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I felt my shoulders sag. “You think something went wrong?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Something.”
He made his way to my bed and collapsed into it. “Maybe.” He sounded disinterested. It wasn’t like him not to care about Leo. “What’s the worst that could have happened? He missed his flight? Rich boy will jump on the next plane back.”
I sighed and collapsed next to him. “He doesn’t like when you call him Rich Boy.”
“He ain’t around to hear me say it.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t like it, either.”
I heard Kurt next door shuffle around and tensed, eyes closing tightly. The last thing I wanted was for him to hear us. He’d kick the door down to get to us, and then he’d beat the shit out of Hunter. I wasn’t exaggerating—he had beat on him before.
When I opened my eyes, Hunter was grinning down at my panicked expression. His fingers were idly running through the ends of my hair, overlapping the strands between his fingers. The light tugging motion put me at ease.
“You think he’ll be back tomorrow?” I whispered the second Kurt’s snoring sounded through the wall.
Hunter shrugged one shoulder. “I guess we’ll see.”
I felt my heart dip lower in my chest. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Right about what?”
“He might not want us.”
Hunter’s eyes met mine, softening, his fingers pausing. “He’d be a damn fool to not want you in his life, Skye.”
“Not really.” I felt a tremble in my voice as I added, “Look at us, Hunt. We live like wildebeests compared to him. He…he’d be right to move along. With high school coming up, he’d probably fit into his crowd hella better than on this side of the tracks.”
Hunter wrapped an arm around my waist and suddenly tugged me down on the bed, cradling my side to him, murmuring in my ear, “For all of Leo’s faults, when has he ever cared where we lived?”
I didn’t immediately respond, too scared at the possibility.
“Nug, he’s not like that.” There was the real Hunter, defending Leo with conviction. “He’s always been by our side. He’s not going anywhere, alright?”
I nodded.
My mom continued yammering away to Rosie as Hunter’s breaths blew against my cheek, his warmth easing me. I shut my eyes, lulled by his fingers running through my hair.
Then they left and his body edged back, saying nothing. Eyes still shut, I searched for his hand and found it quickly, gripping it tightly in my own. He clasped it back, holding it tightly, squeezing every few moments. I squeezed back. This was our rhythm, a silent language we spoke, one that transported us back to years ago, when he was little and weak. When his body was covered in bruises and he wept outside my room in the dead of night, begging for me to come. I had always crawled after him, wrapping my body around his, holding that hand tight, squeezing every few moments.
“I’m here, Hunt, and one day he won’t be able to hurt you no more,” I had whispered.
I felt another movement on the other side of my bed. The mattress dipped, and a body hovered over me. But that didn’t make sense because I was holding Hunter’s hand still, and he was next to me—
My eyes whipped open, heart hammering as the figure hovered over me, grinning down at me, looking like an angel that just fell from the sky.
“Surprise,” he whispered, those Mediterranean blue eyes searching mine.
I gasped, opening my mouth to scream, but Hunter’s hand shot over it, stopping any noise from escaping. He laughed softly next to me as I gaped at Leo. Leo, who looked so different after two months. Leo, who was in my room for me—to surpriseme.
I’d never felt so special.
My eyes watered, and when Hunter’s hand left my mouth, I sat up and wrapped my arms around Leo, squeezing him to me tightly. I shut my eyes, breathing in the lavish scent of him. Like Hunter, he had grown too, sprouting tall, shoulders widening.
I finally pulled away, eager to get a better look at him. He sat down on the edge of the bed, gripping my arms in his cool hands, smiling broadly at me. His blond hair was cropped short looking fresh, his blue eyes glinted like diamonds even in the moonlight, and his olive tone skin was darker from the sun.
