Page 31

“Hey, can you take Buck back over to the game for me? I’ll be there in a little while.”

That made Eli brighten up. He adored Buck.

“Yeah,” he said, grinning and taking Buck’s leash from me.

He bolted off with Buck and I turned my attention back to Hunter.

“How old is he again?”

“Twelve, and in full tween mode. He’s a good kid, but junior high is really hard.” Anytime Eli told me that someone was mean to him I wanted to march into that school and physically fight some children.

“I remember,” Hunter said, nodding.

“Were people mean to you?” I asked.

“Compared to my parents, dealing with a few childhood bullies was nothing,” she said and then ducked her head, as if she hadn’t meant to tell me that much.

I’d only gotten out little bits and pieces about her parents, but my assessment so far was that they were complete assholes.

“I had a bully, but then I broke her nose and most people stopped teasing me after that,” I said.

“You broke her nose?”

I nodded. “Yup. And I’m not sorry about it. She was being a homophobic bitch and she got what was coming.” Holding grudges wasn’t my thing, but if I saw her again, I might ask if she remembered what happened when we were thirteen. And see how her nose looked.

“Wow. I’m a little in awe and a little scared,” Hunter said, but she was smiling.

I flexed my hand. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I was too scared to do anything about my bullies,” she said, and I didn’t think she was talking about mean girls in school.

My phone went off and I looked down to find a message from my mother.

Eli says you’re sitting with a pretty girl and I’m going to need some more details.

Of course. I knew that sending Eli over was just a ruse to find out where I’d disappeared to. Mom wasn’t slick.

She’s a friend and you need to stop sending your children to do your dirty work. How’s the game?

“I should get going,” Hunter said, getting up from the bench.

“Sorry. My mom is asking for more details about the pretty girl I’m with. That’s you, by the way.”

Hunter ducked her head and blushed. Surprising. I couldn’t wait to give her more compliments and see how many it took to get her to beg me to stop.

“And what are you going to tell her?” Hunter asked, one hand on the bench as if she wasn’t ready to leave quite yet.

“A friend. She doesn’t need to know more than that,” I said. Hunter’s shoulders relaxed a fraction. Just enough for me to notice.

“Are we? Friends?” The question was tentative.

I smiled up at her. Shit, she was beautiful. “Yeah, we’re friends, Hunter. I don’t share pie with just anyone, you know.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

Hunter

I really didn’t want to take Stace away from her family, so I left before I wanted to, even though I’d gotten cold sitting on the bench. She’d put her arm across the back, and I’d been able to feel the warmth radiating from her skin. Stace was one of those people who was always warm, even in the dead of winter. Like a human heater. It made me want to snuggle closer, and I had never been a snuggler. Never in my life.