We all know that we should get moving, but there’s not much we can do while Madi and Caspian are locked together. Phoenix stands up, straightening his shorts and looking a little chagrined at the wet spot on the front. I touch his shoulder and jerk my head toward the hall. It’s time he and I have a little chat.
37
I’m never nervous, but that’s the only thing the tightness in my chest can be. Holding Madi as Caspian took her while my oldest friend directed us all? That was one of the hottest moments of my life. That high, though, is now tempered with the serious look Hunt is giving me when we stop a ways down the corridor.
“So.” That’s all he says, but the single word is heavy with meaning.
“So,” I reply.
I lean against the wall and he does the same across from me. Neither of us look away. The hall is darker than the room we just came from, but lit enough by the blue lines that we don’t need flashlights. Somewhere in the distance one of those beasts from outside howls, but I barely hear it. Right here, it’s just Hunt and me, the rise and fall of our chests—his still bare—and the little micro-movements of his expression. What does he think of what just happened? Does he regret touching me?
I sigh, breaking the silence. “I know she’s yours, Hunt. If you don’t want me to?—”
“She’s yours too.” He raises a brow at me, daring me to deny it.
“Yeah. She is,” I concede before letting out a deep sigh. “But I don’t have to pursue her just because she’s my scent match. If you don’t want me?—”
The look in Hunt’s eyes is enough to cut me off. He pushes off the wall and takes one step toward me. “Who said I don’t want you?”
My eyes are as wide as saucers as I stare at my old friend. There’s so much weight in that ‘you.’ But it can’t mean what I desperately hope it does, can it? He probably just means he wouldn’t mind having me in his pack with Madi, not thathewantsme.
I force a strangled laugh, thinking of the one time we were together. “When you fuck someone raw, then never speak to them about it again, it sort of communicates something.” I try to add a teasing lilt to my tone, because that’s what I always do. I’m always the comic relief, never the serious one.
But my throat is tight. There was something truly special about our one night together—or I thought there was, until he left without a word.
It was the last night of our vacation. We’d been sipping on tropical drinks by the pool all day, and we were both tipsy. Not drunk, but we’d had enough that our inhibitions were lowered. When we got back to the room to clean up for dinner, Hunt kept eyeing me in a way that made me feel bold. I suggested we share a shower to save time so we wouldn’t miss our dinner reservation. I was shocked when he agreed. Even more shocked when he didn’t keep hishands to himself, and instead, started washing me. When he lowered to his knees and licked my cock, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. It was like a dream. We never did make it to dinner. We stayed in and fucked the whole night.
When I woke up the next morning, he was gone.
“I’m not the only one who didn’t talk about it,” Hunter says. Is that bitterness in his tone? He takes one more step across the hall, the tips of our toes almost touching. “Answer me this, Nix, what did I communicate a few minutes ago, back there?”
I’m not sure how to answer his question. We were all caught up in the moment, Madison’s heat spike pheromones drenching the air and pushing us to do things we normally wouldn’t.
Is that true, though? Because I’ve wanted them all since the first moment I saw them. If given half a chance, I would have done a lot more than what we just did.
I jerk as I remember those last heated moments and what followed them. “You… You touched my c-cock.”
Hunter stands up straight, worry leeching into his expression, the confidence of a moment ago gone after my stumbled words. “I did. Was that okay? I—Fuck. I should have asked for permission, Nix, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean?—”
I cut him off by pressing my mouth to his. He’s frozen for barely a breath before his lips move under mine. I step into him, pressing him back against the wall. After a few more moments of leisurely tasting each other, I pull back and rest my forehead against his.
“It was more than okay. I—” My heart pounds in my chest. Should I tell him? If ever there was a window for meto admit my true feelings for my best friend, this is it. “I’ve always wanted you, Hunt.”
Silence settles heavily over us as he takes my words in. But it isn’t oppressive, it's comfortable. Like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It’s out in the world now, and I can’t take it back. Can’t control how he reacts. I can only pray I didn’t just lose my best friend.
Hunt chuckles mirthlessly. “You’re an idiot.”
My heart clenches, and my stomach drops. I knew there was a chance of rejection but hearing it so bluntly stings more than I could have anticipated. I go to pull back, but Hunter’s hand flies to my nape, keeping me held to him.
“I’m also an idiot,” he admits. “We’ve been dancing around this for years, but I thought you didn’t want me that way. Not past that one night…”
Joy overtakes the disappointment I was feeling, taking my emotions on a rollercoaster. “That one night, and every night since, Hunt. Every. Single. One.”
I go in for another kiss, but this time it’s Hunter who puts distance between us. “Is that why you made up Sebastian? To cover your feelings for me?”
I suck in a breath. After all this, he still thinks I’m lying about Sebastian? That emotional rollercoaster swerves back down into hurt territory. “Hunt, Seb is?—-”
A chorus of screeching growls interrupts me, and we both stumble to the narrow window near the stairs. A glance outside confirms that not only are the seal-cats that chased us still there, but three more have now joined them. They’re testing the door, prowling the perimeter, looking for entry.
