Page 30 of Because I Liked A Boy
My stomach flips. Friends aren’t supposed to feel this… domestic.
I blink as I take a sip. “You remembered?”
“Course I did. Maple Bean order. You never shut up about vanilla lattes.”
I wrap my hands around the cup, inhale the steam, sip — heaven. A sound slips out before I can stop it.
He leans back, watching me. “Admit it, you’d rather have me here than that hangover.”
I sip again, refusing to give him the satisfaction. Inside, though, it feels dangerously domestic. Like he belongs here. Which terrifies me almost as much as it makes me want more.
“Don’t get used to this,” I say, setting the cup down. “We’re not a thing.”
“Relax.” His grin is maddeningly patient. “Not asking you to embroider our initials. Friends, Princess. That’s it.”
“Friends,” I echo, though the word tastes foreign.
He nicks a piece of toast, bites into it like it’s casual. “And when you want more…” His eyes catch mine, glinting. “You’ll let me know.”
“What makes you so sure I ever will?”
“Because you almost kissed me last night.”
Heat scorches my cheeks. “I was drunk.”
“And I didn’t let you.” He licks a crumb from his thumb, deliberate. “I want you to remember the first time I kiss you. So until then—” he lifts his mug in mock toast— “friends.”
“You’re impossible.”
Hunter chuckles, leaning close enough for his voice to roughen. “Yeah, but you like me anyway.”
Damn him—he’s right.
“So.” He finishes his toast. “What’s on the agenda today? Or planning to spend twelve hours crying into your latte?”
“Not crying. Recovering. Big difference.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,Princess.”
Before I can retort, my phone buzzes across the counter. Ruby.
“Hey,” I answer. “You alive?”
A groan rattles through the speaker. “Barely. I need painkillers. And my best friend. Preferably both.”
I bite back a laugh. “Rough morning?”
“You have no idea,” she whines. “I… may have slept with Theo.”
Hunter chokes violently on his coffee. I slap a hand over the speaker, glaring, but Ruby’s already gasping.
“Was that—oh my god. Is that who I think it is?”
“Ruby—”
“It is! You have Hunter Hayes in your kitchen?”
“Can you not?”
