Page 9 of Nothing to Lose

“Hey, hey, I’m just trying to get you to chill out. I take a lot seriously, and if you’ve missed any of that, then you’re just not as observant as I am. Just because I choose to have a good time, see the fun in experiences—regardless of what they are—doesn’t mean I don’t care. Don’t get it twisted. I care a lot.”

My eyes flick up to meet his, and at that moment, his fingers flex against my muscles, his thumb swiping back and forth over my skin. My heart reacts, stuttering in my chest before banging wildly against my ribs. Tension crackles between us, the lights flickering again. Everything around us seems to vibrate with the same electrical current that’s flowing between Hunter and me right now. It’s alive, humming, and increasing as the moment stretches on.

“Eli . . .” he whispers, his voice deep and desperate, almost pleading. I don’t understand this connection between us, but even if I do feel it, it’s wrong. We’ve got too much at stake between the team and our complicated family status. We’re fucking stepbrothers, for fuck’s sake. This can’t happen. “Stay. Please.” He flexes his fingers again and my brain practically short circuits. I nod, relaxing back against the headboard. Hunter removes his hand, bringing all the warmth with him, and it takes everything in me to ask him to put it back.

Chapter 7

Hunter

“You think you can actually come up with some half-decent ideas then?” Eli asks, but I barely register the words over the blood rushing between my ears. This undeniable chemistry between us is electric, chemical, written in the stars before either of us was even born. It’s a feeling that’s so deeply innate it makes my head swim. Eli is meant to be mine. I know he feels it, the stubborn asshole, he just won’t admit it.

“Uh, yeah,” I stutter, trying to shake my head clear of the static moment that just passed between us. “How about some games where we have to work together?”

“That’s the whole fuckin’ point, Hunt; that’s not a novel idea,” he huffs, looking so fucking cute when he’s irritated. “What about a scavenger hunt?”

I think on it for a moment. Corvus is full of the unknown, the mystical, magical, and mysterious. “Yeah.” I nod. “Yeah, that could be cool. We could even make it wicked challenging, like places that are important to the school and the founders.”

“Yeah! Maybe we can have objects taken from certain places, and they have to bring them back before everyone else.”

“We can work in pairs, forcing them to lean on their partner.”

“Okay, I like that, add that one to our list. What else you got?” he asks me. He’s leaning against his headboard, legs stretched out with his knee elevated. There’s barely enough room for my big body at the foot of his bed, but he’s resting, so I don’t mind. The pair of thin athletic shorts that stop at mid-thigh are sexy as hell, especially with the glimpse of the tattoo peeking out of the hem. A Corvus Rugby T-shirt clings to his torso like a glove, but I wish he’d just take it off. It’s hard not to continuously roam my eyes all over him. Hell, it’s hard not to reach out and touch him. I add the scavenger hunt to our list, quickly thinking of ideas that will wow him.

“What about capture the flag?” Eli’s eyes light up at my words, and it makes my heart swoop in response.

“Now we’re talkin’! Add it! Now we just need one more and some type of hand-holding bonding shit.”

“Ever played Assassin?”

Eli looks at me with his eyes squinted, brows furrowed. I can’t help but chuckle. He’s mastered the “are you an idiot?” expression. “There’s literally an Assassin Guild here. Do you live under a rock?”

“I asked if you’ve ever played, not if you know what it is. Clean out your ears,” I jest. He huffs again in response.

“I’d give you more shit if I didn’t think it was a killer idea.”

“Cute pun. What should we use as weapons? Think there’s probably too many of us to find that many Nerf guns and ammo; maybe we do it melee style?”

“I like that, but I don’t know what we’d use.”

My eyes drift around the room, settling on a pile of white plastic spoons. That could work. “I’ll handle that part. This is actually gonna be pretty awesome.”

Eli nods slowly. “Yeah, I’m good with all of these. I hate to say it, but I’m actually kind of excited. It’ll be a nice break from schoolwork and practice. We just need some bonding thing to add.”

“How about we just go camping? We can even do it someplace spooky; it is October at Corvus after all. Too bad no one’s ever gotten into the graveyard, that would be badass.”

“That would be insane, actually. That place gives me the chills.” Eli visibly shivers, his foot brushing against my thigh in the process. Just like every other time before it, electricity sparks from the spot, my body vibrating with awareness. Even just the slightest touch from him makes my heart trip over itself and arousal flood my veins.

I quickly finish up the email of ideas and send it off to our coach for approval. My fingers hover over the browser, opening up an incognito page.

“By the way, you think you could send me the link to the porn you were watching the other day? That looked hot,” I tease.

“Shut up,” Eli snaps, but there’s no bite in his tone. In fact, his face is starting to heat with a flush of red that makes the caramel of his eyes pop. Fuck, I wonder what he looks like when he lets go. He’s too serious, too focused.

Eli surprises me, reaching forward to snatch the laptop off my lap. He falls back against the headboard, slamming the computer shut with a smug, satisfied look on his face. Yeah, I need to fix that. I lurch forward, gripping the sides and pulling.

“Not gonna fuckin’ happen, Hunter!” he snaps as he pulls it back toward him. We go back and forth for several passes of tug of war before Eli yanks hard, pulling the laptop from my grasp, and causing me to fall forward on top of him. We end up half wrestling, grappling for the computer, a tangle of limbs, until Eli’s flat on his back with me on top, the laptop falling to the floor.

I look down at him, his flushed face, watching as the smile fades and his expression softens, a blazing fire dancing behind his light-blue irises. His breathing hitches as I drop my hips down onto his pelvis, pleasantly surprised to find his dick already hard. So, he likes the fight, huh? I can work with that.