My Favorite Mistake by Chelsea M. Cameron Page A

a fair amount. Every time he did, I wondered which one of the Ashleys it was.

I didn't see him until I came back that night from Megan's where I’d had my fill of chocolate, girl talk and objectifying Richard Gere and Channing Tatum.

“Did you have a good time talking about your periods?” he said, not glancing up from something in his lap.

“Yeah, we even started discussing pap smears. Hey, is that my e-reader?” It totally was.

“Maybe. You left it on your desk.”

“So you thought you'd just use it? How much of my other things have you used?”

“Just your underwear,” he said, his eyes still on the screen.

“Hand it over,” I said, holding out my hand.

“No way, I have to find out who she ends up with.” He held his arm up, so it was out of my reach.

“Give it back,” I said, hopping on the bed and grabbing at his arm. He kept moving it out of my reach. I grabbed his arm with both of mine and yanked, but he chose that moment to poke his fingers into that ticklish spot right under my ribs.

“Hunter, stop it,” I said, trying not to curl up in the fetal position as he continued to tickle me. I tried reaching for the e-reader, but it was no use. He tossed it on my bed and came at me with both hands, flipping me onto my bag and attacking me. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. He was laughing at me, but there was nothing I could do about that.

“You want it back? You really want it back?”

“Yes,” I gasped.

“Then tell me if I kissed you right now, you wouldn't kiss me back.”

His hands didn't leave my ribs, but the tickling stopped. I tried to catch my breath and tipped my head so I could look at him. He was serious. His body hovered over mine, and I realized I was lying in his bed. His sheets were soaked in his scent, and I wanted to turn my head so I could inhale it better.

“You have a great laugh, by the way. Low and sexy.”

“I wouldn't kiss you back,” I said slowly, because it took a lot of time to find the words. Most of my brain was distracted by his face and his body and how warm he was and how good he smelled and other thoughts about him. 

His face came so close that his breath moved the hair on my forehead. 

“Liar,” he said and slowly got off me.

I stayed where I was, unsure if I could actually move. 

“Here you go, Missy.” My e-reader came into my line of vision. He had been reading the first book in the series I'd also been reading. “I'm rooting for the vampire,” he said before leaving the room and shutting the door.

It took several minutes for me to peel myself off his bed. Most of the blood seemed to have left my brain and gone to other places. It was a good thing I wasn't a guy, because I would have needed a cold shower and a few minutes alone.

Hunter was right; I was a liar. I would have kissed him back. I would have done a lot more than that. I would have wanted him to do anything and everything and then asked for more. Yeah, I needed a cold shower. 
    *****
    Things cooled off for a few days after that. Hunter backed off. Again. Not from his comments about wanting to sleep with me, or telling me that I looked hot or any of that, but he stopped invading my personal space. Well, he stopped invading it so much. 

He started a new routine every night when we went to bed. 

“Love me?” I'd answer no. “Hate me?” I'd answer that with sarcastic comments, listing the things that he'd done that day that pissed me off. The list was usually pretty long. I'd end that with saying no again. Then we'd both turn over and go to sleep. It was a strange thing to do, but it turned out we were both strange people.

I stopped caring if he saw me put in my retainer. He started taking more of my stuff and caring less when I got pissed.

Darah came back from her date with Mase with her eyes glowing. Somehow he had completely won her over, and he became a fixture at our place, as did Dev and Sean. They were both a little smitten with Renee, and she