The Boy on the Bridge

Oh my God, we fell asleep in bed together.

Again.

My mom’s going to slaughter him.

I look around the dark room in search of a clock so I can see just how much trouble I’m in, but those thoughts rapidly vacate my mind when I spot Hunter.

He’s awake, sitting on a chair beside his bed. His shoulders are hunched forward, his head hung. His handsome face is bathed in moonlight, so I can see his somber expression.

He looks over when he hears me gasp.

“Hey,” I say, a little more uncertainly than I mean to. “What are you doing over there?”

“Wasn’t sure you’d want me in the bed,” he says, his voice low, a little raw.

I push up on my elbow. “It’s your bed.”

He doesn’t say anything.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

Hunter laughs, a short, harsh burst. “Am I okay? Yeah, I’m okay. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I say the word, but it doesn’t sound like I’m finished with it. I don’t understand why he got out of bed, but I don’t like it. “What time is it?”

“A little after two.”

“Do you know where my phone is? I need to text my mom.”

He nods, getting up off the chair and walking over to retrieve my purse and all the things he dumped out of it onto the floor.

“Thank you,” I murmur as I take my phone.

I light up the screen and see it’s 2:14. I also see that I have three missed texts from my mom. The first one is from 45 minutes ago just asking if I’m coming home soon, then there are two more since I didn’t answer her.

“Shit,” I mutter. It’s so late, but… I don’t really feel like I can leave right now.

Hunter and I got quiet after he was finished with me. I assumed we both fell asleep. Now I’m not sure, maybe only I did. Whatever the case, we still need to talk. If I leave his house tonight, I’m not sure we will.

“Your mom?” he asks.

“Yeah.” I look up at him. “Will your mom care if I stay the night?”

His eyebrows rise in surprise. “No, she’s not even here. She’s out of town. I have the place to myself.” He pauses. “You want to stay the night?”

I nod. “If that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay. I’m not sure your mom will agree, but…”

I shrug. “I didn’t tell her where I was going. She might figure it out and come pounding on your door, but… she probably won’t this time. She knew I was going out with…”

Oops.

I stop, realizing how poorly I worded that.

“I didn’t mean—”

“I got it,” he says succinctly. “She wouldn’t think it was my house you were sleeping at.”

My heart sinks. I want to argue, but I don’t know how to. That’s pretty much what I’m saying, I just don’t like the way it sounds.

I type out a quick text to my mom apologizing and telling her I fell asleep. I tell her I’m just going to crash here if that’s okay, but I don’t leave her much room to say it’s not. I tell her I’m basically falling asleep while texting, and I’ll see her in the morning.

That won’t be fun to deal with when I get home, but at least now she knows I’m okay.

When I look up at Hunter, I realize there’s even more not fun stuff to deal with tonight. He looks tormented as he stands there, gazing vacantly out the window.

“Hunter, I…”

“You don’t have to lie to me,” he says. “I know I acted like an asshole about it earlier, but… I’ve cooled down. I’m sorry.”

I nod. “I know.”

“If you like him… you can tell me.”

“I don’t. Not like that.”

“It was a date, right? You’re dressed for a date.”

I sigh, shooting the outfit I’m still wearing a nasty look. “No, it wasn’t a date. He told me to wear something sexy.” I cringe, realizing it doesn’t sound any better when I put it that way.

Hunter’s jaw locks. “So you did.”

“It wasn’t like that, Hunter. It was supposed to be a way to get your attention, that’s all. He wasn’t supposed to kiss me. I certainly wouldn’t have slept with him. I was not trying to hurt you, and if I thought he wanted to, I would never have gone along with it. He said he was worried about you, that you were partying too much and blowing off school. He thought it was because of me, and he just wanted to get us talking again. Or, that’s the impression I got.”

Hunter is quiet, so I keep explaining myself.

“I didn’t know he would take it that far. I swear to God, I had no idea what was happening. One minute we were making harmless if irreverent jokes about The Princess Bride, and the next, he had me pinned against your bedroom door and he was kissing me. It happened so fast, Hunter. It was a trick, I fell into it. It meant absolutely nothing to either of us.”