sorry. It’s not your fault.” He pulls me toward him until I’m standing between his legs. Then he places his hands on my hips, fiddling with the hem of my shirt. “It’s Jax’s father’s fault.”
“Wait—Jax’s father is the reason she died?”
He nods, peering up at me through those thick eyelashes of his. “Pretty much. But it’ll never be proven because Jax’s father runs this town.” He swallows hard.
My heart aches for him so badly that my chest actually starts to hurt. “How do you …? I mean, you said you work for Jax’s dad, right? How can you stand that?”
He sketches his finger along my side, along the scarred sliver of skin showing between the hem of my shorts and my shirt. “I have no choice. It’s either obey him or be buried beside my own sister.”
A slow breath eases from my lips as my heart slams against my chest.
“But it’s not permanent. Eventually, I’ll get to leave Honeyton. Maybe then I’ll try to get my revenge.” He says the last part quietly.
“You’re leaving?” I ask, surprised.
He slowly nods. “We have a deal with the bosses that, once we graduate, as long as things go smoothly, Jax, Zay, and I get to walk out of here free and clear.”
“So, you don’t like it here?”
He laughs hollowly. “Fuck no. I’m only here because I have to be, because I was forced into this lifestyle simply because of the family I was born into. And it’s this town and the lifestyle that sealed my sister to a painful fate.”
I want to ask how she died, but I know from experience that the question will be painful for him. Honestly, just talking about this is probably painful for him.
“I’m sorry,” I say again. “And I’m not saying that because I think it’s my fault. I’m saying it because I know how it feels to lose someone you love.”
He stares up at me while dragging his teeth along his lower lip, uncertainty written all over his face, making me question if I should have said what I said.
“I seriously want to keep you,” he mutters.
Before I can protest, he reaches up, cups the back of my head, and pulls me in for a kiss.
I know I should … Pull away, Raven, pull away, but it’s like, the more I kiss him, the more connected I feel to him, and the more I want to kiss him.
But I barely even know him … right?
I’m not so sure about that answer anymore. And that alone should have me stopping this kiss. Instead, I kiss him back.
He pauses, muttering something incoherent underneath his breath, then he delves his fingers into my hips and pulls me onto his lap so I’m straddling him. That’s when we really start kissing, tongues tangling, hips rolling against each other. It’s even better than the last time we kissed and, for an instant, I forget about everything. Literally, nothing exists but lips and fingers and his warmth.
But then his phone vibrates. And vibrates. And vibrates.
“Fuck.” He pulls back, panting heavily, his eyes looking a bit glossed over. He meets my gaze as he grips my waist then lifts me off his lap, depositing me onto the bed.
“Wait right here,” he mutters, sweeping a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Stay just like this.”
My initial instinct is to argue or ask why, but I’m breathing so profusely that all I can do is manage a nod.
He gives an uneven nod as if answering a silent question then gets up from the bed and walks out of the room, digging his phone out of his pocket.
The moment he steps out, reality crashes over me.
I kissed Hunter again. And while I was kissing him, I felt connected to him again. I’m unsure if that’s normal or not when you kiss someone, since I’ve never really kissed anyone before him. Whether it’s normal or not is kind of beside the point, though. The fact that we broke the rule again is the point. Then again, Jax keeps threatening to punish us, yet he hasn’t …
I worry my bottom lip between my teeth, wondering if he ever does, what will the punishment be.
“Hey.” Hunter enters the room again with a sort of remorseful look on his face. “I need to go talk with Jax and Zay for a little bit.” He slowly crosses the room and stands in front of me so I have to tip my head back to look up at him. He strokes