Unbroken

I felt my cheeks burn, but I hid my timidness by sticking my tongue at Hunter. “Suddenly so sweet, huh? Don’t fall for it, Leo. He was nothing but a jackass to me—”

Hunter suddenly reached for me, and I squealed as I narrowly missed his hold. He chased after me around the park as I laughed, and he threatened a world of hurt once he caught me. When he finally pounced on me, digging his fingers into my ribs, I fell to the ground beside Leo, laughing my guts out as Leo shook his head, amused but also…something else. Thoughtful? Troubled? I couldn’t tell.

But he looked at Hunter and then at me an awful lot.

*

After what felt like hours, we got up and dusted ourselves off. Hunter picked at the loose grass strands on my back as I stretched my arms out to Leo, hugging him. He swallowed my whole body in his arms, holding me tightly against his chest. Hunter prodded at the grass on my butt, and I swatted my hand at him, hearing him chuckle as he finally backed away.

“How’re you getting home?” I asked Leo, stepping away from him, his hand loosely holding mine.

“I’ll call Shane. I’m sure he’s hanging around.”

Shane was his driver. He’d been around forever.

I cringed. “Won’t he be upset when he finds out you slipped out?”

“He’ll be fine,” Leo assured me.

“We’ll wait.”

Leo shook his head. “No, don’t. He’ll be here in no time. Besides, you need to sleep, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Afternoon,” Hunter corrected, coming by my side. “Try getting this girl up in the early hours of the morning and prepare to get knifed.”

Leo laughed as I shoved at Hunter. “Shut up.”

Hunter grinned down at me. “It’s true, and you should see the bags under her eyes, man. They call it beauty sleep for a reason—”

I lightly beat on him with my fists, and he laughed, batting my hands away.

Leo’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Alright. I’ll give you until noon, Skye, and then I’ll be waiting for you guys right here.”

My heart raced with excitement. “Okay, Leo.”

We hugged one more time; I felt warm and safe in Leo’s arms. Then Hunter took me by the hand and tugged me to the road. I stared at Leo, waving at him with a grin, until the trees hid him from view on our way back.

I instantly hated being separated from him.

The darkness was heavy around us, making the trees look spooky. Hunter sensed my unease and tugged me further against his side. Hunter was at ease in the dark, never scared, never uncertain. I felt safe around him.

But right now, I was quieter than usual, and he noticed. He stared at me a few times on the way back, thoughts brewing behind his brown eyes. Then he said, “You bothered by something, Skye?”

I shrugged, unable to filter myself around him when I responded, “He had a great summer, Hunt, and we spent it outrunning Rottweilers—”

He stopped right then and there on the side of the road and looked down at me with a heavy expression. “I wouldn’t have traded our summer for his if my life depended on it,” he said.

I looked up at him, but my eyes fell to the scar on his neck when I muttered, “It’s just hard not to feel jealous. I’m happy for Leo, but I hate he got to have all those experiences without us. Sometimes…sometimes I want to experience things like that, Hunt. Instead of rotting away every summer.”

“But we have it good here, Skye. We’re right on the ocean—”

“Even the ocean gets old,” I cut in. “I want somethingnew.”

He frowned. “This is why you have to be careful hanging around the other side.”

“The other side?”

“Yeah, the other side—with people like Leo.”