Hunger.
Lust.
“I… I think…”
For a brief. singular moment Claudia was at a total loss for words. Her gaze dropped, and in that split second I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to lean forward and plant my lips against hers and forget anything and everything I’d even known about Holly.
“I…”
She blinked and the moment passed. I’d missed it.
Fuck!
Claudia sat up straight, shaking her head as if coming out of a haze. Her expression was dreamy but apologetic. Even worried.
“I should probably go.”
She was flustered. The skin of her neck and chest, all red with blood and heat.
“Claudia, wait,” I pleaded. “Hang on…”
Again it was too late. She was already up, already opening the door. As she stepped into the silent hallway she turned to glance back at me one more time.
“Holly is crazy,” she reiterated softly, looking me up and down. I wondered if she could see the tent she’d made in my shorts.
Then the door closed, and she was gone.
Fourteen
HUNTER
“Deanna, wait!”
I reached for her half-heartedly, and of course I missed. The larger part of me didn’t want to catch her. I wanted her gone, which was probably why I’d been such a dick to her in the first place.
“Forget it Hunter,” she cried from the doorway. “Just leave me alone!”
I made a half-assed attempt to chase her into the hallway, but it was only to see her out. I sure as hell didn’t want her crying in my kitchen. I wanted to know she’d left.
“Deanna—”
She turned as she ran… and bumped straight into Claudia. She looked at my roommate as if she’d seen a ghost.
“Oh, it’s you!” she cried tearfully, grasping Claudia by the shoulders. “Of course it is.”
Claudia looked wholly confused. And with good reason.
“You can have him!” Deanna laughed bitterly. Her eyes shifted between us almost manically. “I’m finished!”
I made the obligatory move toward her and she fled, brown hair bouncing, her feet pounding their way down the staircase. I waited until I heard the sound of the front door open and slam closed before finally breathing a sigh of relief.
“What the hell was that?” Claudia gasped. Her face was flush with heat, the skin of her neck and chest all flustered.
Maybe she’d been rattled worse than I thought.
“That was nothing,” I said. “Nobody important.”
She raised an eyebrow. “It sure didn’t seem like nothing.”