Read Online Snowbound with the Biker (Holiday Encounters Book 2) by Amy Lamont - Free Book Online
Authors: Amy Lamont
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the poker and stood over me, his gaze sharp. “You never said more than two words to me. You tagged along with us when we were kids, but when we got older, you made it perfectly clear you wanted nothing to do with me.”
Shock made me shoot up from my spot. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him, my mouth opening once and then closing again. My gaze raked his face, watching as the firelight threw shadows over it, while I searched my brain for a way to respond to him.
“Hunter,” I finally said in a voice little above a whisper, “do you really think I avoided you because I didn’t…what, approve of you?”
“Saw the guys you dated in high school, Katelyn. Straight arrows, preppy, a couple from wealthy families. I got that I wasn’t your type. But the way you looked at me, it was like you agreed with everything my old man used to yell when he’d gotten a few drinks under his belt.”
I squeezed my eyes shut tight. My heart had always clenched in pain for Hunter in those moments, but Hunter just seemed to let the words slide off his back so I’d never managed to find the nerve to talk to him about it. The only time I’d ever reacted was when Hunter and Mr. Lawson argued over the motorcycle.
But obviously the fact I’d kept silent had bothered him way more than I realized. And with the perspective of an adult and a social worker, I knew, of course, having a parent say those words could leave scars. His father really hurt him. And all this time he’d thought I felt the same way his father did.
I shook my head and tried to speak a couple of times before I managed to pass a sound from between my suddenly dry lips.
“No,” I whispered.
His shoulders stiffened, but other than that, he didn’t react. He turned his attention back to the fire.
I cleared my throat and this time managed to speak much louder, my single word full of emotion, and meant to demand his attention. “No.”
Once again he picked up the poker and stirred the fire. He didn’t look at me or show that he’d even heard me.
“Hunter.” My voice came out hoarse, as if my throat were clogged with tears. Maybe it was. At the moment, I didn’t know exactly what I was feeling, but I knew I needed him to look at me.
He gave me a quick, narrow look, barely shifting his head my way. But something about my tone must have caught his attention because he didn’t look away again.
Shit . Now I was going to have to actually speak. Was there any way to make him believe I never thought he was beneath me without revealing my feelings to him?
The answer came clearly from deep within me.
No .
A strange calm overtook me. My pulse slowed and I squared my shoulders. My stomach settled and I dropped my hands to my sides as I turned to fully face him.
Since the moment I laid eyes on him eleven years ago, my feelings for him have been my most closely guarded secret. Fear made me tuck them away in my heart, longing for him from a distance.
But if I’d let him know how much I cared about him, how I’d thought he was the most amazing person I’d ever met, would it have made a difference? Even if I got my heart stomped on, maybe I could have made the verbal wounds his father inflicted cut a little less deep.
Instead I’d made them worse.
That was the thought that stole the breath from my lungs. I’d wanted nothing more than to make things better for Hunter, but all along he thought I felt like he was trash. Someone not worth my notice.
So what choice did I have now? I could hold onto my pride and my heart for dear life and let him go on thinking I hated him. Or I could be honest, admit my feelings, and risk…everything.
Chapter Six
Well, hell . There was no choice. I might be trying to shed my nice girl reputation, but making the leap from that to heartless bitch in less than a day wasn’t on my agenda. I took a deep breath. Should I just blurt my feelings out? I kept my gaze glued to his profile. Would he even believe me?
“You asked
Shock made me shoot up from my spot. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him, my mouth opening once and then closing again. My gaze raked his face, watching as the firelight threw shadows over it, while I searched my brain for a way to respond to him.
“Hunter,” I finally said in a voice little above a whisper, “do you really think I avoided you because I didn’t…what, approve of you?”
“Saw the guys you dated in high school, Katelyn. Straight arrows, preppy, a couple from wealthy families. I got that I wasn’t your type. But the way you looked at me, it was like you agreed with everything my old man used to yell when he’d gotten a few drinks under his belt.”
I squeezed my eyes shut tight. My heart had always clenched in pain for Hunter in those moments, but Hunter just seemed to let the words slide off his back so I’d never managed to find the nerve to talk to him about it. The only time I’d ever reacted was when Hunter and Mr. Lawson argued over the motorcycle.
But obviously the fact I’d kept silent had bothered him way more than I realized. And with the perspective of an adult and a social worker, I knew, of course, having a parent say those words could leave scars. His father really hurt him. And all this time he’d thought I felt the same way his father did.
I shook my head and tried to speak a couple of times before I managed to pass a sound from between my suddenly dry lips.
“No,” I whispered.
His shoulders stiffened, but other than that, he didn’t react. He turned his attention back to the fire.
I cleared my throat and this time managed to speak much louder, my single word full of emotion, and meant to demand his attention. “No.”
Once again he picked up the poker and stirred the fire. He didn’t look at me or show that he’d even heard me.
“Hunter.” My voice came out hoarse, as if my throat were clogged with tears. Maybe it was. At the moment, I didn’t know exactly what I was feeling, but I knew I needed him to look at me.
He gave me a quick, narrow look, barely shifting his head my way. But something about my tone must have caught his attention because he didn’t look away again.
Shit . Now I was going to have to actually speak. Was there any way to make him believe I never thought he was beneath me without revealing my feelings to him?
The answer came clearly from deep within me.
No .
A strange calm overtook me. My pulse slowed and I squared my shoulders. My stomach settled and I dropped my hands to my sides as I turned to fully face him.
Since the moment I laid eyes on him eleven years ago, my feelings for him have been my most closely guarded secret. Fear made me tuck them away in my heart, longing for him from a distance.
But if I’d let him know how much I cared about him, how I’d thought he was the most amazing person I’d ever met, would it have made a difference? Even if I got my heart stomped on, maybe I could have made the verbal wounds his father inflicted cut a little less deep.
Instead I’d made them worse.
That was the thought that stole the breath from my lungs. I’d wanted nothing more than to make things better for Hunter, but all along he thought I felt like he was trash. Someone not worth my notice.
So what choice did I have now? I could hold onto my pride and my heart for dear life and let him go on thinking I hated him. Or I could be honest, admit my feelings, and risk…everything.
Chapter Six
Well, hell . There was no choice. I might be trying to shed my nice girl reputation, but making the leap from that to heartless bitch in less than a day wasn’t on my agenda. I took a deep breath. Should I just blurt my feelings out? I kept my gaze glued to his profile. Would he even believe me?
“You asked
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