to convince me of his words could be part of a bigger and better game that has to be played. Maybe he’s going down to see Aly to tell her that she has to wait a little while longer until he gets rid of me.

“Okay,” I say. It’s all I can say right now. “Go see her, tell her to go home. Then come back upstairs.” I stare into his blue eyes, searching, searching for the truth. The truth is, even if it were there, I’m so blinded by how little I think I’m worth, I wouldn’t believe what I see anyway.

“I’ll be ten minutes, tops.” Hunter kisses me again, half leaning in, half standing, pushing me back into the couch, a hand on either side of me. The kiss is slow, and demanding, even angry – like he’s trying to leave his mark on me, trying to impress upon me the words I don’t believe. “Then I’m coming back upstairs and I want more of this. I want more of you,” he says against my mouth.

Oh. My. God. My lower belly quivers, my breathing ratchets up a notch, and my palms itch to touch him.

He pushes his weight back off the couch, and heads to his hallway. When he comes back out, I see why – he’s put a shirt on and changed out of his sweats into jeans. “I’ll be right back,” he says as he opens the door and leaves.

I count to five. Then twenty-five.

I run to the door, tagging his keys from the hooks by the side of the door, and lock up. I run down the stairs, taking two at a time, hoping Aly is still in the lobby and not in the basement. I don’t care if Hunter makes it before me, that doesn’t matter. I have to see, I have to see what he’ll do when she throws herself at him.

She’d be crazy not to.

I open the door gingerly when I get to the lobby, slowly pushing on the horizontal bar so it doesn’t make too much noise and echo about the walls. I let it close behind me, knowing that I have the key to the staircase if I need to run up quick enough without having to wait for the elevator.

My bare feet go numb as they hit the cold tile of the lobby floor, and I manage to squeeze myself into a corner, behind some potted plants, in perfect view of the elevators, just in time for it to beep down Hunter’s arrival.

I don’t see Aly, but I imagine her leaning against the opposite wall, waiting for him to come downstairs. Looks like I was right. As she moves into my view, her long red hair cascades in perfect waves to her perfect tiny ass which is clad in tight jeans. Oh yeah, and she’s wearing stilettos like she’s about to go on a catwalk and not in a building lobby.