‘—but she hasn’t been serious about a man since.’ My sister was in full flow, raging forward like a river that had burst its banks. ‘She dates men she can never, ever fall in love with, which basically means she has a boring sex life, and no girl of her age deserves a boring sex life, especially when she’s in her sexual prime! Do you know what I bought her for her birthday last year? A vibrator! And batteries are fucking expensive! And it’s your fault.’
Hunter blinked. ‘It’s my fault batteries are expensive?’
‘It’s your fault she gets through so many. You are responsible for that, Hunter Black. You and no one else.’
I was going to kill her. I would have liked to do it slowly but as I was about to die of humiliation, there was no time to waste. I glared at her, hoping she’d take the hint and shut up but it was too late—Hayley was
in full protective-sister mode, firing on all cylinders like one of the rockets that fascinated her so much, and Hunter was looking at me with that smouldering, intense gaze that stripped me bare.
He was one of the few people, possibly the only person apart from Hayley, who had ever understood me. There was a time when that had turned me on. Now it was just a great big fat inconvenience. I didn’t want him in my head, poking around in my deepest, darkest secrets. It made me feel vulnerable.
I wasn’t that girl anymore. I’d grown up. Sure, I had a few scars, but who didn’t?
As he’d once said to me, everyone had something.
‘You should leave now,’ I said stiffly. ‘Thanks for the lift.’
He didn’t budge. He stood there, those powerful legs spread, towering over us like a conquering warrior. ‘Before I leave, I need to talk to you. There is something I need to say.’
Hayley pursed her lips. ‘If it’s sorry, then you’re about five years too late.’
I was starting to wish my sister would turn into one of those people who never finished their sentences.
‘There is nothing you need to say, Hunter. You were the one who told me to treat mistakes as learning experiences.’ I closed my eyes because looking at him made my head hurt and my heart hurt. ‘I learned. It’s all fine.’
‘It’s not fine and you should definitely leave.’ Hayley repeated my words like some sort of recording device. ‘We know you’re good at that because you’ve done it before.’
He stood there like Apollo, or maybe it was Zeus—sorry, Greek gods aren’t my thing—his eyes on my face as if he was working something out.
Then his mouth tightened. ‘All right. We’ll do this another time.’
Another time? Over my dead body. This one time had been more than I could handle.
I was fast coming to the conclusion that reunions weren’t for me.
As he strode out of our apartment, I waited for the click of the door and then flopped back on the sofa, on top of the magazine Hayley had been reading and the stuffed llama I’d bought her for Christmas.
Hayley flopped back with me. ‘Holy crap.’
‘Yes.’ The llama was digging in my back and I pulled it out and flung it across the living room. ‘What the hell were you thinking, telling him I was broken-hearted?’
‘I’m sorry! I went into shock when I saw him standing there. My mouth and my brain lost the connection.’
‘I know the feeling. Do we still have that fire blanket in the kitchen? I might need you to throw it over me to put out the flames.’
‘He is hot, that’s for sure.’
‘I was talking about the flames of my embarrassment.’
‘Oh.’
‘What were you thinking, saying all those things?’
‘I don’t know! I wasn’t expecting to see him. You could have warned me! You should have texted me or something. I had no idea Hunter was even back in London.’
‘Neither did I until an hour ago.’
My sister thought about that. ‘He is smoking hot.’