Untouchable (The Monroe Family Book 4)

by Nicole Dykes

  Choir Boy and the whore? Yeah that will never happen.

  Chapter 18

  Hunter

  How do I keep ending up in these situations where it’s just me and Cassie, alcohol and way too much honesty?

  I just can’t shut her down, she seems desperate to talk about these things and for whatever reason she wants to talk about them with me. That’s all it is though. Just talking. Perfectly innocent.

  I knew this game was a bad idea, but didn’t stop it. Why? So, I can torture myself with the knowledge I now have about Cassie’s sex life? That shit with Dani, Vanessa and Cam is fucked up and Cam is going to regret that tomorrow whether he admits it to me or not.

  Now even though the game is over, I’m still here alone with Cassie talking about revenge sex. I blame Cam for this one because Cassie thinks she can’t be upset by that whole situation because she’s been there before.

  I finish off my second beer and wave goodbye to the last couple of guys as they leave my backyard. Now we are really alone. She’s gripping her beer bottle that’s sitting on the table, looking nervous to keep the conversation going. I know that I could end it now. I could stand up and offer to walk her home, cut her off before she starts.

  I don’t. I just wait and then she says, “Last year, I started dating Brent again for the…” She rolls her eyes, “I honestly lost count, but he of course ended it for some bullshit reason. He was going to KU and probably found someone else he wanted to sleep with.”

  Or already was. I don’t say that out loud. I just nod my head to let her know I’m still listening.

  “I wanted to hurt him, so over Christmas Break I went to a party I knew he would be at. He was there, but I used all of my willpower to stay away from him that time. I dressed as sexy as I could and I wanted him to feel the way I felt. I purposely found his friend, Logan, and talked him into going upstairs and into an empty bedroom with me.”

  I run my fingers through my hair. Please don’t go into too much detail.

  She continues again, “I wasn’t going to sleep with him. I just wanted to make Brent think that I was, but when we got in the room Logan was all over me. He told me how beautiful I was and how shitty he thought Brent was to me. He knew exactly what to say.”

  I hate where this is going. I can see the pain and shame in her eyes at the memory. “What happened?”

  “We had sex, in that tiny bedroom. I’d known him for a long time, I knew he was an asshole, but I fell for all of it.”

  I nod my head. She looks humiliated and I want to make her feel better. My hand moves to her bare knee. It’s supposed to be a comforting gesture, but her leg is smooth and soft and the contact instantly feels forbidden. She doesn’t even flinch so I leave it, “It happens.”

  She gives me a small smile, “You always say that.”

  “Well it does.”

  Her smile fades, “Afterward, we both went downstairs. I didn’t feel any better and then it got a whole lot worse.”

  My eyes darken, “Why?”

  “Brent was downstairs with some girl wrapped around him when we walked downstairs together and then they actually high fived. Like he was congratulating him.”

  “Prick.” I can’t keep my anger at bay when I hear that.

  She nods and then tells me, “They went on to loudly compare notes. They talked about everything from my ‘technique’ to the different parts of my body. People were gathered around as they went through every detail, loudly.”

  “Christ, Cassie. That’s fucked up.”

  She nods her head and takes a small sip of her beer. “It was. There were a lot of people from my class there and when we went back to school it’s all anyone could talk about for a while.”

  I wonder if Luke knows about this. I wouldn’t mind going with him to make Brent wish he was never born after hearing this shit. She looks tortured as she relives that event and I give her knee a slight squeeze, “Guys can be assholes. Hell, people can be assholes. I’m sorry it happened to you.”

  Her left hand goes to her thick hair, pushing it out of her face for the hundredth time tonight. “It happened to me because I let it. Over and over again. I’m just so fucked up. Sometimes I think it’s beyond repair. I wish that was the last time I was around Brent, but we both know it wasn’t.”

  I don’t understand why this guy has this hold on her. “All you can do is learn from it Cassie. We all fuck up.”

