Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1)(10)

Emerson: So true

“Hey, Pepper!” The words kissed my cheek in a small gust of breath.

I whirled around, and my gaze collided with the target of all my pent-up desires. My heart seized inside my chest.

“Hey, Hunter.” Was that breathless squeak my voice? My gaze swept over him, taking him in all at once. The chestnut brown hair carefully arranged to look artfully messy. The soft brown eyes. The dimpled cheek.

He pulled me into a warm hug. A warm, brotherly hug. The kind he always gave me. Stepping back, he nodded at my phone. “Reading something funny?”

I shoved my phone into my pocket. “No. Just a text from Emerson.”

“Ah.” He squeezed my arm fondly through my sweater. “How you been?”

“Good.” I nodded back, too eagerly, and then felt my face warm with embarrassment. With him, it was always this way. Awkward. Uncomfortable. At least I was always this way. He was only ever composed, easygoing, and comfortable, while I was forever that twelve-year-old girl in awe of him, despite how nice he was to me

He stared at me for a moment before I added: “You? Last year.”

I resisted closing my eyes in a long anguished blink. Apparently I could only speak in choppy fragments to him.

“Yeah. Getting my applications together. Narrowing down my top choices.”

“Wow. That’s great, Hunter.”

“Just hoping I get in somewhere, you know?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll get in,” I gushed.

He gestured for me to move ahead in the line. The sorority girls were ordering now.

He shrugged. “Competition is stiff, and every program only has so many spots. Watch. I’ll probably end up studying medicine in Uruguay.”

He laughed and I followed suit, sure he was joking. Hunter had been valedictorian of his graduating class. There was no doubt in my mind that he would end up at whatever medical school he wanted to attend.

“I talked to Lila yesterday.”

“Yeah. They’re rehearsing hard for their holiday production already.”

Words swelled inside my throat and, unbelievably, somehow found their way out past my lips. “I heard you and Paige broke up.”

“Yeah,” he said slowly, rubbing at the back of his neck. It was maybe the first time I’d ever seen him look uncomfortable and I instantly regretted saying anything.

“Can I help you?” the cashier cut in. My attention snapped to the girl behind the counter. I stepped up and placed my drink order. Her gaze swung to Hunter next. “What about you?”

I waved a hand. “Oh, no, we’re not together.”

“No, I got it, Pepper,” he said, reaching for his wallet. “I’ll have your house roast, medium.”

“Thanks,” I murmured as we moved over to wait for our drinks. Hunter motioned to a couple of plush chairs. “Want to sit down?”

“Sure.” I nodded and sank into an armchair, swinging my messenger bag around me and to the floor.

“So my sister didn’t waste much time spreading the news.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Pepper, it’s fine. I’m kidding. You’re like family. Of course Lila would tell you.” His lips twisted. “And everyone else in the northern hemisphere.”

Family. Fabulous. He saw me as another sister. They called our drinks and he rose ahead of me, reaching the bar in two strides and returning with the three drinks.

“Guess you can’t stay long,” he commented as he sank back down. “Your friend’s drink will get cold.”

“I ordered it extra hot and it has a stopper in it. It will be fine.” And Emerson would gladly sacrifice a hot drink if it meant some one-on-one time for me with Hunter.

“Well, yeah. We decided to see other people. I’ll be starting med school and she has another year here. Just made sense. I mean, the idea of living without her . . . it didn’t kill me, you know? And that’s what I asked myself. Can I live without her in my life?” He shrugged. “I figured I could.”

“I never heard it put like that before.”

He winced. “I guess I sound callous.”

“No,” I quickly reassured him. “I think it was fair. To both of you.”

He nodded and took a sip from his cup.

“So,” I hedged, hoping I wouldn’t sound too obvious with my next question, “you’re not into long-distance relationships?” I had two more years here after this one, after all, assuming I finished on time. I hoped the right girl—me—could convince him that the challenge of a long-distance relationship would be worth it.

“Oh, I could. I mean, I would. That didn’t factor into the breakup.”

I smiled, relieved that he didn’t read anything into the question. Relieved that he didn’t realize I was fishing for myself.

He smiled that achingly disarming smile of his back at me. I think it was his smile that endeared him to me the most. With all his advantages he could so easily be arrogant and full of himself, but he was just so good. “But for that to happen it’s gotta be right. It’s gotta be . . . special. You know?”

I nodded dumbly, a fist tightening around my heart. Hope filled me. The hope that one day he would look up and see me as that someone special.