his phone dangling from his fingers between the two of us. I was about to lie and tell him I had a boyfriend who would be very upset if I gave him my number, when suddenly a heavy arm landed on my shoulders, and warm lips landed on my temple.
I gasped in surprise but didn’t pull away, because even without looking at the tall, toned body pressing against my side, I knew it was Huck. He used to feel all soft and squishy when I leaned against him for comfort and support. There was no give in the body next to mine now. He was all hard muscle and threatening aura as he stared down the guy standing across from me.
“I thought we agreed to meet at the coffee shop. I was wondering where you got off to.” His statement was innocent enough, but the way he said it, there was no missing the warning in his tone. “Who’s your friend?”
My overly aggressive suitor fell back a step and held up his hands in front of him. “I was just asking her for directions. I just transferred here, and I’m a little turned around.” He gave me another smile; this one showed too many teeth, making my skin crawl as he finally put his phone away. “Sorry to bother you.”
Something close to a growl rumbled from the center of Huck’s broad chest as we watched the other guy hurry away. When he let his arm fall from my shoulders, I took a second to adjust the things I was juggling and looked at the dark-haired boy out of the corner of my eye. I hadn’t seen much of him since the night of the storm and the start of the semester. I took his disappearance as a good sign, because if I didn’t have to face him, I didn’t have to listen to him tell me how I ruined his life, and how I was his least favorite person on the planet. I didn’t have to remember how he ignored my apology and dashed my hopes of smoothing things over.
“Where did you come from?” I took a sip of the sweet coffee drink and moved to put my phone in my pocket. I was still trying to get ahold of Mercer. She never returned my texts the night of the storm and hadn’t messaged me back when I reached out about my work schedule now that school had started. I’d also called her a few times and gotten no response.
Huck made a face. He took a step away from me and shook his hand like it was dirty before slipping it inside the front pocket of his jeans. “I saw you when I was over by the library. I was going to go to class and leave you to fend for yourself, but I recognized that guy from my bar. He’s a prick and has a hard time hearing no.”
I lifted the fingers of my free hand to touch my temple where I could still feel the imprint of Huck’s lips. That kiss was a familiar gesture, one he’d done often when we were kids.
I cleared my throat and shifted my heavy bag. “I had it under control. I don’t let bossy men order me around or intimidate me anymore.” I’d moved and taken solace in his home for that very reason. “But thank you for intervening. It made getting rid of him much easier.”
Huck grunted in response. And looked past me toward the brick buildings of the college. “I have to get to my next class. I’ll talk to you later.”
Before he could walk away from me, I reached out a hand and grabbed his muscled, tattooed forearm. He stopped mid-step and looked down at my fingers like he wanted to peel them off of his skin one by one.
“Uh… I just wanted to thank you for the other night. I haven’t really seen you since then, but I know that I owe you one. I wouldn’t have made it through that storm without you.” There were too many situations in my life to count where I wouldn’t have come out the other side without him. I often wondered if he had any clue just how important he’d always been to me.
Huck shook his arm free and lifted his hand to wave at a group of girls who called his name. He motioned that he would just be a minute before turning his attention back to me.