  She scoffs at that, “Not you. You’re perfect.”

  I laugh at that, “Please. No one is perfect. Just ask my father, he fucking hates every decision I ever made. I’ve even had revenge sex. Just in a different way.”

  Her eyes meet mine, “Really? Who did you sleep with to hurt Miranda?”

  Fuck. I’ve been pushing this shit down for two years. I’d like to keep it there, but I see Cassie’s eyes asking me to tell her and I give in. “Miranda.”

  Her eyes widen, “What?”

  I should explain that quickly. “After she cheated on me, I was pissed. I threw myself into football and school. Resisted every time Cam threw me to some random girl or they just plain threw themselves at me. I knew that’s not what I needed. When school was done my freshmen year, I went back to Oklahoma for the summer.”

  She’s biting that lower lip again, listening to me like it’s the most interesting thing in the world.

  I go on, “I managed to avoid her and my friend that she cheated on me with for almost the entire summer. Unfortunately, I ran into her at party one of my other high school buddies threw to say goodbye for the summer.”

  “And what happened?”

  I swallow hard. I hate rehashing this pathetic moment in my history. “She tried like crazy to apologize to me and to tell me that she was lonely and it just happened. I didn’t want to hear it. I decided to try to forget about it by drinking way too much. I ended up getting drunk with a couple of my friends from high school.”

  She looks surprised, “Like how drunk?”

  I laugh. She really needs to lose the perception of me that I’ve never done anything wrong. “Like really drunk. Almost to stumbling, but I kept it together. When I bumped into her again that night, I was fueled by liquor and rage we went out to my truck. She told me how sorry she was as we went at it right there. I let her. I hadn’t forgiven her and had no intention of forgiving her, but I still had sex with her.”

  “And afterward?”

  This is the part I really hate, “She told me that she wanted to work everything out with me. That we could make it work. That she loved me. I told her that was never going to happen and that I had moved on. We got dressed and I found a ride home.”

  “Wow, that is a little fucked up.”

  I laugh at that. “Yeah, I felt like shit after. What she did was wrong, but so was what I did.”

  “Have you talked to her since?”

  I shake my head, “No. I’m done and honestly I really don’t think about her very much anymore.”

  Cassie gives me a weak smile, “I wish I could do that. Just forget about Brent.”

  Me too. “When was the last time you talked to him?”

  “About a month before I started here.”

  I nod, “Well that’s a start.”

  Cassie leans closer to me. She has that curious look she gets when she’s about to ask something really personal, “So did you ever find anyone else to move on with?”

  Here we go. I’m not going to lie to her and I don’t think she’s just going to let it go. I shake my head and give a simple, “No.”

  “No one? Not even for just a night?”

  I shake my head again. “No. I haven’t been with anyone since Miranda.”

  She looks stunned and then I can see the dots connecting. “You were a sophomore in high school when you met her. She was your first. And there hasn’t been anyone else since her?”

  I grin. I can’t help it. It’s like she’s solving a mystery, “Cassie, I’ve only been with one woman.”

  “Holy shit!�
� She puts her hand over her mouth like she didn’t mean for that to come out. “I’m sorry, it’s just. Wow. I mean, I know you’ve seen yourself. You know what you look like. That’s shocking. Is it a religious thing or something?”

  I shake my head, “No. I just don’t sleep with someone unless I’m dating them. And I’ve only dated Miranda.”

  “No one else caught your attention in almost two years?”

  I take in Cassie’s beautiful face, surrounded by only the light of the moon and the small amount of light coming from the porch. Her big eyes and pouty, pink lips. That unruly hair, framing her gorgeous face. She’s fucking beautiful and its absolute torture. “I’ve kept myself busy.”

  She folds her arms over her chest pushing her tits up and showing way too much cleavage for my perverted mind. Fuck. I need out of this situation. “You’re cold. I’ll get you a jacket.”

