So Wrong (Boys of South Chapel, #1)

by Abby Millsaps

I don’t want to become just a facsimile of high-school Hunter. Daughter of Magnolia and Michael St. Clair. Head cheerleader. Straight-A student. I want to be somebody new.

“That’s not your real name, is it?” I sidestep to inch closer and hold my hand out. “Greedy is an adjective.” “I could ask you the same thing. Hunter is a common noun.”

“What on earth do you think Hunter could be short for?” Greedy releases my hand but steps so close I can feel the heat radiating from his body. “I don’t know. Huntress? Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt?”

If Levi’s attention caused butterflies, then Greedy’s feels like the deafening vibration of a thousand cicadas screaming in unison.

“Artemis it is,” he replies without missing a beat.

“What should I call you, then?” I bite into my bottom lip and tip my head back. I can feel the warmth of his hand through my thin tank top. He holds me with just enough pressure to convey a fondness and obvious interest. “You can just call me Hunter,” I suggest. One brow cocked, he scoffs. “No way. Levi calls you Hunter. Decker Crusade and his buddies call you Hunter. I’m sure all your friends call you Hunter.” “And?” I press. We’ve known each other for all of two hours. It’s not like he’s asked me out or made any real effort to get to know me. For him to presume— “We’re going to be a lot more than friends, you and I.” He doesn’t give me a chance to refute that claim before he tips his head and takes a step back, headed for the door. “See ya around, Temi.”

Flovely. Fucking. Lovely.

“I’ve got you. You’re safe. You can cry. I’ve got you.”

For the first time in hours, I stop thinking. Stop obsessing. Lay down every shield, and let my body relax as the intrusive thoughts storm the gates of my mind. They’re always there. Month after month, I fail to keep them at bay. But when I’m in Greedy’s arms, I know they won’t win. He won’t let them take me.

We both know damn well I’ll take her any way I can have her.

“I understand why she did what she did today. But you two pretending to date? That could cause issues. Be careful, Leev.” He bristles. “Careful how?” “Don’t catch real feelings for Hunter,” I warn him. Then, before he can interject, I add, “She’s mine.”

“She’s the only woman I’ve ever been with. The only woman I ever intend to be with,” I add, my damn heart clenching like it does every time I think about her. “It was only ever her.”

“I love watching you run,” he repeats, his tone low, “because I get to fantasize about what it would be like to catch you.”

“And what would you do if you caught me?” My tone is sweet, but I scrape my nails against the short hairs at his nape. There’s no masking my eagerness as I inch closer to his mouth. He hums, then ghosts his lips along my jaw. “I’d hold on tight and keep you forever.”

“Temi, can I kiss you?” “Yes.” I barely get the word out before our lips meet, our bodies press together, and my world tilts on its axis.

“You can spare five minutes for a study break,” I murmur. She glances over my shoulder, then squints at me mischievously. “According to the timer, we’ve actually got six minutes.” Delight washes over me. “Six minutes? Sounds like the perfect amount of time for a dance with my girl.”

“You’re a fascinating creature, Hunter St. Clair.” With a tip of her chin, she hums. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” “It was intended to be.”

That’s Hunter. She’s enigmatic. Electric.

“Life has a rhythm,” he whispers. “Everything happens for a reason, even if we don’t know what the reason is right away.”

“You’re going to moan just like that tonight,” he promises. “But next time, my cock will be inside you.”

He cuts me off with a searing kiss. “No wrong moves, Temi. You’re my first and my last. I never knew what I was waiting for, but now I know it was you.”

She’s beautiful. Effortlessly so. That’s nothing new, but there’s a lightness to her today that I especially love. A lightness I’ve missed. She looks truly happy for the first time since I moved in.

“You look good, Daisy,” I tell her. She does, and I’m honored to be the one who gets to see her like this. “Ya think so?” she retorts, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Yeah, I do.”

“I like you in Brat Mode, Daisycakes.”

“Your turn, Daisy. Take those off and let me see that pretty little cunt.”

“Get that flimsy scrap of fabric out of my way,” he orders huskily. “They’re called panties, Duke,” I tease, stroking one finger over my mound and gently brushing my clit. “I don’t care what they’re called. Move ’em, or I’ll rip them off for you.”

“Eyes on me, Daisy. I want to watch my girlfriend’s face when I make her come for the first time.”

If Magnolia is back, and Hunter was blindsided by her arrival, she’s a flight risk. Again. I refuse to let her disappear from my life. Not like last time. Not ever again.

Because my heart’s breaking as I sit here physically and metaphorically bleeding out. This is a nightmare I never could have imagined possible. This is hopeless. There’s no way out; no way forward. Everything I love leaves.

I was going to love him forever, only forever isn’t an option anymore.

“You want to talk about a living hell, Hunter? The pain of seeing you every day would be a living hell. The idea of being in the same house and not being able to hold you is my idea of a living hell.”

“This isn’t over,” he whispers, both palms raised in a temporary surrender. “It’s you and me, Tem. We’ll figure this out. I’ll stop at nothing. I won’t let them keep us apart.”

“I want you,” she says. “Both of you. Distract me.”

“Don’t even think about it,” I grit out. “You made me wait three years for a taste of your perfect pussy. I’ll be damned if I’m not the first one to get to touch it now.”

“Sleep, Tem,” I tell her, kissing the tip of her nose. “I’ll clean you up once I get feeling back in my legs.” “I’ll be right here, Daisy,” Levi promises from behind her. “I’ve got you.” “We’ve got you,” I correct. “And we’re not going anywhere,” Levi adds.

“I’m just saying that I’m not giving her up. If she wants me, she has me.”

I want to be good for her. I want to be more than a friend, more than a best friend, more than she’s ever had. I want to be the one she relies on. The one who stays.

“You see me, Levi,” she urges. “You see all of me, and you’re not running. You fight back against my demons. You’ve always been there for me.”

There’s a poetic tragedy to paper airplanes. No matter how much care and detail has been poured into them, they all fall eventually. They’re fragile and easily damaged. Their first flight is usually their one and only chance to soar. Paper airplanes are doomed from the start, even if the few seconds of flight are full of hope and lightness and fun. Those few seconds make it almost worth the inevitable fall. Almost, but not quite.

“I’m not asking you to choose. I’m not asking you to give up what you and Leev have going. I’m asking you to give me a chance. If your heart is open, then let it be open for me, too.”