Hunter poured himself some orange juice and walked out of the kitchen without looking at me. What was he doing inviting a girl to the cookout? After our almost-kiss last night, it felt like he was sending a message.
But what message is it?
People started arriving for the cookout in the early afternoon. Dad had the grill fired up to cook burgers and hot dogs. Most of the guests were older—friends of my parents, and some of the neighbors who lived on our street. Brad, Hunter, and I were the only teenagers.
Until Hunter’s date arrived.
“Is that…” I trailed off as the girl walked into the backyard, gazing around. “That’s Katie Offerman!”
Hunter approached her and they hugged. It was alonghug, and Katie pressed her entire body against his.
“Huh,” Brad grunted next to me. “Guess they got back together. I don’t blame him. She’s hot as hell.”
I smacked him on the arm.
“What?” he demanded. “She is.”
I can’t believe that’s who he brought to the cookout.
Hunter put his hand on her back and led her over to us. As they approached, I put on my best smile, even though it was killing me inside.
“Katie, have you met Brad’s little sister?” Hunter asked.
Little sister.My smile tightened. “Hi, nice to meet you.”
“You too!” she said with way too much pep. She was the polar opposite of me: short, stacked, and with jet-black hair. “I heard the party last night wasso much fun.”
“It was,” Brad said, “until your brother made an ass of himself.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “I heard about that.” She turned to me. “I’m so sorry for what Derek did. He’s an asshole.”
“Thanks,” I said. “It wasn’t a big deal…”
Katie wrapped an arm around Hunter. “I’m glad you put him in his place.”
“Just doing what anyone would have done, babe,” he said without looking at me. “I’ll grab us some drinks.”
He called her babe. I winced as he walked away with Brad.
“Hunter is such a good guy,” Katie told me when they were out of earshot. “Better than most of the jerks at this school. I thought he had given up on us when he started dating other girls.”
Why is she telling me this?I wondered.
“Yeah, Hunter seems to date around a lot,” I said awkwardly.
Katie bobbed her head. “But then he called me last night, out of the blue, and invited me here!”
“Last night?”
“It was late,” she explained. “After your party had started winding down. He sounded different than normal. It was weird. Whatever the reason, I’m really glad he called. Has he mentioned me at all? To you or your brother?”
“Not that I recall,” I said as the guys returned with cans of Coke. “I’ll be right back.”
I walked toward the house. My cell phone was inside, and I had a phone call to make.
11
Hunter