Dustin relaxes a little bit under Ethan’s grip. “Nothing happened. Nothing! Okay? I’m fine.” Dustin gives me a pleadinglook.
I bite my lip and shake my head. “I think he just got a little too upset. Adrenaline from the show and allthat.”
The two men give each other a look. They clearly don’t believe me, but thankfully they let itdrop.
Hunter steers me out of the room while Ethan scolds Dustin. I hear him cleaning up the glass as the door shuts and Hunter turns onme.
“What happened?” he asks again. “The realstory.”
“He came onto me,” I say. “Tried to kiss me. Jesus, Hunter, I turned him down and heflipped.”
To my surprise, Hunter doesn’t seem shocked. “Fuck,” is all hesays.
“Dustin just tried to kiss me. Isn’t that a littlecrazy?”
“Yeah. Sure.” He turns away, lookingconcerned.
“Hunter.” I step up and grab his arm. “What?”
He turns back to me. “Weknew.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Knewwhat?”
“Dustin got drunk a few weeks ago and told Ethan that he’s in love withyou.”
I stare at Hunter for a second and I can feel a queasy sickness growing in my stomach. “You knew that?” I ask him. “All this time, and didn’t tellme?”
“We all knew, and we all agreed it was best not to say anything. We thought it would beawkward.”
I turn away from him, shaking. I can’t believe they’d keep that from me. All those looks Dustin’s been giving me, all that time I spend alone with him. I put my hand on his arm to calm him, I smile and tell him how great he is. And this kid’s in love withme.
“Shit,” I say, shaking myhead.
“Tori,wait.”
But I’m already walking away. I’m furious with the guys. I can’t believe they’d keep this fromme.
“We were trying to protect you!” he calls out after me, but I just ignorehim.
I storm out of there, out of the club, and onto the sidewalk. I have to stop to catch my breath, looking up at the clearsky.
“Fuck,” I say tomyself.
I don’t want to ruin this, not for myself or for them. But this complicates things a whole hell of a lot. I hate that the guys kept this from me, and I hate that Dustin just tried to kiss me. No wonder the kid tried it. I didn’t even see the signs. I must be anidiot.
I groan and lean up against a tree. What a freaking nightmare. I don’t know what I’m going to do. And I bet Hunter’s pissed at me for storming off like that, leaving him alone in there to deal withDustin.
I can’t help it now. I head home, trying to figure out what I’m going todo.
22
Tori
“He wants to apologize.”
I frown at Chris, hiding behind the door to my apartment. “What if I don’t want to hearit?”
He sighs. “Come on, Tori. He’s akid.”