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“Come on. I’m tired. You’re comfortable.” Hunter wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me back into him.
The touch was familiar. Safe. Hunter had been a good friend and was a brilliant cuddler. It wasn’t like I was going to make a habit of this, so it wouldn’t hurt to finish out the night here.
“You’re ringing.” Hunter’s sleepy voice dragged me awake again.
The numbers on the clock taunted my blurry gaze. “Your face is ringing.” Not my best comeback, but it was five in the morning.
“That doesn’t even make sense.” Hunter extracted himself from the bed.
Your face doesn’t make sense.Nope. I was awake enough now that no longer sounded clever. I sat up, took my purse from him when he handed it over, and extracted my phone.
Luna.If she were calling instead of texting, it couldn’t be good. “Hello?”
“Violet? You need to get here now. There’s water everywhere, and it’s so hot, and—oh God—I don’t know what to do.” Panic rang heavy in her voice.
Four
Iadored Luna. She was my best friend and frequently my link to sanity. She wasn’t always great under pressure, though.
One of last night’s shelter volunteers called in, and as she frequently did, Luna offered to step in. She was more of a night owl, especially since she was having trouble finding a steady job in her field, so she promised it was no problem.
“Luna”—I kept my tone kind but firm—“take a deep breath. What’s going on?”There’s water everywhere,sounded far less serious than,There’s blood everywhere,so I wasn’t ready to panic.
Luna sighed. “The boiler broke. Or exploded. Or something. What do boilers do? It’s leaking. The basement is flooding. Why is the water a nasty color? That’s not normal. The kids are freaking ou—”
“Luna.” This was so not what I needed this morning. Not that it was her fault, or that I wanted something like this on any morning, but today I’d hoped to spend a couple more hours wrapped in warm fuzzy memories before I had to face reality. “The water shut-off valve is under the stairs, in the wall. Turn it off. Have Oliver help you if it’s stuck. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Okay. And Violet? Thank you.” She already sounded less panicked.
I smiled at the genuine gratitude. When I disconnected, I found Hunter watching me with a mix of amusement and concern.
“I’m guessing whatever that was, it means you don’t have time for breakfast,” he said.
An ache of regret pinged in my chest. “No. Crisis at the shelter.” I climbed out of bed and paused, suddenly hyper aware of my lack of clothes. What was I doing? He’d held me down and fucked my face last night, and I cared if he saw me naked this morning?
Apparently so.
He didn’t seem to have the same hang-up, as he stood at the foot of the bed gloriously naked.
Goddess, he was handsome.
I forced aside the sudden burst of modesty, and gathered my clothes. My panties were a wreck, but I could go without. The strapless bra would be less than comfortable, but it would do for now. “Fuck,” I muttered when I grabbed the dress.
“What’s wrong?” Hunter had pulled on a pair of boxers. That was moderately better, but no less distracting.
I held up the dress. “Not exactly made for flood clean-up, and I don’t have time to go home.” I didn’t care if anyone saw me in last night’s clothes, but wet, skin-tight satin would be impossible to work in. Worse, if it ripped, I’d expose my panty-less ass to a house full of teenagers.
“I got you.” Hunter rummaged through a suitcase near the bed.
The last thing I wanted was to be in something of Ramsey’s. “I’ll be—” I stopped when Hunter straightened and handed me a Westminster College T-shirt and a pair of jogging shorts.
Ramsey went to the U, like any proud local boy whose family’s name was on at least one of the school’s buildings. I know—I met him in college. I was there on an academic scholarship. He wasn’t.
These were Hunter’s clothes.
Only slightly less awkward, and far more curious, but I needed something. “Thank you.” I took the clothes from him and tugged them on. They were a few sizes too big, but drawstrings on the shorts kept them up, and a knot at the waist of the shirt prevented it from turning me into a human sail.
“I thought this was Ramsey’s room.” That he was only in for one night.
