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“Okay, okay.” Becca couldn’t help the smile.
“No, wait. I’m just getting going.” He sliced into his chicken.
“Claire is a total whore,” said Quinn. “She and Monica sit behind me in Trig.”
Becca watched New Kid work the cutlery. “Bet you wish you’d given up your seat now, huh?”
“Oh.” Quinn settled back on the bench and gave him a more appraising look. “This is that guy.”
He looked thrown for a second. “That guy?”
Quinn nodded. “Pet store hero, ex-police-dog owner, seat stealer.”
Trust her best friend to be absolutely direct. Becca glanced away and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I might have mentioned you.”
“She spilled all your secrets,” said Quinn.
“Yeah?” He sliced off a piece of chicken and glanced across the table. “What’s my name, Becca?”
Busted. Becca wanted to melt into a puddle.
Quinn grinned. “You mean it’s not really New Kid?”
Becca kicked her under the table. “That’s not fair. I was wearing a name tag.”
“It’s Hunter.” His fork went still as he held her eyes. “Want me to write it down?”
Yeah, with your number. Talking to him felt entirely different from sitting with Chris, exhilarating and challenging and breathless all at once—like running a race.
“Nah, I’ve got it,” she said.
He picked up a forkful of broccoli. “Was Chris the same one those guys were looking for last night?”
She lost the smile. “Yeah.”
“I shouldn’t have been a dick about the seat. I didn’t realize you’d get stuck with him.”
There was a thread of disdain woven through his voice. She frowned. “He’s okay.”
“He looks like a thug.”
“Those guys did that to him.”
Hunter must have heard the tone in her voice, but he didn’t back off. “Somehow I get the impression it might have been deserved.”
Becca stared at him for a moment, torn over whether to defend Chris. Hunter didn’t help, either, just looking at her across the table as if he could hear her thoughts fighting it out.
“What’s with the white hair?” said Quinn.
He broke the eye contact with Becca and smiled at her friend. “I thought you knew all my secrets.”
Now Quinn blushed.
His smile turned into a grin. He looked down at his tray and shoveled rice onto his fork. “You guys hitting that party tonight?”
“Which one?” Becca said drily. “We try to make the circuit.”
He smiled in a way that said he saw right through her. “Well—and I want to make sure I get this straight—Monica said Claire said her boyfriend’s best friend’s brother was home from college with that skank Melissa—”
