by Diana Gardin
She grasped Trent’s hands and removed them from her waist before turning to face him.
“No touching, Trent,” she chastised, swaying slightly.
“Yeah, Trent,” said Hunter as he stepped up beside her. He sent Trent a murderous glare. “Listen to the lady.”
Ever folded her arms across her chest. “I can take care of myself, Hunter.”
Trent raised both hands in surrender and backed away. “My bad, Hunter.”
Hunter didn’t take his eyes off Trent as he reached for Ever’s hand.
“I know you can,” he said through gritted teeth. “But I need to talk to you.”
“Oh, that can wait,” sang Rilla as she grabbed Ever’s hand and tugged her away. “We got some more dancing to do, right Ever?”
Hunter opened his mouth, but Ever cut him off. “Yep, we do. We’ll talk later, Hunter.”
The night was a whirlwind. Rilla was a pro at how to work a bar, and Ever was having the time of her life just hanging out with her. Now, although she didn’t know it, she was definitely at the “I wish I had stopped drinking two drinks ago” stage. Her stomach was lurching and her eyes were tight and itchy. The room was moving around her in a blur that was way too fast for her to keep up with, and Rilla’s laughing voice was now coming to her from beneath a deep, dark sea.
Somewhere, in a dusty, cobwebby corner of her mind, she knew she had pushed it too far. But, in that secret place, she was happy. Because she wasn’t thinking. She wasn’t worrying. She wasn’t on her guard. She just was. And even though she had a sinking suspicion that she might regret this in the morning, she was relieved that she wasn’t feeling.
She was completely undone. And she liked it.
With a happy sigh, she fell into her chair at the table with Hunter and his boys.
“Hello, boys,” she drawled, leaning an elbow on the table. “I missed you guys. Where have you been?”
“Oh, we’ve been sitting right here watching your pretty self run all over this bar like the drunk-fairy,” was Cross’s amused response.
She reached over and patted his cheek. “You’re precious, Cross. Did anyone ever tell you that?”
“No,” he said with a chuckle. “Why don’t you go tell your friend Rilla that I’m precious? I want her to know.”
“She knows,” said Ever in a singsong voice. She leaned her head down on the table, appreciating the coolness of the wood against her flushed cheek.
“Okay, baby girl,” announced Hunter. “Time to get you home.”
“Time to get you home,” repeated Ever, pushing back from the table. She stood and promptly stumbled, leaning back into the table.
“Whoa,” said Hunter. “I got you.”
He scooped her up into his arms, holding her securely against his chest. He nodded at the table, and the guys saluted him with laughter as he escorted Ever outside.
She sighed in his arms. “You told me that before. I believe you now.”
A fire had been smoldering quietly inside of him the entire night, watching Ever flit around the bar with Rilla. That simmering flame exploded into an inferno inside his chest where she cuddled against him. How had he not known all along that being this close to her was right? How had she not known? He knew that last night in the woods she’d felt something. There had always been magnetism between them, and now the physical chemistry was threatening to swallow him alive if he didn’t feed it.
“Hunter!” shouted Rilla, clomping up behind them in her heels. She should have been just as out of it as Ever, but apparently the girl was no stranger to a bar. She was holding her own.
“Yeah?” he asked, shifting Ever in his arms.
Rilla glanced down at her. “You can bring her to my place. It’s right above the flower shop.”
“Why would I do that?”
Rilla sighed, leaning in close. “Because I don’t think leaving the two of you alone together tonight is a good idea, do you?”
He wasn’t sure how much she knew, but it was enough to be concerned about them being alone together. Smart girl.
“I would never take advantage of her, Rilla. All I want is for her to be okay. Tonight, that means putting her in her own bed and staying with her, because she’s going to be sick.”
Rilla looked unsure until he pinned her with a gaze as sincere as he could muster. Then she nodded.
“Okay. Tell her I’ll call her tomorrow.” She leaned over and kissed Ever’s forehead.
Hunter liked how much Rilla seemed to adore Ever. Ever needed as many people on her side as she could get.
“Hey,” he said. “Make sure you don’t walk home by yourself, you hear me? Get Cross to walk with you.”
She nodded, then reached down and pulled off her heels. She waved, and Hunter watched her walk back inside the bar. He wouldn’t need to worry about her getting home; he knew Cross had had an eye on her all night.
Ever was breathing deeply against his chest, her eyes tightly shut. The desire to just sit in his truck with her pressed against him like this all night was crushing him, but he fought it. He eased her into the passenger seat. Then he drove back to her house with her sleeping soundly beside him. He shouldn’t have let her drink so much. But Ever was nothing if not independent, and he wasn’t going to stop her from having a good time for once in her life. He knew he wasn’t going anywhere tonight without her, though.
Pulling up into the gravel driveway, Ever began to mumble. “Losing…lost…can’t hold on…”
He put the truck in park and studied her face. There was such an ethereal beauty in her, even with the tension and worry lines creasing her features. When he opened her door a second later, she squeezed her eyes shut tighter and shook her head sadly back and forth. “Lost him.”
