“No.” Matt’s thumb was now tracing a circular pattern on her thigh, and if it hadn’t been for the others, Katie would have closed her eyes. She wanted everyone else to disappear so she could be alone with him. Every so often she felt his nose tickling the back of her neck as he breathed in. “You smell good, Hunter,” he whispered at one point.

The time passed too quickly, and as the guys slowly began to leave, Katie knew it was only a matter of time before the one leaving would be Matt. Although she’d been sitting on his lap for over two hours, they’d barely exchanged a word.

“I’m heading in,” Ryan said, coming to his feet. “Are you crashing here?” he asked Matt.

“No, I have to work early. I can give Hunter a ride home.”

“She’s spending the night,” Emma said. “I’m freezing. You guys want to go in?”

“I’m going to stay out here a little longer,” Matt said. “I’ll put out the fire.”

“Me too,” Katie said. She made no move to leave his lap even though there were now several empty chairs.

As soon as they were alone, Matt patted her thigh. “Let’s go to the barn.”

The barn had electricity but no heat, and after turning on a light, Matt led her to an overstuffed couch across from where the band usually practiced, shrugging out of his jacket and draping it over her shoulders. “Put this on.”

Too cold to point out that he was only wearing a T-shirt, she slipped her arms into the sleeves, enclosing herself in the smell of him and of leather as she sunk down onto the couch beside him. “Thanks.”

“It sucks about your parents.”

Katie shrugged. “It’s kind of better. I don’t think my mom will be as strict as my dad. It’s weird though—him calling me at night and stuff. He doesn’t live with us, but I talk to him more than when he did.”

“When my dad split, I never heard from him again. I guess it wasn’t enough time to bond to me or whatever.”

“He sounds like a dick,” Katie said, hating the faceless father that made Matt feel unwanted.

“Yeah, I guess he is.”

“What about your mom? What was she like?”

“She was a drug addict,” he said so nonchalantly Katie had to replay his words in her head to make sure she’d heard him right. “She OD’d.”

“Fuck,” Katie whispered. She’d assumed she died of cancer or something. “I had no idea.”

“No one around here does.” He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he looked down at the floor. “I don’t know why I’m telling you.”

She didn’t know what to say, so she stayed silent.