God, the pain in
my head snarled at me to take it easy. And speaking fast was impossible.
“Oh-woe.” Ryan
pushed down on my shoulders until I sat on the bed again. “So not a good idea. Since
we already agreed that it’s the dead of the night…and you’re sixteen…and drunk—”
“Drunk?
No
.”
I never drank alcohol. And soda sure wouldn’t make my brain so spongy. But I
had to admit something was seriously wrong with either me or the room, since
everything started spinning in a very uncomfortable way.
Hunter waved a
dismissive hand at me. “Whatever. I can’t let you do that.”
“Do what?”
“Walk alone.”
I frowned. “You
want to come with me?” Strange. Shouldn’t Tony be around to drive me home?
“It’s a mile and
a half to your house. That’s three for me to walk. I’m positive I won’t make
that tonight.” The mattress sank under his weight as he lowered next to me. “So
if you really want to go home, I’ll have to drive you. But right now, I’d
rather not.”
Even sitting, Hunter
swayed in front of me. But since the room did that too, I wasn’t sure if he
really did or if I was having some kind of weird hallucinations. “So what do I
do now?”
“I’d say lay
back. Sleep. And worry about everything tomorrow.”
“What about
you?”
He looked around
the room, rubbing his neck. “The floor is hard. And I’m beat. There’s room for
two in that bed.” He made his last statement sound like a question.
I was getting
sick—and not because of his request to sleep in the same bed with me. My
stomach rolled. I felt the sour taste of soda traveling up my gullet. There was
only one way to avoid puking all over this strange bed and floor. I had to get
horizontal.
Dropping to my
side, I buried my cheek in the pillow. I groaned, keeping one eye open, and
focused on the top of the lamp on the nightstand. If only I could grab my brain
and stop it from spinning.
“Good choice,
Matthews,” Ryan rumbled and lay down beside me. He probably took my silence as
an invitation.
Should I care? I
wasn’t sure.
His head tilted
to my side, he grinned—dangerously. “I swear you’re safe with me for the next
three to six hours. I can’t make promises for any time after that, though.”
CHAPTER
5
THE SUN BREAKING
through the windows woke me the next morning. I felt as if I was drifting out
to a restless sea on an unsound airbed. It took a few seconds for the eerie
swaying to stop so that I could focus.
My cheek rested
on a pillow smelling of pine trees and warmth. I inhaled deeply, wanting to
keep that scent, and opened my eyes to stare at the sensual lips of Ryan Hunter.
My hand on his naked chest rose and fell with his slow, even breaths.
Holy cow, what
the hell happened? I was in bed with the captain of the soccer team. Heck, I
should have never gone to that party.
Now, my only
thought was
run
. But shock kept me pinned to the bed as I became aware
of the entangled position Ryan and I had taken on in our sleep. Lying on my
right, my left leg was slung over his hip. My calf rested neatly on his groin.
He lay on his back, his left leg bent so, that I wouldn’t be able to withdraw
mine. I tried to stop my body from shivering. No chance.
Not daring to
wake him, I didn’t move, frantically running through the options I had. Great,
there were none. I was trapped.
Maybe if I lay
still, pretending to be fast asleep, until he woke up and got out of bed first,
then I could sneak out after him and be gone before he noticed. I would have
slapped myself for that idea if I could remove my hand from his warm chest.
And a firm chest
it was. He must lift weights besides playing soccer. As if my eyes had their
own mind, they traveled down his gorgeous body. A thin trail of dark hair led
south from his navel over his flat stomach until it vanished under the
waistband of his jeans. His bent leg seemed amazingly long. I never paid
attention, but he must be more than a head taller than me.
My gaze swept up
to his neck and the part of his face not covered with his arm. A lean jaw and a
perfect, straight nose. He sported an overnight shadow that begged to be rubbed.
I resisted. Under his left ear was an old scar, about an inch long. One would
never notice unless close to him, like I was now.
Suddenly his
lips twitched.
“I can feel you
staring at me,” he said in the softest wake-up voice I’d ever heard. “I only
hope you’re a girl and not one of the drunken guys.”
My breath caught
in my chest. I jerked my hand back from him. Not taking his arm away from his
face yet, he reached down with his other hand. And slowly ran his palm over my
naked thigh in the direction of my bum.
“Yep, definitely
female,” he purred.
In panic, I held
his hand in place. “Move another inch, Hunter, and you’re a dead man.”
“Matthews?” Surprised
amusement filled his chuckle. Unlike me, he seemed relaxed enough.
A strange heat
rose from my gut to my head as I studied his hand on my bare skin. Wearing
nothing but jeans and a black wrist watch, he looked more like a guy from the
many posters on the walls of Caroline Davis’ bedroom than the boy I knew from
school.
I felt awkward
for not letting go of his hand on my leg, but I was too scared he’d continue
the path he’d started if I did.
“Tell me,
Matthews,” he said as he dropped his arm to the pillow and tilted his head to study
me with warm eyes. “Why do I have you in my bed, when I’m not allowed to touch
you?”
“I didn’t know
there were strawberries in the soda,” I whined.
His brows
furrowed, his lips pursed. “Come again?”
Jeez, did he not
realize that he was still holding my leg, and how very uncomfortable—and excited—it
made me? “Someone was getting me sweet soda all evening.” My voice shook
slightly. “I didn’t realize it was the wine cooler you meant when you said—”
“—not to touch
the strawberries,” he finished for me, closing his eyes. “Damn, I told her not
to punch it too much.”
What? The wine
cooler? I was pretty sure I had a tad too much of that stuff.
