AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That was all some kind of ... espionage? Her brain couldn’t do a 180 that quickly. She stared up at him, feeling her mouth working, though no sound was coming out.
But his hand was still on her back, his fingers five points of warmth against her skin. She didn’t want to move.
“I don’t think they were looking for you,” he said.
“There are a bunch of college guys here,” she said, finally finding her voice. “Maybe they’re just here for the party. Chris said Tyler used to go to our school—”
Chris!
She pulled away from Hunter and whirled to look up at the house. The group had made it to the back patio, where they appeared to be talking to the guys by the grill. She glanced right. The basketball game was still going on.
Becca grabbed Hunter’s hand. “Come on.”
She sprinted across the sand as well as she was able, heading diagonally toward the driveway. Hunter kept up with her easily, Casper bounding at his side.
“What are we doing?” he said.
“Warning Chris.”
Hunter caught her arm and hauled her to a stop. “You can’t be serious.”
She stared up at him, surprised by his tone. “Yeah—actually, I am. They almost killed him—”
“Yeah, so I heard. I also saw the way they treated you at the pet store. Those guys aren’t screwing around, Becca.”
“No kidding.” She craned her neck to see if Tyler was still on the patio. He was. “You weren’t there when they were beating him up—”
“You were?”
They were wasting time. She shook free of his hand. “Look—just—if you don’t want to be involved, it’s fine. But I have to warn him.” She took a step back, then turned toward the driveway again.
The air felt colder with his absence. For two steps, she felt the wind lift her hair and taunt her for being alone.
Then Hunter was beside her. “Fine. We’ll find him. But don’t be surprised if he’s an ass about it.”
They clung to the darkness and approached the driveway from the opposite side. The scent of beer hung thick in the air, and half the guys were playing with bottles in their hands.
Becca spotted Drew right off, so she sucked back into the shadows behind Hunter.
She didn’t see Chris at all. Or his brothers.
“Becca?”
She froze. Drew had stopped at the edge of the makeshift court and was peering into the darkness. The ball hung under one arm. Light from over the garage caught his gelled hair and made it shine, leaving his face in shadow.
It didn’t matter. She remembered the angles of his cheekbones, the depth of his brown eyes, the line of his jaw. He looked good. It pissed her off.
He’d already seen her. What was she going to do—run? “Hey, Drew,” she said.
“What’re you doing here?”
He looked honestly perplexed. Like maybe he’d put her out of her misery five weeks ago, and couldn’t imagine she’d show her face now.
“I slipped the bouncer a twenty,” she said. “He let me jump the line.”
He frowned, then his expression turned furious. He’d always been the type to get mad when confused. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“It was a joke,” she muttered, knowing her voice was too low for him to hear.
