“Thanks.” We were halfway to my dorm when I finally managed to find my voice again.
“You don’t have to thank me.” Hunter shook his head, dismissing my gratitude.
“You slugged Mitch.” I paused. “For me.”
Hunter glanced at me, his face unreadable. “I punched him because he’s a sack of shit.” He looked away. “No one deserves what he did to you.”
“I know, but friends don’t usually punch each other.”
Hunter laughed. “Mitch is not my friend.”
I scrunched my face. “He’s your roommate.” I paused. “And your cousin.”
“Not everyone gets along as well as you and Felicity.”
“Shit. Felicity. I bailed on her.” I grabbed my phone from my purse. Three missed texts. All from Felicity. She obviously hadn’t heard about the scene with Mitch. “She’s fine. She’s, ah…found someone to occupy her time tonight.” The idea of sitting alone in my dorm room wasn’t so appealing anymore. “Seventy-two percent.”
“What?”
“My chemistry grade. Seventy-two percent.”
Hunter grinned. “Same.”
“Looks like a tie. Too bad.”
Hunter arched an eyebrow. “Too bad?”
“Well, if there was a clear winner, we could have celebrated together. Felicity keeps a bottle of vodka in our room.”
“Well, what if I declared both of us winners?”
I bit my lip. What was I doing? I didn’t even like Hunter, did I? He annoyed me. His constant need to be better and smarter than me was a thorn in my side. The competition between us wasn’t exactly friendly. We’d exchanged a lot of snide remarks the past two years. Still, he was six-foot-four to my five-foot-six. His face was always covered in a layer of dark scruff. I found myself wondering what it’d be like to kiss someone with so much facial hair. Mitch always kept himself clean shaven.
I felt myself blush and somehow managed to sound somewhat smooth. “I guess we’d have to have to drink twice.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
We arrived at my door. I should have been nervous. I’d never had a one-night stand before. I’d never so much as kissed a guy I wasn’t involved with. “Don’t mind the mess.” I walked in and dropped my purse onto my desk.
Hunter entered the room and flopped onto my mattress as if he’d been there a thousand times and it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Are you kidding? You’ve seen my room. It’s a nightmare.”
I opened one of Felicity’s suitcases and pulled out the vodka. I took the lid off and then drank straight from the bottle before handing it to Hunter. “No cups. I hope you don’t mind.”
Hunter took a swig, then passed it back to me. Our hands touched. It was the first time my skin ever connected with his. Maybe it was the two beers and the warm swirl of vodka in my stomach. Maybe it was the way Hunter had rescued me from Mitch, or maybe it was just Hunter and the way he looked at me as if I were something new and undiscovered. I didn’t care what it was. I wanted him.
I lifted the bottle to my lips and drank, slow this time. I enjoyed the burn of the vodka as it poured down my throat. The liquid courage swirled in me, but I wasn’t drunk. Not yet. I reached past Hunter and placed the bottle on my desk.
My gaze flicked to meet his as he grabbed my hand and pulled me down. I sat on his lap and slid my other arm around his shoulders. He watched his fingers tangle in mine.
“What are we doing?” he breathed.
I licked my lips. “Celebrating.”
His mouth came closer to my exposed collarbone. “We’re drunk. We shouldn’t.”
I smiled at the lack of conviction in his voice. I ran my fingers along the back of his neck and leaned closer. My breath passed over his ear when I spoke. “We’ve had drinks, Hunter. We’re not drunk.”
I kissed his neck, just below his ear. He stayed still, as if he was afraid if he moved at all it’d be to flip me over onto the mattress and take me. Part of me wished he would.
“What are we doing?” His mouth met the hot flesh of my collarbone and he kissed his way up to my lips, but stopped short of kissing me.
My skin tingled with anticipation. He ran his hand up my arm, slid to my neck and turned my face so I was forced to look at him.
“What are we doing, Summer?”
I kept my eyes open as I kissed him. His lips were softer than I thought they’d be. I melted into him, then shifted. I straddled him, bit my lip and dared to look him in the eyes again.
“We’re celebrating.”
Chapter Four
I brushed my lips against his. His tongue skated along my lower lip before he plunged it into my mouth. All the oxygen left my blood, and my head swam, but I didn’t stop kissing him. I pulled myself closer. As I moaned, he gripped me tighter. Nothing I’d ever done before had felt this good. Maybe it was just the vodka, or how I sat, but it felt as if my entire body tingled.
He broke the kiss and brushed his lips against my cheek. I hungered to have them back. I wanted Hunter’s mouth on every part of me.
His breath tickled past when he whispered into my ear. “Take off your dress.”
I eased off him. I stood and let my arms dangle at my sides. I looked down at him and grinned. “You do it.”
My challenge accepted, he rose to his feet. I swallowed, tilted my head and look at him. Was it possible that I forgot how tall he was? He circled around until he stood behind me. He found my hips with his hands and pulled me into him. His lips trailed down my neck. He sank his teeth into my delicate flesh, not hard, but enough to make me inhale sharply.
Hunter gripped the zipper of my dress and slid it down. His fingers grazed my bare skin, and I felt an army of goosebumps rise to attention. He pushed the flimsy fabric to the floor, and I kicked it to the side. He skated his hands down my body.
“Does Mitch know what he gave up?”
The mention of his name should have made me feel something, but I couldn’t concentrate long enough to hold on to any emotions. All I could think about was the places on my body that Hunter touched, and the places he wasn’t, and how I wanted him to touch me everywhere.
I tried to reaffirm in my mind that this was just a one-night stand, but my body was telling my brain that one night wouldn’t be enough. Before I had too much time to think about what I was doing, I turned and kissed him. My hands took on a life of their own and slid under his shirt. Hunter pulled away and peeled his shirt off. I let my mouth roam over his rock hard chest as I fumbled with the button of his jeans.
As I gripped it, Hunter’s hands enveloped mine. “Are you sure?”
I bit my lip and nodded as I worked on the button. “I’m sure.”
He seized my mouth again, his lips were demanding, possessive. His kisses commanded my body to react in a way I’d never experienced before. I pushed his jeans down his hips, and he kicked them off. I ran my hand down his chest and stomach, and slid into his briefs. He groaned as I wrapped my fingers around his thick shaft. I tightened my grip. I couldn’t stop from smiling when he groaned again. The sound came from the back of his throat and it made him sound like an animal.
He took a step forward, forcing me to take one backward. When my legs came in contact with the edge of my bed, I sat. He removed his briefs, then eased on top of me.
I gripped his shoulders and pulled him toward me. I took his earlobe into my mouth and nipped it with my teeth. “I want you to touch me, Hunter.” I crushed my lips onto his, raking my hands down his back.