“Lost who, baby?” asked Hunter gently.
“Lost him; he’s gone,” she muttered. Her green eyes suddenly flew open. “I don’t feel so good, Hunter. Where’s Sam?”
He sighed heavily and lifted her into his arms again. “He’s not here, baby. But I got you. Hold on to me.”
He maneuvered her into the house and into her bed, where she lay in a heap as he tugged off her shoes.
“You going to be sick?” He smoothed damp strands of hair off her forehead.
She shook her head, rolling over, and promptly fell asleep again.
He sat down beside her on the bed, placed his elbows on his knees, and dropped his head into his hands.
He thought she’d seen him, finally seen him for the man he’d become and the place he could hold in her life if she’d let him. But maybe he’d been wrong.
Maybe she’d never see anyone clearly but Sam.
Nine
The sharp pounding in her head was what initially woke her. She lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out where and when she’d bashed her head in. Then her stomach began to tumble over and over again, and she bolted out of bed and flew across the hallway to the bathroom.
She lost the contents of her guts into the toilet, and it was awful. Liquor didn’t taste so great going down, but coming back up again it was absolutely vile.
“Oh God.” She gasped and heaved.
Strong hands gathered her thick mane of hair and held it, and a cool cloth pressed against her forehead while she finished retching.
“That’s it, Ev.” Hunter’s voice was close to her ear. “Getting it out is the only way to feel better.”
The entire night came flooding back to her, and she groaned with embarrassment. If this was what a hangover felt like, she was never getting drunk again.
Hunter’s fingers brushed the back of her neck, and her stomach flip-flopped again, this time for a different reason. She was probably at her worst at the moment. Well, maybe not as bad as the night he’d walked in with Sam to find her covered in her father’s blood, lying next to his lifeless body, but her second worst.
She wasn’t okay with Hunter seeing her like this. Nerves suddenly fluttered through her chest. She was anxious a
bout him holding back her hair while she threw up. Why did she feel that way? She was pretty sure that at some point in their relationship, Hunter had seen her pee in the woods, using a leaf for toilet paper.
But all of a sudden, being sick in front of him, being this unattractive in front of him, was mortifying.
She groaned again and leaned back against the wall.
“Tissue,” she gasped.
He handed her a stack, and she wiped her mouth.
“Privacy,” she tried next.
His chuckle lingered as he backed out of the bathroom.
“I’ve seen you pee in the woods,” he called back over his shoulder as he left.
A wild giggle escaped her as she smacked her forehead with the heel of her palm. Then she got busy.
On wobbly legs she took a shower, washing off the stench of the bar and all traces of dried makeup from her face and body. When she emerged from the bathroom in her robe, she still felt very, very ill. But she smelled fresher, and that was a relief.
Especially since Hunter was sitting on her couch in nothing but a pair of low-slung jeans and a smile.
Her eyes honed in on the tan, toned muscles that literally rippled atop his torso, especially to his rock-hard stomach and the trail of hair that disappeared into the waist of his jeans. She wished to God he didn’t look this good first thing in the morning. Her mouth went dry.
“Hey,” he said with a smile. “What can I do? I bet you feel like shit.”
She nodded weakly, stumbling toward the couch. He moved over, and she collapsed to the cushions, pulling her legs up under her as demurely as she could in a robe.
“I’m never drinking again,” she announced, cradling her head in her hands.
“Yeah,” laughed Hunter. “That’s what we all say the first time.”
She raised her head and glared at him. “I’m serious! This sucks!”
“You know what didn’t suck?” he asked, his face suddenly playful.
“What?”
“That outfit you were wearing last night. That seriously didn’t suck.”
Her pale cheeks burned shamefully. “Too much?”
“Ever,” said Hunter, his voice low and rough. “That outfit? It was the opposite of too much. And it was way too much in the very best way. I thought I was going to have to go to jail.”
“For what?”
He studied her face, his eyes roving from her eyes to her lips and back again. “You don’t want to know.”
Something buried somewhere deep inside of her very much did want to know. But she nodded, shooting him a small smile. “If you say so.”
The tin clink of the lid of the mailbox outside the front door being lifted and dropped again sent Ever running to open it. She returned sorting through a stack of envelopes. She pulled out what she was hoping for—a white envelope addressed to her in Sam’s handwriting.
Seeing his writing invited a swirling mixture of emotions into her chest. Elation rose to the top of that dog pile of feelings, and she tore the letter open, feeling the sting of a paper cut as she did so.
Dear Ever,
I miss you. You know that if I had any other choice, I wouldn’t have left you, right? It was the only way to keep you protected. You shouldn’t have to suffer anymore because of that man. You’ve already gone through a lifetime of pain. You deserve to be happy now. The truth never needs to come out.
On a brighter note, you’ll never guess what happened to me here. You know the family I’ve been working for? Well the man, the business owner, offered me a position in his company so I can learn more about how the operation runs. He wants me to begin thinking more about my future, and that’s something I need to start doing. How will I support you if I don’t start making something of myself? And I really do think we could have a great life here together when things die down back home.
Amazing things start happening in places you never expected them to. I can’t wait to see you again.
