Page 6 of Heartless Summer (Claremont Cougars)

HUNTER

I t takes a few seconds to come to my senses and shove Hannah away.

When she stumbles back with a gasp, my hands shoot out, locking around her upper arms to steady her so she doesn’t tumble to the sand.

As soon as she regains her balance, I release her and take a quick step in retreat, wanting to put as much distance between us as possible.

“Hannah, what the hell are you doing?”

Her face falls as tears spring to her eyes again. “You were being so nice, I just thought…” Her voice trails off as I stare in shock.

“I was being that way because you’re Owen’s little sister.” There’s a pause before I tack on, “It doesn’t mean I have feelings for you.”

Her teeth sink into her lower lip as she glances away. A single tear treks down her cheek. “It’s just that I’ve always liked you. I was hoping that maybe you felt the same way about me.”

“You know I’m with Skye,” I grunt. “I love her.”

Misery fills her expression, making me feel like an asshole.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers.

I plow a hand through my hair as all the comments Skye has made about the younger girl crash through my head. Every time she brought up the topic, I brushed it off and told her she had it all wrong.

Well, guess what?

Looks like I’m the one who didn’t know what he was talking about.

Skye was right. The younger girl had a crush, and I was blind to it.

“Look, Hannah. It’s all good. It was nothing more than a misunderstanding, right?” I search her eyes, hoping she realizes that I’m trying to find a way out of this uncomfortable situation for both of us.

“Yeah.” With a nod, she drops her gaze. “Are you going to tell Owen about this?”

Is she kidding?

Hell no. He would totally lose his shit. I’m not mentioning this to anyone.

“I don’t plan to say a word. Let’s just forget it ever happened.”

A puff of air escapes from her. “Thank you.”

As I take another step in retreat, she says, “I’m really sorry, Hunter.”

Now that we’re both on the same page and she understands I have zero romantic interest in her, I wave away the apology. “No worries. Go have fun.” There’s a moment of silence. “And make sure you stay away from Clay.”

“Don’t worry,” she says with a snort. “I’m going to avoid him like a nasty case of crabs.”

The corners of my lips twitch as I head for the keg and cooler, which was my original destination before I got sidetracked. With two cups of beer and a bottle of water filling my hands, I make my way back to the girls.

I’m sure Skye is wondering what happened to me. Only now do I realize how long I’ve been gone. As I glance around the bonfire, I don’t see her blonde head anywhere. It takes a few minutes to spot Lanie in the crowd. She’s busy sucking face with one of my teammates.

Since it doesn’t look like they’ll be coming up for air anytime soon, I interrupt the little lovefest they’ve got going on by getting all up in their business. “Hey.”

They both jump apart before Lanie glares. “What the hell, Hunter!”

I grin before shoving one of the cups into her hand. “Where’s Skye?”

Her expression darkens even more. “She took off.”

“She left?” My brows pinch together. “Why the hell would she go without telling me?”

That doesn’t sound like Skye at all.

“I don’t know. She looked upset but refused to give me an explanation.”

Concern prickles at the bottom of my belly as my unease grows. None of this makes the least bit of sense. What the hell could have happened?

My feet shift in the cold sand. “And you didn’t see or hear anything?”

Is it possible one of these assholes said something to upset her?

Although…that’s unlikely. Everyone knows Skye belongs to me. No one would dare mess with her.

Lanie shakes her head. “No. I was kind of busy. And she wasn’t with me the entire time. When you didn’t come back, she went looking for you.”

She went…

Oh, fuck.

Nausea explodes in the pit of my belly as the blood running through my veins turns to ice.