  I don’t wait for a reply and stand up, walking into my house. I try to clear my head walking back to my bedroom. Cam’s room is oddly quiet, but it has been a while since he and Dani came inside.

  I go to my closet and pull out an old zip up hoodie from my high school football days. That’ll work. My whole body stiffens.

  I can feel her behind me before I even turn around.

  Chapter 19

  Cassie

  “Cassie, I was just coming back outside.”

  Hunter stands there holding a hoodie in his large hands. I shouldn’t be in his room. I know that, but tonight has been a total mindfuck. Playing ‘Never Have I Ever’ was such a turn on, but then our talk after that was so intense. He knows things about me that no one else knows.

  And he didn’t run. He just brushed it off, like all of the things I have done, all of the fuckups were nothing. Not only did he listen to my messed up confessions, he actually confided in me. Hunter Thompson has only been with one woman his entire life. He hasn’t had sex in well over a year. Any other guy and I would call bullshit, but him? I believe him. I wonder if Luke and Cam know that and that’s why they call him choirboy.

  Finding out he’s not completely perfect, although damn near close, that was the best part. He wanted to hurt Miranda just like I had wanted to hurt Brent. Only he had succeeded.

  I just wanted him to kiss me. It’s crazy I know, but I swear I could feel a spark between us tonight.

  He’s still staring at me in the dark room. With only the faint moonlight from his window I can still make out the handsome features of his face. “I’m sorry. You were right, I was cold so I decided to come inside.”

  He nods his head and starts to walk past me to the door, but I stop him with a hand on one of his impressively broad shoulders. “Hunter…” my voice comes out in a pathetic whisper. I let my impulsive and slightly crazy side take over and I lean into him. I can smell his manly scent, just a hint of cologne and move so our lips are nearly touching.

  This is insane. He doesn’t feel the same way about me. He doesn’t move. We are both frozen in time for the moment and I can feel his heart pounding against my chest.

  I hear his raspy voice and because we are standing so close his minty fresh breath with a hint of beer from our game, envelops my senses. “Cassie…”

  Screw this. If there is one thing I can’t be accused of, it’s overthinking. I move my lips forward the last little centimeter and our lips touch, softly at first and almost unmoving. An electric charge flows through my body as I feel his lips on mine, both of us unsure and holding back, but then I feel his right arm wrap around my waist and pull me into him. The hoodie he was holding falls to the floor.

  I hear a guttural, manly groan as his lips part, finally letting my tongue into his mouth to explore. My hands move up to his thick hair, running my fingers through it as he takes control of the kiss. And holy shit what a kiss. I’ve never been kissed with this much passion and intensity in my life.

  Both of his arms are wrapped around my waist as we move toward the bed. I’m not sure who is calling the shots, but all I can feel is the intense need to be with him.

  I can also feel his hard cock pressed against my stomach and I want to, no I need to see it. Feel him. I nip his bottom lip with my teeth, gently and then drop my hands down to the button on his jeans. That’s when I feel his right hand on mine and his face and body pull away from me.

  No. I swear the distance physically hurts.

  “Cassie.” He’s breathless and so am I. We stand there and he puts even more space between us. “I can’t.”

  I close the space between us, almost touching again. I look down at his still prominent erection and then meet his eyes knowingly. “I think you can.”

  He shakes his head, “I can, but I won’t.”

  I stand there in confusion. I didn’t make that all up in my head. I could feel he wanted me too, “Why, because of that bullshit friend code?”

  He clears his throat. Buying time? He runs his finger through his hair. Where my hands had just been. “That’s part of it…”

  I cut him off, “Well that’s crazy. Luke isn’t even worried about you and me. He was only concerned about Cam making a move.”

  He looks almost pained by that and says, “Exactly. He’s not worried about me, because he trusts me, Cassie. He doesn’t think I would ever cross that line with you.”

  Right, because I’m not his type. He doesn’t think of me that way. Shit. I feel tears stinging my eyes and I try everything to hold them in. “So, that’s only part of it. What else?”

