Beachwood Bay 04 - Untamed Hearts

it.
    He catches his breath, and when he speaks, his voice is even. “You weren’t even going to stick around and see if I was OK?”
    I flinch, disappointment crashing through me at his words. So that’s it, he expected some kind of pay-back for stepping in back there, and is pissed I didn’t fall at his feet and do whatever he wanted. What he figured was a sure thing.
    “I didn’t ask you to come flying in and rescue me.” I snap, coldly. I guess he’s just like the rest of them, after all. “I had it handled.”
    “ Didn’t look like it from where I was standing.” Hunter sounds pissed, but I don’t have time for this—not if he’s just looking for his ‘reward’.
    “ Yeah, well maybe you shouldn’t have been looking in the first place.” I tell him. I try to stay angry, but I can’t help the sadness slipping through my voice. I thought he was different, but I guess nobody is.
    Hunter must have heard the catch in my voice because his expression changes. He lets out a long breath. “Hey. I’m sorry, that came out wrong.” His eyes soften, caring. “I just couldn’t stand to see them treat you like that.”
    I blink, confused. “ Maybe I liked it,” I tell him, still defensive. “Maybe you just screwed up the wild night I had planned with the both of them.”
    “ Hey, what did I ever do to you?” Hunter demands, looking hurt. “I was trying to do a nice thing back there, and you’re trying to rip my head off.”
    I stop.
    He’s right. He’s done nothing but be good and decent. I’m the one jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst about him. “I’m sorry.” I admit. “You’re right, you didn’t deserve that.” My voice is breaking, so I quickly say, “Thanks,” and then turn and walk away, back the direction I was heading across the empty moonlit beach.
    But Hunter doesn’t leave. He falls into step beside me, matching my stride easily with his long legs. “Where are you heading?” he asks. “You shouldn’t be wandering alone after dark like this.”
    I can’t help but smile at that. “It’s Beachwood Bay,” I point out. “What’s someone going to do, smother me to death in coastal charm?”
    Hunter doesn’t reply for a second, and I wonder if he’s thinking about what happened back at the party. I’d never admit it to anyone, but I’m still a little shaken up. I like to think I’m invincible, that nothing and nobody could ever hurt me, but those guys... They made me wonder for a minute if they were just talk, or if they really would follow through on their disgusting plans.
    I shiver in the dark.
    “Where are you heading?” Hunter asks. “I’ll walk you.”
    “ Nowhere, it’s fine.” I fold my arms, on edge. Part of me refuses to believe Hunter is just being a nice guy. He has to want something from me.
    They always want something.
    I shiver again in the breeze, and before I know what he’s doing, Hunter pulls off his hoodie and drapes it around my shoulders. It’s warm from his body, soft against my skin, and smelling like him: clean and fresh, and some hint of aftershave too. I breathe it in despite myself, suddenly feeling safer.
    “ What a coincidence,” Hunter drawls, “I’m heading nowhere too.”
    The comment is so ridiculous, I laugh. “ You?” I ask him. “You’re heading straight to Yale. And then the White House, if what they say is true.”
    Hunter falls silent, and even in the dark I can see a flash of disappointment slip across his face.
    I pause. He can’t be self-conscious about his background, can he? He’s the perfect one, the Golden Boy, everyone agrees. Kids around town would hold it against him, if he weren’t so damn charming and likable. He’s got everything in the world going for him, but here he is, looking like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
    And I just put my foot in it. Crap. I wonder what to say. I’d do anything to take that frown off Hunter’s face, but I have no idea what’s going on with him.
    That’s when I realize, maybe I don’t know him at all. I’ve been judging him by the gossip around town, the charm he gives so easily to people on the street, just what’s on the surface. But wasn’t I spitting mad a moment ago, thinking he was doing the same thing with me?
    We’re strangers here, connected by nothing but this inexplicable bond between us. Strong enough to make my heart skip, beating restlessly in my chest just at his nearness, but too far apart to know