I laugh, and he adjusts his stance a little bit, pulling me even closer.I hope none of the volunteers come back and find me just standing here, in a weird hug with some guy, but I don’t really care that much.I’m an adult.I can hug whoever I want.
“Start with Trout,” he suggests.
“I’ll make you a deal,” I say.“Help me put these telescopes away, and I’ll tell you about eight years’ worth of notable dogs.”
I pull back and look up at him, my hands still on his sides.
“You remember all eight years?”he asks.
“I can always invent dogs you’ll like,” I say.
I’m about to say something else, but Hunter’s looking down at me, our eyes locked, and it flies right out of my brain.
He’s going to kiss me, I realize.He’s going to kiss me and I’m not going to do anything to stop it.
Hunter inclines his head toward me, just a little, like he’s bending down with a secret.
“I bet I can tell the made up dogs from the real ones,” he says.
I tilt my face up so our noses are almost touching.My heart feels like it might beat out of my chest.I let my eyes slide closed, because I know what happens now.
And, if I’m being honest: this is what I want to happen.I don’t give a shit how I feel about it tomorrow.
“No way,” I say.
I’m on autopilot, guided by pure instinct.I put my hand on his neck, run my fingertips along his skin and I hear a faint, deep rumble from his chest.Our noses bump.
“Try me,” he says, and his lips just barely brush mine.
I pause another instant, because if I back out now I won’t have kissed him again, but instead of making a good decision I press forward and suddenly our lips are touching again, and he’s warm and rough and familiar, all at once.
For a moment we’re both frozen, lips pressed together, and then I pull back a fraction of an inch.My fingertips drift over his neck, and I can feel his pulse racing, maybe as fast as mine.
Then Hunter kisses me again, and he’s got one hand on my lower back and he’s pulling me in toward him.I push my fingers through his hair and even though I have the wild urge to crush him against me, as hard as I can, I don’t.
Instead I move my mouth against his.I feel the tip of his tongue against my lip and I meet it with my own, still breathless with anticipation.Still half-convinced, despite all evidence, that I’m reading this situation wrong, that any second now he’s going to push me away and say he just doesn’t think of me this way any more.
Hunter pushes his tongue further into my mouth and now we’re winding them together, like we’re desperate to explore each other.He’s got one hand on my neck, pulling me toward him.
We kiss like that, long and slow, for what seems like minutes until we both pull away.Hunter leans his forehead against mine, and I think he’s about to say something, but he doesn’t.He’s just quiet, breathing hard, holding me in this empty field dotted with telescopes.
I might regret it tomorrow, but fuckthat.
ChapterEight
Hunter
I needa minute to catch my breath.I need a moment to let my brain catch up with this, to make myself slow down, to process.I lean our foreheads together and let my thumb wander along Clementine’s jawline.I think I might be trembling, and I take a deep breath, force myself to stop.
Before I know it I’m kissing her again, because I feel like I can’t restrain myself.My tongue is in her mouth and hers is in mine, and it feels right and perfect and great, and this is what I’ve wanted from the minute I saw her again.
She snakes her fingers through my hair, pulling me even closer, and I think,I’ve wanted this for longer than that.I’m hard, and as Clementine rocks her body against mine, Iknowshe can tell, heavy jackets be damned.I have to fight the urge to slide my hand under her jacket and feel the warm, soft skin of her back, run my fingers over the notches in her spine.
Suddenly, Clementine pulls away.She whips her head around.
Then she gasps.
“Hey!”she shouts and then she’s out of my arms, practically running across the field.
