Page 66 of The Triple Threat

Hunter’s eyes went dark and predatory and I couldn’t help but feel excited and lustful. Thankfully, Jefferson returned with a bottle of beer and handed it to Hunter.

“Here you go. I’m just gonna have a quick chat with Dusty about my truck.”

He nodded over to my Mr. September, Dusty Chalmers, and walked away, leaving Hunter and I alone.

After a few seconds of staring at each other, I began to feel a throb in my panties and decided it was best if I left.

“Where are you going?” Hunter asked.

“Going to rescue Carter before Bronte smashes that bottle of wine over his head.”

We both looked over to where Bronte was in a heated conversation with Carter and his and Hunter’s old school friend Timothy Reagan, my Mr. February.

“Carter can handle himself,” Hunter said softly as he caught hold of my hand. “We need to talk.”

He let out a breath and rubbed two fingers against his temple, causing his bottle of beer to rest against his cheek. His eyes looked cautious and gone was the cocky cowboy who’d given me one hell of a show earlier.

I knew I could so easily get lost in the chocolate pools of his eyes. I could allow myself to believe any words he’d whisper to me, but I knew if I was smart I wouldn’t.

“Nothing to talk about, Hunter,” I replied, pulling my hand from his. “What happened was great, but it won’t happen again.”

“Why the fuck not? It was amazing, you know it was.”

“Yeah, it was but look at them Hunter.” I turned and pointed to Carter and Bronte arguing as Jefferson talked to Dusty but had half an eye on them.

“What about them?” Hunter asked, taking a step closer to me.

“They’re our family, they’re our friends. We’re one big group of people who are interlinked in each other’s lives. Carter and Bronte hate each other, but it’s kind of funny because we know that they don’t mean it. That’s just the way they are.”

“And yet you want to get them together?”

“Like I said,” I replied with a shrug. “They’re different.”

“I’m really not with you, Ellie.” He sighed.

“If we got together, when it ended, I would hate you, and that’s not fair on our family and friends. If they split it would just go back to normal. It would be so much harder if it was us. Me hating you would be awful for everyone.”

He leaned back; surprise written all over his face.

“How do you know you’d hate me? What if you were the one that ended it?”

I let out an empty laugh and scratched my forehead. “Because I know you, Hunter. You don’t do relationships. You do one night, or maybe a whole week, but not a proper relationship and I’ve realized, that’s what I want. I want to be loved and cherished and you couldn’t do that.”

I paused hoping against hope that he might challenge me, but he didn’t. It hit me hard, just like the realization that Hunter was the person I wanted to be loved and cherished by; nothing less would do.

“Nope, I didn’t think so.” I smiled and looked over my shoulder at Jefferson. “He’s so sad, Hunter, so very sad and if he lost his friends, he’d be even sadder.”

“Why? What the fuck—”

“You’d break my heart and then my dad would kill you and Carter would hate you and that would hurt Jefferson so much. That’s why we won’t ever be anything except for one amazing fifteen minutes.”

Swallowing hard, I turned and walked away unable to stop wondering if I’d just done the most stupid thing ever.

It had been two weeks and I’d seen neither hide nor hair of Ellie. In those fourteen days I’d whacked off more than I’d ever done before, and I’d acted like a sulky, hormonal teen the whole time. To top my perfect three hundred and thirty-six hours, we were all spending Thanksgiving at her house.

In their wisdom Melinda and Henry had thought it would be a great idea for everyone to go to them for the holiday. We hadn’t all got together for Thanksgiving since before Mom died, so I wasn’t sure what had prompted them to suggest it. What I did know was that I was a mixture of pissed and excited at the prospect.

“Why now after all these years?” I asked Pop as he pulled up on the Maples’ driveway.