Page 40 of Meet Me in Paris

“But my mom—I can’t leave her right now. What if she takes a turn for the worse?”

He didn’t roll his eyes. Instead, he lifted my chin so I had to face him. “Your mom is doing better than she has in a while. I even talked to Dr. Houston about it. He thinks you’ll be fine.”

Deep down, I knew my concerns were only excuses. Most of all, I feared what I saw in Hunter’s eyes. Their depths contained a world of softness and gentle caring I’d never experienced from a man before. And hewasa man now. At twenty-two years old, we were both grown. He was a senior at the college, after all. But a trip to Paris together wasn’t something two friends did.

It was something lovers did.

And try as I might, I couldn’t forget our almost-kiss more than three years ago. It refused to leave my mind. Being in Hunter’s presence only made it worse.

Indeed, Hunter leaned in, forcing me to step back against the hood of the car. I felt an echo of heat from theengine and the reflection of the hot sun against the back of my jeans.

“Neddie,” he said, his hot breath on my face and a deep earnestness in his eyes, “you’ve sacrificed years of your life for your family. Now, let someone else sacrifice for you.”

My heart wrenched violently, and I knew I would lose control any second. I yanked my gaze away, wishing I could accept his words as truth but feeling the wrongness of them. Caring for my sick mother and sister wasn’t a sacrifice. Oldest children did such things. And at the end of all my efforts, nothing would really change. Alexis would still be gone, Mom would still die, and despite Jillian flitting around, I would still feel just as lonely.

“Don’t you dare,” he said roughly, as if he read my thoughts.

The next moment happened as if in slow motion. He stepped forward, forcing me against the car so I had nowhere else to go. Then he brushed my hair out of the way. My heart practically stopped.

I didn’t mean to do it, but it happened all the same. My eyes closed at his touch, and I leaned into his hand. I felt more accepted and more loved here, with the boy next door, than I had in a really long time. His touch felt so warm and good, and?—

His lips brushed mine. A question.

I didn’t have the answer, not really. But I didn’t want to stop, either. I’m not sure I could have if I wanted to.

When I didn’t pull away, Hunter’s grip on my face tightened, and he deepened the kiss. It felt like the floor opened beneath me, swallowing me whole and sending me into a free fall I couldn’t say I disliked.

He’d been gentle and soft all along, but when Iresponded, he seemed to shift into another gear altogether. His mouth moved faster, deeper, more insistent. More demanding.

And in turn, my body accepted the challenge. I couldn’t get close enough, couldn’t get enough of him. I wanted more. Our bodies pressed against one another, every inch of me against every inch of him, and a moan came from deep inside his throat.

It pulled me from my dizzy, drunk consciousness and back into the real world. I yanked free of his lips and stared at him in shock. His eyes opened, looking muddy, and his chest moved quickly up and down.

“Neddie,” he said, his voice raspy.

A primal fear clawed its way through my chest.

Trying to control the rising panic, I climbed around him and let my feet find the ground again. He wanted to keep a promise I hadn’t accepted at the time because my heart hurt too much to dream? Or because he had a dream of his own?

“I’m so sorry.” A whisper, simply because I was incapable of anything more. “I can’t.”

He looked as if he’d been slapped. “Neddie, I shouldn’t have. That was poor timing.”

It took every ounce of strength that remained in my trembling body to look him in the eye. “Thank you, Hunter. I will always be grateful to you for thinking of me. But I really can’t.”

His face registered shock. “Are you serious?”

“I’m sorry.” Guilt flooded me. The man I cared for most had offered me my dream, and I was throwing it back in his face.

Hunter straightened. “I’ve already accepted. I have to go.”

I nodded, accepting that, embracing the pain that came as I imagined him there, walking the streets I longed to see but couldn’t. Not with the world turned on its head. “Enjoy it for me.”

A shadow crossed his face. “When you change your mind, meet me in Paris. I’ll be waiting.”

An old grief rose up, threatening to strangle me from the inside. I’d lost my dad, my sister, and soon I’d be losing my mom. Now I had to say goodbye to my best friend.

My eyes filled with warmth I refused to let him see. With a sob, I turned and ran down the gravel road toward my house.

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