  Are you not attracted to me? It sure felt like he was. “I just can’t go there with you, Cassie. You’re amazing and you will find the right person for you, but that’s not me.”

  I fold my arms across my chest, feeling vulnerable. “Okay.”

  “I still want to be your friend, not just Luke’s, but this between us. It can never happen again, okay?”

  I nod my head in agreement even though no part of me agrees. “I’m going to head home.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “No, the walk will be good to clear my head.” I argue.

  He’s not having it and picks up his keys from his dresser and the jacket off the floor, “We can either walk or I can drive you.”

  I sigh and give in, “Drive.”

  It’ll be quicker and I need to get away from him right now. I’m totally humiliated once again and don’t know how we can just continue to be friends.

  He hands me the hoodie and I slip it on. It smells like him. We go out to his truck and both climb in. He starts the silent, awkward trip to my dorm. I hate how it feels like we were getting so close and now it feels like we are back at the beginning.

  He parks in front of my dorm and then says, “I’m sorry about tonight, Cassie.”

  He regrets it. I decide to put on my peppy Cassie façade hoping he will buy it. Hell, I played the part pretty damn well through most of high school. “It’s no big deal, Hunter. We kissed. It was hot, but that’s all it was. Just caught up in the moment.”

  He studies me. I hate that because he seems to read me better than anyone else. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  I nod and give him my best smile. “Absolutely. I’ll see you soon.”

  He nods, but doesn’t look too certain. “Alright.”

  With that I tell him goodbye and get out of the truck. Trying to seem composed and then as soon as I open the dorm’s front door I let my smile fade and feel everything from tonight.

  I go into my empty dorm room and don’t bother to change. I lie on my bed, wrapped in Hunter’s large jacket. I hate that I did it again. I read the situation wrong and maybe Hunter was just too nice to push me away right away.

  I think about his dick pressed against me and the way he pulled me into his body. Okay, so maybe he just got caught up in the moment. He is a guy after all and one that hasn’t had sex for a long time.

  I stay in my bed looking up at the ceiling for at least an hour until I hear the lock on my door click. Dani walks inside, trying to be quiet. “What, Cam wouldn’t
let you spend the night?”

  She jumps, clearly startled by my voice in the dark room. She flips the light on and then sits on her bed, staring over at me, “Fuck, Cassie you scared the shit out of me!”

  “I can’t believe you.”

  She sighs, “Cass, I know, okay? I fucked up, but God did you see the way he looked at me? Who the hell could resist that? It was like he wanted to eat me alive and he’s just such a beautiful man.”

  I roll my eyes, but I can’t really judge her, can I? I’m the one that mauled Hunter with my mouth tonight. “Vanessa is going to kill you.”

  “Fuck her. I’m not worried about her. She had her chance with him.”

  “We don’t know what happened between them.” Or does she? Something tells me they didn’t do much talking.

  She takes her shoes off and then walks over, flipping the light switch off and climbing into bed. “I’m sorry I told you I wouldn’t do anything with him and then I did. I feel terrible about that and I know I’ve been a shitty friend.”

  “You keep saying that.”

  I hear her sigh, “Look, I’m trying to deal with my breakup. It’s fucked up and even I know that, but I’ve felt free these last few weeks. I have this crazy attraction to Cam that I can’t explain.”

  “Well, I definitely get that.”

  “If it makes you feel better, we didn’t have sex.”

  I look across the room to her side, trying to make out her face to see if she’s being serious. I can’t see anything in here. “You didn’t?”

  I can hear the rustling of her bedding as if she’s shaking her head no. “Nope. We just fooled around a little, but then mostly talked.”

  Okay, that surprises me. They did talk? “You talked?”

  She laughs, “I know, weird, right? Yeah, we talked about mostly stupid stuff. He’s still in love with Vanessa.”

  I turn to my side, “He told you that?”

  “No, it was just pretty obvious from the game. I called him on it and he didn’t deny it.”