One Night Only (Season 1: Deni's Story)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"You know the rules, lover boy," Adam taunts Hunter. "Keep the game going."

Leave it to him to break the spell. I would rearrange the constellations to find out what Hunter is thinking right now, but asking him isn't something I can do while we're with all of these people who believe we're a couple.

"Just relax for five seconds," Hunter lobs back at Adam. "Trey, you're next. Truth or dare?"

I barely pay attention to who Trey is or what he answers. I'm still trying to get a read on Hunter, but the emotions I saw when I opened my eyes have vanished. The expression on his face now is more composed and difficult to discern. I know what I saw, though, and I know how our kiss felt.

What I don't know is what to do next.

I'm positive about one thing, and it's that I can't stay here for much longer pretending things are normal. I'm a sitting duck for someone to call on next to reveal a truth or accept a dare, since the kiss was technically a dare for Hunter and not me. There's no telling what I would be asked to reveal or be dared to do, and I'm not going to stick around to find out if I can avoid it.

Once everyone else's attention has shifted to Trey, I nudge Hunter. "I left something else in the car I should get. Want to come with me?"

His gaze sweeps across my face, and I get the sense he's searching for something there. My reason for leaving the crowd down here at the bonfire probably sounded as unconvincing to him as it did to me.

"Okay," he says. I'm still unable to read his face or his eyes, and there's something off in his voice. Is it reluctance, or is it nerves, or is it something else? I can't tell, but I take his hand and begin weaving a path around people before he can change his mind and stay here.

I don't make eye contact with anyone while I amble along, and this includes Hunter. He keeps hold of my hand, even once we're far away from anyone who could be watching us.

I congratulate myself on escaping the party without further incident. Now if I could only get my brain to conjure up something brilliant to say that isn't awkward, confrontational, or both. I'm not having much luck, which is how we end up at the top of the driveway without saying anything to one another and why Hunter is the one to speak first when we reach the car.

"Did you really leave something in here?" He's on to me, like I suspected he was.

"No," I admit. "I just needed a break from the party."

"Me too." He pulls the keys from his pocket. "Do you want to go somewhere with fewer people for a while?"

"I'd like that."

He unlocks the car and opens the passenger door for me. The silence between us resumes when he gets inside, starts the engine, and pulls onto the road, and I go back to mentally rehearsing and then rejecting what I want to say. We've only been driving for a couple of minutes when Hunter turns the car down another driveway and slows to a stop as we emerge into a clearing.

He shifts the vehicle into park and turns the engine off. When he unbuckles his seatbelt and reaches for the door handle, I take it as my cue to also get out of the car, even though it's nearly impossible to see more than a couple of feet in front of me. The only light out here is from the glow of the moon. Hunter has it covered, though. He opens the trunk and produces a lantern-style flashlight, which he turns on and sets on top of the car.

"This is it," he announces. "It's the lake's boat launch. I didn't think there would be anyone here at this hour."

He sounds nervous, but I can't blame him. I'm nervous, too, and there's a strange vibe between us that's only escalated since leaving the party. We can talk now that I have him alone, and that's what I plan to do, but I'm still uncertain of how to start. Should I ease into it somehow, or do I say what's on my mind and take it from there?