I hopped up. “I should be taking care of your wounds, not the other way around.”
His charming white smile was onlyslightlyaffected by his swollen cheek. He rummaged around in the drawer. “I told you, I’m fine. I’m lucky I got away with just a bruise.”
Hunter found an alcohol swab and a Band-Aid, then began cleaning up my elbow. The scrape was only an inch long, and it wasn’t very deep, but Hunter treated me as gently as if I had a broken bone. He stood against me, hips brushing against my leg while he worked. The denim of our jeans made a softswishingsound as they rubbed together.
“Sorry for ruining the party,” I said.
“Derek ruined it, not you,” he replied firmly. “And it was already starting to wind down. Was that your first party?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “First party with alcohol, anyway.”
“Sorry it didn’t live up to your expectations.”
“I was having a great time, before that!” I said. The words poured out of me nervously. “As far as firsts go, the party was good. The kiss, on the other hand… Ugh. I think that’s what I’m most upset about. That it had to be likethat.”
Hunter frowned at me. “Wait a minute.Thatwas your first kiss? Seriously?”
I nodded.
“Oh, fuck,” he said. “Thatreallysucks.”
“First time a guy has touched my butt, too. I guess I should be happy it was with the captain of the football team?” I said hopefully.
“No way. Fuck that asshole. That doesn’t count as your first kiss.”
“As much as it sucked, it was still a kiss,” I sighed. “It counts.”
He applied the Band-Aid to my skin and smoothed it down with his fingers. “I think you get a do-over. Your first kiss should beconsensual. And if the Kiss Police disagree, then they can cuff me and haul me away to Kiss Jail.”
I giggled up at him. I was still kind of buzzed from what little beer I had drank, which is probably why I found the courage to say, “I’m going to miss you, Hunter. When you move out.”
Even though he was done bandaging me up, he lingered close enough for my knee to touch his hip. He patted my knee, and then his fingers remained. “I won’t be too far away. I’m looking at apartments over on Lancaster Street. They’re just five minutes from the auto shop, and five minutes from here. I can come back and visit.”
“Or I could come visit you!” the alcohol made me say. “If you want.”
Hunter gave me a warm, genuine smile. “I’d like that.”
I smiled back at him there in the bathroom. I could still smell the sterile alcohol wipe, but underneath that was Hunter’s masculine scent. His face was close enough that I could feel his breath on my lips, and unlike Derek, he didn’t smell like stale beer. He leaned a little closer, and I tilted my head up to him, raising my lips and thinking about what he had said:you deserve a do-over for your first kiss.
Hunter’s roguishly-handsome face drew closer, filling my vision. I held my breath. Was he leaning in, or was it my imagination?
He definitely is, I realized.He looks like he wants to kiss me.
Our lips were an inch apart when he suddenly pulled away from me. He sucked in a shuddering breath while staring at the shower.
“What?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“We can’t,” he said, still not meeting my gaze.
“Why not?”
“Because…” he turned to look at me, and I saw the battle raging in his dark eyes. “I don’t like you that way.”
The words hurt more than Derek’s shove. “What?”
“You’re my best friend’s sister,” he insisted. “I don’t like you that way.”
His statement made no sense. Not after the way he had acted around me, and not after the way he had protected me at the party.