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“Are you sure?” I hear Seth ask, unable to tear my gaze away from Hunter.
Hunter glances over his shoulder, smiling, though I can tell it’s forced. “Yeah. It’s been so long. It’ll be fine.”
“Well, if you say so,” I hear Alex say.
How the hell am I going to talk to Hunter about this? I need to tell Lucas. He’ll know what to do, I hope.
Chapter 21
SETH
MygazeslidestoAlex walking ahead of me on the windy streets of Chicago. For it being Thanksgiving Day, the sidewalks sure are busy with people bustling around us. A woman hunches her shoulders in an ill attempt to block the wind from brushing her flushed cheeks. A man nearly hits my shoulder as he runs to whatever is so important. They’re all probably picking up last-minute items like us, or heading to families’ apartments.
I nearly release a sigh of relief when I see the liquor store up ahead. Thank God it’s not far. I know I live in Colorado, but I don’t think I can handle much more of this wind. A moment longer outside and I will definitely have a cold. Maybe I should have borrowed Rachel’s hairdryer before heading out. That would have been the sanest thing for me to do. Thinking of sane, I can’t believe Hunter agreed to us buying some beer from the liquor store. Better yet, I can’t believe I actually offered to grab it, let alone invite Alex along for the ride.
Alex glances over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing on me. “You don’t need to walk so far behind me!” he nearly shouts. “I’m not going to bite you.”
“I know that,” I say, my lip twitching into a cruel smirk as I think of a rebuttal. “It’s just I don’t think I can handle it.”
Alex stops and turns around, his brows pinching together in that confused, irritated way I’m beginning to enjoy seeing on his face. “What do you mean, ‘you can’t handle it’?”
I shrug. “The smell.” I wave my hand in front of my nose, my smirk growing as Alex’s eyes widen in both embarrassment and shock. I think I can even see his cheeks becoming pink. “Damn, bro, did you even put on deodorant before we left?”
Alex lifts his arms, sniffing his pits quickly before giving me the saddest puppy dog look I’ve ever seen. I clench my jaw to keep myself from laughing. I’m lying, of course. I can’t smell him at all in this icy, windy, polluted city. The only thing I can smell is cars driving past and that nauseating sewage smell wafting toward me from the trash resting next to the entrance to the liquor store.
My comment is mostly to lighten the mood, although Alex currently reminds me of that middle school kid walking the halls after having been given the most terrifying wedgie of a lifetime. We haven’t had a legit conversation since that time in Boulder when I was dying his hair, and it definitely shows. I don’t know how to tease him without coming off as an asshole. Or maybe I have never known? In the past, when I thought I hated him, I would throw insults left and right and Alex would simply laugh them off as if he knew, deep down, I liked him.
Is that why he’s upset now? Have we crossed that imaginary line between friends and more than friends? Maybe he likes me, too? I give myself a mental smack. There’s no way that can be true. That’s just me pining away, hoping for the best when most likely he just sees me as a friend.
“It’s not that bad,” he says, sounding insulted. “It’s not my fault that I didn’t get a chance to shower! Lucas just took it without bothering to ask!”
I roll my eyes, wishing I hadn’t said anything in the first place. “I’m just teasing,” I say while striding toward the liquor store and grabbing the door. “Forget I said anything.”
Alex moves close to my side and my heart practically leaps up into my throat, my stomach plummets, the wind seems to stop, and all I can hear is my heart pounding in my ears. I watch him lean close, his nose slightly grazing my cheek as he inhales deeply.
What the fuck is he doing?I wonder, my lips moving, nearly voicing that very question. It’s definitely not bad, whatever it is. My cheeks feel like I’ve spent too much time in the sun on the beach, and my stomach twists as sadness seeps into me, knowing whatever he’s doing it means nothing. He doesn’t think of me in that way, and I should stop thinking about him in general. Fuck, when did this all become so weird? Can’t I just go back to hating him?
Alex scowls and pulls away. “You smell good.”
Oh, fuck me.My face feels like it’s going to melt off if it gets any hotter.
“What brand do you use?”
“I-I—” I swallow the lump in my throat and take a deep breath to calm my nerves. With a shrug, I say in my most disinterested tone, “I don’t use a particular brand. I just grab whatever’s available.”
I pull open the door and stalk inside, ready to be over with this conversation. Yeah, I know, I’m the one who started it. I should have followed him silently, but no, I had to open my big mouth.
Well, I don’t want to continue like this after becoming close friends. In all honesty, I hate to admit it, but I miss our runs together.
“So let me guess,” Alex says while following me inside and toward the refrigerator filled with craft beer. “You just grabbed whatever shampoo and body wash you found in the shower?”
I nod, not bothering to look at him. “Yep, that’s what I do.” I can see his scowl reflecting through the glass.
“You didn’t pack anything?”
I scoff and open the door, grabbing a beer labelledBlack Deathand handing it to Alex. “I don’t usually pack that sort of stuff. It’s usually provided wherever I stay.”
“And at home?” Alex huffs.