Love you For Ever,
Sam
Her hands trembled slightly as she read the letter twice more. Finally, she drifted into the kitchen and sat down at the tiny table, just staring blankly at the paper in her hands.
Her emotions were still beating up her insides with the most intense kickboxing match imaginable, but now the one that fought to the top of the fray was bitterness.
Ever had never been bitter. Even on the darkest night, when her father was whaling on her, she never let it make her bitter. But now she tasted it on her tongue like stale, black coffee.
He hadn’t said anything wrong in the letter, had he? No. It was just the feel of it. Like he was steadily moving forward, like life was getting better.
But life was better for her, too. The silent voice in her head chided her for being angry with Sam for doing well in his new home. Maybe it was the fact that he had a new home that bothered her so much. At one point, she had been the only home he ever needed.
At least she thought she’d been.
“Let me see.” Hunter pried the paper gently out of her shaking fingers.
He scanned the letter quickly, and his chest rose and fell with the heavy breath he exhaled. He squatted down in front of Ever until they were eye level. She was still staring at her hands, so he used two fingers to pluck her chin upward until she was peering straight into his clear hazel gaze.
The combination of his touch, his proximity, and the intensity of his stare set off an explosion of fireworks in her stomach. What the hell was happening to her?
He kept his grip on her chin, and as the sparks flew between them his lips parted and her attention flew to that spot. She’d never noticed how perfectly full those lips were. They looked soft enough to…
Holy shit. What the hell was she thinking?
She jerked backward and his fingers tightened on her chin for just a fraction of a second before he released her.
“You want to get out of here?” he asked. She didn’t recognize that voice. It was Hunter’s voice, but more gravelly and filled with something raw and primal. A tingle zinged through the center of her body, and had she been standing she thought her knees would have betrayed her.
“Get out of here?” she asked faintly.
“Get that letter off your brain?”
She swallowed. Somehow, that letter had already been pushed to the back of her mind. “Um, sure.”
He jerked his head toward the door. “I’ll wait outside for you to get dressed, all right?”
Nodding, she squeezed past Hunter, brushing his body with hers thanks to the tiny space and setting off a brand-new fireworks display inside of her.
She’d felt something.
For the second time, Hunter knew that she’d actually looked into his eyes and really seen him. He wanted to jump in his truck and drive it to the moon. And he wanted to jump in his truck and drive it over the edge of a cliff.
He was a son of a bitch, he knew. For feeling that way. For allowing her to start to feel that way. He knew Ever better than anyone. She’d just reacted to him physically, and her body wasn’t going to act of its own accord without her heart. They were a machine that worked in tandem. Guilt was going to chew her up and spit her out.
Goddamn, she was beautiful. Just staring into those big green eyes made his chest ache. Staying inside of that house while she dressed wasn’t going to be an option for him. He would sit on the couch and imagine silky fabric sliding over her impossibly smooth skin. He would imagine that long, thick hair of hers hanging down her back as she closed her eyes and ran the brush through it, pulling it up and off her face. She’d sit on the bed where he could lay her down against the sheets, finally allowing his lips to punish hers…
He was done for. Ruined forever.
For Ever.
When she came out of the house, he was sitting on the steps, clutching his head, breathing in deep gulps of air to try and get himself together. It hadn’t worked. But he would sure as hell pretend like it had.
“Ready to go?” sh
e asked tentatively.
“Absolutely,” he answered. “You up for a picnic lunch?”
She smiled. “Is the sky blue? Is the grass green?”
In the truck, Ever raised her legs to the dash. Hunter stifled a groan when he looked over and saw her little purple toenails tapping out a rhythm on the surface in front of her. The shorts she wore rose skyward on her thighs, and her hair streamed in the wind blowing from the open window. Steam rose throughout his body from his instant hard-on, and he gritted his teeth uncomfortably. It was getting more and more difficult to control his physical reaction to this girl.
Food. He forced his thoughts to Miller’s amazing pulled pork as he pulled into the barbecue joint to pick up sandwiches, chips, and lemonade. Anything to keep his mind off her curves, her skin, and those damn lips.
Ten
After a half-hour drive to Birchfield Lake and a delicious lunch, they lay side by side on a soft fleece blanket Hunter had pulled from the bed of his truck. Their feet pointed in opposite directions, their heads matched up evenly as they peered up at the quick-moving clouds sweeping across the sky. Silence stretched for miles between them, but it was so comfortable Hunter could have curled up inside of it and fallen asleep.
He was home here, next to her. He wished she knew that.
And he was thankful she didn’t.
Because she was home with him, too, whether she realized it or not. His stomach twisted with the thought that when she finally admitted it, it meant inevitable pain for his little brother.
“I know we’re supposed to be avoiding all talk of Sam right now, but…” he began, “I talked to him yesterday.”
Ever turned her head so that she was staring at him, and the closeness of her lips and those burning eyes of hers gave him an electric jolt that made him catch his breath and hold it. More than anything, he needed those lips crushed against his own.
“You did?”
He nodded. “Yeah. And he wants us to come visit.”