Page 46 of Well That Happened

Not with Caleb standing this close—warm, steady,present.

And definitely not with the sudden, sharp tug I feel when I glance up and see Hunter across the room, staring.

He’s not even pretending to enjoy the party. Just leaning against the archway near the kitchen in his stupidly tight black T-shirt, arms crossed, expression unreadable.

Until his eyes meet mine.

Then everything in me goes still.

Caleb says something—sweet, easy—but I barely hear it.

“I’ll be right back,” I mumble, slipping away before I can think twice.

I make it halfway through the crowd before Hunter steps in front of me.

“You having fun?” he asks, voice low.

“Trying to,” I answer, straightening my shoulders.

He looks me over once. Too slow. Too much. “Nice costume.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I’m not,” he says. “I’m just wondering who you were trying to impress.”

I blink. “Excuse me?”

He shrugs like it’s no big deal. Like he didn’t just slap me with passive aggression in the middle of my borrowed living room. “You’ve been busy tonight. Talking to Caleb. Talking to Grayson. Making the rounds.”

I stare at him. “Are you seriously slut-shaming me right now?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

The tension snaps—tight and hot and ugly.

“Look,” he says, lowering his voice. “I just think you should be careful.”

I laugh. Sharp. Bitter. “Of what? Liking people? Letting myselffeelsomething for once?”

Why would I ever listen to him? He has the emotional range of a potato.

“Of getting in over your head.”

I step in, toe to toe now. “Maybe I already am. Maybe I’m tired of pretending I’m fine or that I don’t want things I shouldn’t.”

His jaw clenches.

And suddenly, I can’t be in this room anymore.

I push past him, heart pounding, past the music and the heat and the eyes I swear are following me.

My chest heaves.

Everything inside me isloud.

I duck into Caleb’s room—dim, quiet, familiar—and shut the door behind me.

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