“Holy crap,” she whispered.
Hunter tried to see the room with fresh eyes, but it was tough. He’d grown up with this stuff. The hunting rifles in racks along the far wall, the Peg-Board on the right with hooks for the handguns, the military-style guns hanging on the left. Low cabinets lined the sidewalls, the counter space clear. A table sat in the middle of the room, empty, of course. His dad had way too much military training to leave anything out of place.
Clare had sucked back a bit, and Hunter gave her a smile. “They won’t jump out and bite you.”
“Am I being ridiculous?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never showed this room to anyone.”
Ugh. Why did he say that?
“Can I go inside?”
“Sure.” He stood back, then followed her through.
She walked to the wall of military-style weapons first. He couldn’t really blame her; those were definitely the most impressive.
“Do you know how to use all of these?” she asked, her voice hushed.
“I haven’t fired all of them, but most guns work on the same principle.” He took down the AR-15, which looked pretty badass but was really rather simple.
She flinched.
“Relax,” he said, more at ease now that they were in here. With weapons, he knew what he was doing, and it fed his confidence. He did what his dad always did, unclipping the magazine and checking to make sure it wasn’t loaded. Each click was loud, heavy steel sliding into place. When he was sure the gun was safe, he held it out to Clare.
She shook her head quickly.
“No bullets,” he said. “You can hold it.”
She gingerly started to take it from him, just her fingers wrapping around the barrel. Hunter shook his head. “Don’t do it halfway. It’s heavy. Just take it.”
He didn’t let go until her hands were wrapped solidly around the weapon. She held it at a distance from her body, like a poisonous snake.
He had to smile. “Here. Like this.” He positioned her left hand on the front of the gun, supporting the barrel. “Now put your right hand on the pistol grip—”
“I don’t want to shoot anything.”
“Bullets don’t magically appear. Work with me.” He reached around for her right hand.
And then, somehow, her back was against his chest, and he was holding his hands over hers, positioning the rifle against her shoulder.
Her hair smelled like mangoes. Her cheek was right by his face.
Hunter dropped his voice. “What do you think?”
“I think my parents would die if they knew.”
He laughed softly. “What do you think?”
She didn’t say anything for a moment, and when she finally spoke, her voice was soft. “The day after my brother graduated, he went out and bought a gun. My parents don’t know.”
“Does he keep it locked up?”
“I don’t know. He took it with him.” She paused, and her voice almost wavered. “I kept worrying that I’d accidentally find it, or he’d accidentally shoot it, or . . . I don’t know.”
“If you want to learn how to handle them, I could show you.”
She turned her head slightly. “Yeah?”
“Sure. When—”
The basement steps creaked; then heavy footfalls were coming down the stairs. “Hunter?”
Hunter jumped and almost dropped the gun. Thank god it was unloaded, because Clare started to spin with the weapon in her hands.
Hunter got a grip on it before she turned all the way, but it left his arms wrapped around Clare, the gun in their hands, just as his uncle came through the door.
CHAPTER 2
Hunter tried to think of a way out of this.
He was coming up short.
“That better be unloaded,” said his uncle. He was still in uniform, and it always made him look taller, more official.
“It is,” said Hunter. He let go of Clare, keeping the barrel pointed downward, trying not to meet his uncle’s eyes.
There was no way his dad wouldn’t find out about this.
“I figured we’d catch you with a girl one day, but this isn’t quite the scenario I imagined.”
Hunter sighed. Humiliation was going to kill him.
“It’s my fault,” said Clare quickly.
“Really?” said Uncle Jay. “You stole the keys and guessed the combination? Was Hunter trying to get the weapon away from you, then?”
He couldn’t be in too much trouble if his uncle was going to stand here and joke about it. “It’s not her fault.”
“Should I give your girlfriend a ride home?”
“Let me guess,” said Hunter. “You mean in your police cruiser?”
“Oh, I can walk,” said Clare. She was already edging toward the door.
Hunter wished he could go with her.
She didn’t look back at him as she dashed for the stairs.
Well, that had been short-lived.
But at the top of the steps, she ducked back to look at him. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”
Then she was gone, and the gun room was completely silent.