Temptation (The Hunted, #1)(15)

I took a deep breath. "Play hard to get?"

"Exactly." She grabbed my arm and we started walking again.

We stopped again in front of Kildare's, the restaurant we were going to. It was only 8 o'clock, so even though we were underage, we'd still be allowed in.

"You ready?" Melissa asked.

"As ready as I can be."

Melissa stepped into the restaurant first. "Hi," she said to the hostess. "We're looking for two...oh, never mind. I see them!"

Josh was waving for us to come over to a booth. He stood up as we approached and so did Austin. My stomach started to churn. I couldn't be confident. This was Austin. The Austin. The one that strung me along all of last semester and "didn't do labels." With his short, light brown hair, grayish blue eyes, and that sexy scruff on his chin, he had this way about him that made me act foolish.

He had me wrapped around his finger, and he knew it. I had slept with him, hoping that would get him to stay. But that wasn't the case. He just wanted me for my body. So I kept giving it to him. His position on "labels" never changed. And then when the semester ended, I stopped hearing from him. All summer I waited. When I got his, "Babe, it's hard being here without you. I miss you," text, I came back to campus as soon as I could. And he had completely disappeared. I felt my knees trembling. I knew I was hurt, but I hadn't realized how angry I was.

Be confident, Penny. I thought about the way I'd been acting with Professor Hunter. Austin had nothing on Professor Hunter. If I could act sassy and confident and strong around him, then this should be a piece of cake. I can do this.

When we reached the boys, Josh pulled Melissa close and kissed her passionately. This was already awkward. I looked up at Austin.

"Babe, that dress..." Austin said. He grabbed my waist and pulled me to him. He leaned down for the kiss but I turned my head. It didn't seem to deter him. He pecked my cheek. "Penny, where have you been hiding?"

"I've just been really busy. How are you, Austin?" How could he ask me that? He was the one that had been ignoring me. I wished he would let go of my waist.

"Better now that you're here." He reached down, grabbed my chin, and tilted it toward him. "I've missed you, babe. It was a long summer without you." He smelled like strawberries and beer. I had used his strawberry scented shampoo before on the occasions that I had spent the night at his apartment.

"I..." I stopped myself before I told him that I missed him too. I needed to take Melissa's advice, and that meant not telling him that I missed him. "I had a great summer. Well, crap job, but you know how it is," I shrugged.

He let go of my chin. Ignoring my comment, he said, "You really look stunning. You always did know exactly what I like."

I restrained myself from rolling my eyes. This wasn't even my dress. He slid into the booth and I sat next to him. Josh and Melissa sat down across from us.

"How long have you two been dating?" Josh asked Austin and me.

"A little over six months," Austin replied.

His words were hard to make out, because at the same time, I said, "We're not really."

Austin and I looked at each other. I turned back to Josh.

"It's complicated," I said.

"Ah." Josh turned to Melissa and made an apologetic face. I could tell that he was flustered that she hadn't told him the situation.

"It's not that complicated," Austin said and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He scooted closer toward me so that our bodies were touching. I looked up at him and he looked down at me. "I'm sorry," he mouthed.

I gave him a small smile. That's what I had wanted. For him to apologize. I sighed with relief. Maybe now I could relax a little and enjoy the night.





Chapter 13


Saturday

I took another bite of the chocolate cake and glanced up at Austin. The two of us were alone in the booth because Melissa and Josh were still dancing. We had taken a break to have dessert. Austin was starting to stare at me, with his cloudy blue eyes, in that way that made my knees weak. He had already been through a few beers and I knew what was on his mind. I looked back down at my plate. I didn't know how much longer I'd be able to resist him.

"I got a new place," he said.

"Same roommates?"

"No, actually." He had started rubbing the back of my neck with his thumb. The familiarity of it was soothing and somehow arousing at the same time.

Austin knew that I didn't like when he smoked. It made him act like an idiot. And his old roommate, Benji, was usually the one persuading him.

"How's Benji doing?"

"I haven't seen him."

I hadn't expected that. He had apologized to me, plus he was done hanging out with his loser friends? Maybe he had changed. Being a senior seemed to make him take things more seriously now. I took another bite of cake, and Austin suddenly started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

He just kept laughing. "You have chocolate on your face."

"Where?" I wiped the side of my mouth with my hand.

He leaned toward me and slowly wiped the other side of my mouth with his thumb. He then placed his finger in his mouth and sucked off the chocolate. I could feel my heart rate accelerating. Why is that so hot?