A frown creased Ryan’s
brows as he looked at me again. “Sorry, I don’t remember much of the night
after I carried you up here. Am I in trouble?”
Considering I
still had my clothes on, nothing had happened during the night. “As far as I
remember you were pretty drunk yourself. So I was quite safe from you.”
A smirk played
around one corner of his mouth. “I’m afraid my time of numb indifference is
over.” His thumb had started drawing small circles on my skin. “So, unless
you’re up for some trouble
now
, would you mind moving your leg?”
My eyes widened
at his seductive threat.
“What? You know
you’re not the ugliest girl in the world.”
Wow, what a
compliment. Idiot. I needed to get out of here. Back to…back to… Damn, Ryan
had
a nice smile.
I shoved that
thought away and let go of his hand, then pushed his leg down so I could remove
mine from his groin. I was out of his bed faster than the transatlantic. But
the aftermath of drinking hit me harder than I had expected. The floor rushed
to me or I did, I couldn’t tell which.
His hands cupped
my elbows, and he steadied me before I was going to fall. He waited until my
gaze locked with his. “Feel better?”
“Not really.” I
tried to find my shoes. They lay at the end of the bed, and I wiggled out of
his hold to put them on.
Ryan ignored his
trainers and shirt, which lay tossed on the floor. Barefoot, he padded from the
room. I followed him down the stairs, gazing at his back. What was it with
naked skin all of a sudden that let me forget the world around me?
“Hey, Ry,”
someone called from the hall to which we descended.
“Morning, Chris,”
Hunter replied to the boy lying sprawled on the sofa. He walked on as if it was
the most natural thing for him to come down from his room with a random girl
after a partying night.
It might be the
usual for him, but it sure as hell wasn’t for me. I felt my face turn a deep
red when the heat shot to my cheeks. God, I should have jumped out of his
window instead of being subject to this embarrassment. I hated giving anyone the
wrong ideas. And there were quite a few leftover guests from last night.
The front door
called to me, promising freedom. But Hunter had different ideas and pulled me
into the kitchen. When he released my hand, I stood rigid in the middle of the
room with the marble floor, while he headed for the fridge. He grabbed two
bottles of water, unscrewed them, and dropped a tablet in both which he’d
fetched from a cupboard. The tablet was still dissolving as he handed me one
and then leaned against the counter, legs crossed at the ankles, drinking from
the other.
I didn’t dare
take a sip.
“Why so skeptic,
Matthews? It will help your headache.”
After this
innocent looking berry drink that landed me in this situation…yeah, I was. But
since he drank the same stuff, I figured I was safe. Reluctantly, I sniffed the
water then sipped.
“You don’t trust
me?” He chuckled and drank some more.
“How could I? I
woke up with a hangover from a soda and with an equally drunk person sleeping
next to me half of the night.”
“Yeah, sorry about
that.” He gave me a sheepish grin. “I don’t usually get drunk at my own
parties. And believe me I’m going to get a piece of Claudia for messing with
the wine cooler.”
I really started
to loath that word. And the drink even more so.
“Look, as long
as you keep hydrated today, you’ll be fine.”
I winced, not
believing him one second. “It feels like someone installed a construction site
in my head.”
“Oh yeah, I know
the feeling. If you give me a minute to shower, I’ll drive you home.”
“No!” Ah hell, panicky
shouting wasn’t a good idea. I grimaced, pressing my temples until the
throbbing eased. “No thanks,” I tried again in a calmer tone, just wanting out
of this house. “I’ll be happy to take the walk and sober up before meeting my
parents. My mom will freak out.”
“Suit yourself.”
He walked me to the front door. “Want my sunglasses?”
“Why would I
want your sunglasses?” The moment I pulled open the door I knew why. Like a
vampire, I flinched back into the shade.
And right into
his firm chest. Which was still naked. And damn enticing.
He reached around,
holding out his shades to me which he had fetched from where I didn’t know. The
scent of pure Hunter enveloped me. For a millisecond, the screaming in my
aching head stopped, and I was about to faint for a different reason.
“I know you so
want it.” I could hear the mocking smile in his voice when he said it into my
ear. I swallowed hard, only then realizing he meant his sunglasses.
Putting on the
shades, I pushed away from him and trudged outside, down the steps.
“Matthews,” Ryan
called after me, and I turned. “We’ll start your training tomorrow morning. Be
up and ready at five. I’ll pick you up.”
My jaw hit my
chest as he said it and shut the door.
CHAPTER
6
BY HALF PAST
ten, I slipped through the door of our house. Mom stood in the threshold to the
kitchen, with her cell phone in her hand. She looked up, and a relieved smile
curved her lips. “Hi, sweetie. Why didn’t you take your phone with you? I was
just about to call Tony to check if everything was okay.”
Praise the Lord
for the many nights I crashed at Tony’s in the past ten years. Mom was so used
to it, she would never expect anything bad when I didn’t come home after being
out with him. I resisted the urge to cross myself and forced a smile.
“How was the
party?” she asked in her innocent, motherly way.
“Good.”
“When was it
over?”
“Little after
three?”
Great, sound
anymore guilty, and she’ll tie you to the kitchen chair and start a nasty
inquisition. Luckily, her frown eased after a second, and she asked me if I
wanted anything to eat. Ham and eggs, my favorite breakfast.
The churning of
my stomach rebelled like the worst traitor through the room. Please, no food. I
couldn’t help but gag and wrinkle my face. “No thanks, Mom.”
“What’s it?
Don’t you feel well?” She was in front of me before I could escape to the
stairs.
I pulled off
Hunter’s shades and pinched the spot between my eyes. “Nah, all’s fine.”