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Hunter’s voice carried a note of authority as he said, “I’ll call someone to tow your car to the shop, get an estimate for the repair.”
“What’s wrong with your car?” A line appeared between Sean’s brows.
“I can do that,” I assured Hunter.
But he flexed his selective listening skills, letting my comment dissipate in the air as he nodded toward my best friend.
“You trust him?” Hunter asked me.
Sean looked offended Hunter had the nerve to ask that.
“Yes.”
“Good.” Hunter walked up to Sean. Looking at the two, you would assume Sean would be the one with all the power, what with how much taller and bigger he was than Hunter, but each step Hunter took resonated with a kind of unyielding dominance, his eyes never wavering from Sean’s.
“Don’t leave her alone,” Hunter said. “I’ll be in touch when I know more.”
After Hunter glared at him one last time before walking out the door, Sean took a seat opposite of me.
“Okay, you’re going to tell me everything. Who Franco is, why he choked you, why you’re half naked and blitzed in the middle of the day, why you have a bandage on your hand, and why, all of a sudden, things are hot and heavy between you and Hunter Lockwood.”
“Things are not hot and heavy between us.”
“That guy is into you. With capital letters. But explanations first—Franco, bandage. Drunk.”
I rolled my eyes slightly, but filled Sean in on it all. Every time a new detail emerged, Sean’s tongue flicked over his teeth, his fingers raking through his hair, as if trying to process the weight of it.
After a series of follow-ups, he nodded his chin in the direction of Hunter’s mansion and asked, “Why was he here?”
“He stumbled across the scene where I’d been hurt and drove me to the emergency room.” I left out the part where he held my hand, how he looked at me, and how he made me feel things I didn’t want to feel.
“And for the record, I’d never date Hunter Lockwood.”
As attracted as I was to him, what happened today didn’t change the fact that Hunter and I were too different to be compatible. He was rich; I’d grown up poor. I defended people while he prosecuted them. Plus, I’d undoubtedly go up against him in court again, and dating my adversary wasn’t responsible. Not to mention the whole landlord situation.
I shook my head. How could I have let myself get carried away today? He was kind to me, and I could be grateful for that, but that didn’t change anything.
“He’s a prosecutor,” I added. “I know he’s just doing his job, but you know how much I loathe prosecutors.” An irrational emotion maybe, but a human one, after one of them seemed almost vicious in his efforts to lock up my father.
“There’s a fine line between passion and hate. I saw the way you were looking at each other,” Sean said. “You really think you can straddle that line without crossing it?”
“I don’t want to dateanyone, let alone Hunter. What I want is to get my dad out of prison.”
Sean ran a hand through his hair, his bicep flexing against his T-shirt.
“Why are you here, anyway?” I asked.
Sean took a deep breath, pulling out his phone to show me the blazing headline and rapidly increasing comments.
“It went public today. That you filed the writ of habeas corpus. A true crime reporter posted about it, and now it’s all over social media.”
“So?”
“So, I wanted to warn you. Sometimes, folks can get a little…dicey toward people trying to get convicted killers out of prison. Especially convicted child killers.”
CHAPTER9
Hunter
