Page 55 of Dear #47, You're the Worst
“Obviously,” he grunts.
Hunter watches me hold his jersey, jaw flexing, something protective and dangerous in his gaze. My heart skids between fury at myself for caring and fierce, illicit delight at the way he’s looking at me.
“Pack a bag for the weekend,” he blurts.
“What?”
“The team rented a compound on Orcas Island for a bonding retreat. We’ll show up, spend hours in close contact, and share a room. The whole couple experience.”
I blush so hard I’m probably glowing. “Share a room?”
“That’s what couples do, Firecracker.”
I swallow. Is that what we do, though?
“We don’t have anyone to fool on the team, though. Right? I thought we were just supposed to be seen out and about together in Seattle.”
He arches a brow. “My brothers know that our engagement is fake. Jessa and Ivy know. I guess Coach Ryan, too. But otherwise, the team doesn’t have a clue. I would never tell them something so personal.”
“You don’t mind lying to them?”
“That’s not really how I see it. Besides, what’s a little white lie if it means an entire weekend of relaxing and hanging out on the water?”
“I concede your point.”
Hunter winks, picks up his shake, and heads off to his room, closing the door. I do the same, my mouth dry, sinking down onto my bed. My hands spread over his jersey pressed against my chest. I’m breathing hard, wondering why the idea of sharing a room with Hunter is making me feel so turned upside down.
We’re absolutely fake. I’m just making this into something it’s not.
I’m not falling for the enemy. I’m not. Just because he’s occasionally thoughtful and defended me from Patrick and looks like sin in a button-down means nothing. He’ll ruin me like all the others. That’s what men like Hunter do. They burn things down and call it passion.
As if to prove my point, he plays loud music from his room, bass thumping through the walls.
Oh god. Does that mean he’s… touching himself?
I should feel annoyed. Iamannoyed.
But that doesn’t stop my stupid heart from racing, thinking about him and what this weekend will be like.
Chapter14
Hunter
Icrowd onto the seaplane with the rest of the starting lineup and a couple of rookies: Thorne, Silas, Jett, Grayson, Beck, Shane, and Connor. Coach Ryan also enters at the last minute, hustling his flame-haired fiancée Wren with him. The salt wind sneaks through the open hatch. The team’s packed in here like sardines.
The ladies who work for the team, Jessa, Ivy, and Juliet, stuff themselves in the very back of the plane. Connor claims the spot next to Juliet until I growl at him, making him move to the front of the plane.
I have eyes only for Juliet, who’s gripping her seat like the plane might fall apart at any second. We take off without incident and she relaxes incrementally.
“Better?” I ask.
“Maybe.” She arches her brow and leans close to my ear. “Think you can handle sharing one bed without making it weird?”
I fire back, “Adults have self-control, Firecracker.”
Her cheeks warm. “That’s a way better nickname than Ace.”
I give her hand a squeeze. Under the banter sits an electric hum I’m not ready to name. Something that’s been building since that kiss in our hallway, something that makes the air between us feel charged every time we’re in the same room.
