“Okay, don’t look,” he adds, eyes flicking over my shoulder. “But me touching you just snapped something in him. He’s coming over.”
His hand moves up and down my back in slow, unhelpful strokes now, mischief flaring in his eyes. “If I swung that way, I’d be hella excited to be on the receiving end of that look.”
“Jesus Christ, Xavier,” I hiss.
“What?” He shrugs, still grinning. “I can appreciate a man on a mission. Looks like I gave him that push unintentionally after all.”
Heat floods my chest, rising up my neck. The air shifts, and the hairs on my arms lift as if my body feels him beforeI see him. My pulse stumbles over itself. Xavier’s hand slips away from my back, leaving my skin tingling. He steps away, widening the space between us right as that familiar cedar scent closes in from behind.
“Hunter! How’s it going?” Xavier calls, a little too brightly.
24
JUMP WITH ME
HUNTER
My blood heats watching her. The way her hands glide over her bare stomach, following the dip of her waist, before sweeping over her perfect breasts. My palms tingle with the memory of them—soft, full—filling my hands last night. The way she rocked against me, breath catching, begging without a single word when I gave them the attention they deserved.
“Man, why doIhave to cook today?” Connor whines next to me.
Asher huffs out a laugh. “You jumped last. You lose, you cook.”
“Yeah, but this one here”—he elbows me—“pushed me. You two cheated and got a head start.”
I finally tear my eyes away from Madison long enough to face him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Asher, did we cheat?”
“I didn’t see any cheating,” Asher says smugly.
“You two are annoying,” Connor grumbles. “I hope your burgers burn.”
Asher’ssmile disappears. “Oh… shit.”
I follow his stare across the park, my gut tightening. What the hell are they?—
Then I see him. Xavier. Strolling toward Madi and Tessa. His eyes…
“Dude,” Connor blurts, “he’s staring at her ass.”
“I can see that,” I grit out, my jaw ticking so hard it aches.
“You gonna go over there? Stake your claim?” Connor nudges.
“I know I would,” Asher says, half laughing. “Who am I kidding? I’d throw Halle over my shoulder and storm off.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not a caveman like you,” I mutter.
“Are you sure about that?” Connor says, chin tipping toward them with a grin.
My stomach twists as Xavier’s hand settles onmygirl’s back. His eyes catch mine, brows rising in a silent challenge. Baiting me. He wants me to bite, to lose it, to make a scene.
I force myself to stay still. Be rational. Be mature.
I know she’s my girl, even if we haven’t gone all in.
We’re dancing around the final leap—the one that makes it all real—and I’ve been letting her set the pace. She deserves that. She deserves the control, the power, after everything I put her through. But I know what she’s waiting on. Those fucking letters. The ones that haunt the edges of every thought I have.
I need to hand them over. End the chokehold they have on me. I keep telling myself I’ll choose her first—reallychoose her—and today, I’m going to make it happen. I’ve stuffed the letters in my bag, and later, when the day winds down, I’m pulling Halle and Asher aside. I’ll lay everything out. Come clean about finding them, about keeping them. I’m going to need Asher there to help Halle through it because once those letters are in her hands, there’s no goingback. That’s the moment I’ll let go of my past and go all in with my future.
