“I know,” I said, my voice grim. God, why had I wasted so much energy on this guy? Why the hell was I surprised to see him hanging on some bitch right after he texted me?
Hunter wasn’t a nice guy.
We’d covered this.
I should just slink away. Just go home before I embarrassed myself even more. Then I pictured him naked with that redheaded twat and my head exploded.
I stepped out from behind the shrub and started marching across the lawn. I’m sure he noticed me right away, because Hunter had been doing that same watching thing my dad always does. He liked to keep an eye on everyone, always looking for potential threats. Considering what a giant dickhead Hunter was, I’d bet tons of people wanted him dead.
I was the new queen of their special club.
Pushing through the group at the foot of the stairs, I headed straight toward him. The surprised shock on Hunter’s face was satisfying as all fuck.
“Em, what the hell are you doing here?” he asked, glancing around the yard quickly. Maybe he expected an army of Reapers behind me? Well, I might not have the brothers with me, but I had Kit. Under the right circumstances, she could be scarier than a dozen angry bikers.
“So, you miss me?”
“Um, yeah,” he said, studying me like I was some sort of alien creature. “Where did you come from? I thought you were in Coeur d’Alene.”
“Just because you leave me somewhere doesn’t mean I’ll stay,” I hissed. “I’m not a dog, Hunter. I don’t do what I’m told.”
He narrowed his eyes at me.
“You’re pretty fuckin’ drunk, aren’t you?”
“And that would be your business because … ?”
“Shit, let’s get out of here,” he muttered. “Get you some water or something. Figure out the rest of this later.”
“Why, are you trying to hide me?” I sniped. “Afraid I might run into someone, make things awkward for you?”
He shook his head slowly.
“No, I just figured tomorrow you’ll wish there were fewer witnesses who saw this,” he said. “I’ll bet you’re gonna have a hell of a headache, too. Let’s get some water, maybe some Advil. Then we can talk, okay?”
“Fuck talking. I saw her, dickwad.”
“Who?”
I cocked my head and sneered. Did he really think he could fool me?
“I saw you with your girlfriend like two minutes ago, Liam. You kissed her, for fuck’s sake. Don’t pretend you’re trying to do anything more than use me.”
“Jealous?” he asked, a slow, sexy grin stealing across his face.
“Don’t smile at her, asshole,” Kit said from behind me. Like always, she had my back and I felt a rush of love for her. At least one person would always be on my side.
“Babe, that girl was my sister,” Liam said carefully, his voice almost gentle. “Kelsey. Trust me, she’s not interested in me like that.”
I froze.
“Your sister?” I asked, the fog in my head clearing enough to realize that I might have stepped over the line … “You told me you didn’t have any family, that you grew up in foster care.”
“She’s my foster sister,” he said. Shit. I felt like a complete bitch. “We’ve been together for more than ten years, I practically raised her.”
“I saw how she looked at you,” Kit snarled. “That’s not a sisterly kind of look.”
“You want to say that a little louder?” a new voice demanded, and I looked over to find the redhead in question glaring at us, hands on her hips. “Because it sounds like you were saying I want to fuck my brother. That’s pretty nasty, even coming from a skank like you.”
Kit bristled like a porcupine, and for a second I thought she might launch herself across the porch, hissing and spitting.
“Drop it, Kels,” Hunter said, his voice cutting through the air like a whip. “This is Em, and that’s her sister. Trust me, I’m happy she’s jealous of you. Means she still gives a shit.”
“I do not give a shit,” I muttered, and Hunter laughed.
“This bitch tied you in knots—” Kelsey started to say, but Hunter cut her off.
“Drop it. Put away your claws, because I’m just thankful she’s here.”
Kit snarled, and I stepped quickly between her and Kelsey. Wait. Wasn’t this supposed to be my dramatic scene? Ughh …
“This is between me and Hunter,” I told Kit. “I appreciate the support, but you need to back off.”
“Christ,” Kit muttered, turning away and running a hand through her hair. “I need a beer.”
Kelsey narrowed her eyes at her. Hunter put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed just a little tighter than what looked comfortable.
“Play. Nice.”
“You can come out back, we have a keg,” she choked after a long pause, her tone still hostile. “Let dumbass talk to his precious Em, maybe he’ll stop moping around. I’m seriously tired of his shit.”
She turned and stalked back into the house. Kit caught my eye.
You okay? she mouthed. I shrugged, which she took as a yes. I wasn’t sure if I was okay or not, but I figured I wouldn’t make any progress fighting on the porch with this Kelsey chick.
“Look, let’s go get some coffee or something,” Hunter said. “There’s a diner a few blocks from here. Then I’ll take you home.”
“No, let’s stay. I need another drink.”
I turned toward the house, but he caught my arm.
“I don’t want you inside.”
“Why not?” I asked. “You can’t tell me it isn’t safe. You let your sister go inside.”
“It’s safe enough,” he replied reasonably. “But there’s shit in there I don’t want you exposed to.”
“My dad is the president of an MC,” I snapped. “Or have you forgotten? Because if I remember correctly, it’s why you got in touch with me in the first place. I’ve been exposed to plenty in my life.”
Hunter sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It’d gotten longer since I’d seen him. Unfortunately, I remembered exactly what it felt like to run my fingers through that hair.
Lust hit me, and I bit the inside of my cheek. Goddammit. Why did he have to be so beautiful?
“Trust me, I haven’t forgotten who you are,” he said. “Would make my life a hell of a lot easier if you were nobody. I’d just fuck you and get it over with.”
Chapter Ten
I stared at him, stunned.
“I know guys think things like that,” I said slowly. “But you do realize you’re not supposed to say them out loud, right?”
He sighed.
“Em, I really like you. We covered that. I like you enough not to play games¸ okay? That means I’m not gonna feed you any romantic bullshit.”
Huh. Wasn’t sure how to take that. On the one hand, I didn’t want him lying to me. On the other, I didn’t like the honesty, either. Made it too hard to pretend that this wasn’t completely insane.
“So let’s lay it all out,” I said. “You want to fuck me, but you don’t care about me. I want to fuck you, but trust me, every time you open your mouth, I care about you less.”
“Pretty much,” he muttered.
“We should do it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Let’s do it,” I said, warming to the idea. “Fuck. Screw. Boink. I know you’re good at it, and it’s about time I got it over with. Let’s go in there and have at it. Like ripping off a Band-Aid.”
I smiled up at him brightly, pleased with myself. It was a brilliant plan.
“You have got to be kidding me,” he said, closing his eyes. “Un-fucking-real. Em, we need to get you home. Now.”