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“Fuck being short,” I muttered as I pushed myself more inside the car and was just able to reach the dangling princess keyring.
I heard whistles coming from somewhere, but I ignored them. This was the last fucking thing I needed today. I knew my ass was sticking up in the air, and I hated the fact that I had worn my shortest shorts today. I just knew it would be hot, and I’d be busy moving.
“Got it!” I cried at the same time I heard Martin’s voice.
“CHARLEY! What the hell are you doing?”
I lost my balance and fell into the car headfirst, hitting my head on the center console. I cried out when my back landed wrong on the gear shift. The whistles I heard before were now full-blown laughter from some of my neighbors, no doubt the frat boys that always stumbled to their apartment drunk and played their music way too loud.
“Open up.” Martin knocked on the window, and I hit the button on the closest door so he could get in.
Doors on both sides of the car opened, and I felt a pair of strong, unfamiliar arms wrap around me and gently pull me from the vehicle.
“Easy, Angel.” His baritone voice sent shivers ricocheting through my body as he pulled me against his chest. I looked up into his deep blue eyes and my breath caught in my throat. Whoever he was, he was gorgeous. He had dark blonde scruff covering his chin, and his dishwater blonde hair was longer on top and shaved on the sides. He looked rugged and sexy.
“What were you thinking, Charley?” Martin muttered as he grabbed my phone and the keys that I’d dropped when I fell from the top of the car.
I swallowed and looked away from his friend’s intense blue gaze. “I had my hands full and accidentally left my keys and phone in the car. I was trying to get them before you guys got here so the groceries didn’t ruin.”
“Too late for that, Angel.”
I looked toward the stranger holding me and I resisted the urge to curl up against his chest. “Why?” I asked, confused, but then followed his gaze toward the stack of groceries I’d left in front of my door. “No!” I tried to wiggle out of his arms to save the steaks, but it was too late because the dog was already ripping open the thin plastic wrap and chewing away at the raw meat.
My body went limp in his arms as I fought tears of frustration. So much for cooking a nice meal for my brother and his friend. “Don’t worry about it, Charley.” Martin had grabbed my flip-flops from the other side of the car and brought them around to slip them on my feet.
“I promised you steaks, though.” I bit my lip to keep from crying.
“Not to worry. After we get you moved, we can go to the store and get more.” The handsome stranger said with a small, comforting smile.
“Yeah. No big deal, Charley. You can put her down now, Hunter,” Martin grumbled, pulling me out of Hunter’s arms and setting me down on my flip-flop covered feet.
“Let’s get you moved.”
“Okay.”
The guys followed behind me to my small apartment, carrying what was left of the groceries. When I open the door, I had a lot of boxes already, but there was still more to pack up. My mountain of stuffed animals was still on my bed. I couldn’t bring myself to put them away yet because I needed them to sleep last night. Now, seeing Hunter, I kind of wish I had put them away. Would he think I was weird for being twenty-one years old and having a mountain of stuffies on my bed?
I bit my lip and looked over at Hunter to see if he found it odd that I had the animals, but he didn’t bat an eye. Instead, he looked at me with an encouraging smile of approval. “I guess I’ll pack up the rest of this stuff while y’all load the truck. It’s probably going to take a few trips to get everything moved.”
“Sounds good. We’ll get the boxes moved first and then the last two loads will be the big furniture.” Martin took the groceries into the kitchen and picked up the boxes that were already on the counter, loaded with cookware.
When he walked out, I grabbed an empty box and started loading my stuffed animals inside it. “We have a new place, guys.” I whispered to my friends. “Just wait ‘til we get there. We’ll be safer.”
“Safer?” Hunter’s voice had me jerking up to look at his stormy blue eyes. He looked angry, but instinctively, I knew he wasn’t angry with me.
I looked toward the open door. “I don’t want Martin to know. He would be upset if he knew.”
“Knew what, Angel?” My tummy tingled when he called me that name.
“Why I’m really moving.” I fidgeted uncomfortably and stroked my stuffed tiger’s head for comfort.
My skin tingled when Hunter’s finger lifted my chin back up, and my eyes met his. “Why are you really moving?”
His question was quiet and calm, but the way he asked it also told me not to lie to him. I felt breathless, like my chest was constricting just being this close to him. “The manager gives me the creeps. He’s been in my apartment a few times, and I don’t like the way he looks at me.” I looked down, embarrassed. “Maybe it’s all in my head, but I just can’t live here anymore.” I shrugged.
“Always trust your instincts, Charley. If your instincts are telling you something is wrong, it probably is. When he was in your apartment, what was he doing?”
“It was weird, almost like something else—”
