I’m pretty sure my face turns red, and my heart stops.
But that doesn’t explain the touching…
“Well, she seemed pretty handsy for being a married woman,” I blurt out. “But you didn’t look like you hated it either. You were laughing and smiling.”
“You’re right, I was, and you know why? I was telling her all about you and Allie. In fact, I was being that guy who talks about poop-explosions and how spit-up is a new part of my wardrobe now.”
Wait. What?
He must sense my confusion because he continues. “She leaned in and touched my arm a couple of times, but that was it. She got the hint I wasn’t interested in her advances pretty quickly when all I did was talk about you two.”
“So if you got my message two hours ago, why didn’t you come home right away?”
“Trust me, I wanted to. Sophie texted me and said you needed to sleep off the alcohol and to ignore whatever you had texted me.”
“That little snitch.” I growl.
“So is that how you really feel, Lennon? You want to move out? Because it’d gut me.” He frowns.
I blink, my chest rising and falling at the raw tenderness of his voice. Hunter’s pained expression nearly has me in tears. The last thing I want to do is hurt him.
“No,” I manage to squeak out. “I-I thought…” I stop myself, suck in my lower lip, then start again. “I thought you were ready to move on and date someone who could offer you everything you deserved. I wouldn’t blame you if you did, I just…”
“What did you have to talk to me about in the first place?” he asks when I don’t finish my sentence.
“Something. Nothing.”
He releases a short chuckle. “Something? And that something couldn’t wait?” He arches a brow.
“At the time, no.” I release a nervous laugh. “The alcohol was giving me a false sense of confidence.”
“Well, do you wanna tell me now?” He raises his brows with a shit-eating smirk.
“Yes. No. Well, sorta.”
“Which is it, Lennon?” he demands.
“Yes, but it’s not just something you blurt out like a grocery list.”
“If it’s what I hope it is, something I’ve been waiting a long ass time for…then you’re gonna have to be the one to say it this time because I’ve convinced myself you never would,” he tells me matter-of-factly.
I swallow down my heart that lodged its way into my throat as butterflies settle in my stomach, but I can’t get the words out like I should.
“Are you nervous, Lennon?” he taunts.
“What do you think?” I snap with a teasing glare.
“Do I make you nervous?” he asks in all seriousness.
I nod. “Sometimes.”
He arches a brow as if he’s pleased to hear that. “When I’m close to you?”
My throat goes dry. “Yes.”
Hunter cups my cheek, pulling us closer together, and I focus in on how close his lips are to mine. “What about now? What do you feel?”
My breathing picks up, I lick my lips, and I blink to clear my vision. I can’t think.
“I feel my heart pounding,” I admit. “Like it’ll burst right out of my chest.”
Hunter looks a bit surprised by that response, then looks down as if he’s looking directly into my soul. “It’s exactly how I’ve felt since you came to the bar that night, asking for a drink, taunting me with your gorgeous blue eyes. Nothing’s changed for me, Lennon. I just had to get better at disguising it.”
“You mean being an asshole,” I correct him.
“Would you rather I said something that night I found you bent over in my kitchen?” His brow perks up.
“No, I guess not.” I already feel guilty enough for him having to go through that. Though we’ve already talked about it, part of me wonders what would’ve happened had I stayed with Hunter that night and waited for him.
Would we have been here three years later?
We’d never know.
“If you want to kiss me, you’re gonna have to be the one to initiate it this time, Lennon,” he tells me with confidence. When I don’t move or speak, he continues. “What am I to you?”
I flash a small smile. “You’re my best friend. The person I trust more than anyone. The person I can’t see my life without…”
Hunter leans in, closing the gap between us just enough so our lips aren’t quite touching. My eyes flutter closed as I wait for his next move.
“Kiss me, Lennon,” he roughly demands on a whisper. “Kiss me for real this time.”
Chapter Nineteen
Hunter
Just when I’m certain she’s backing out, Lennon closes the small gap between us, grabs my face, then presses her mouth to mine.
Thank fucking God.
Honestly, I was two seconds away from dropping to my knees and begging her to kiss me. I’ve been deprived of her lips for too damn long, starving for them.
Lennon grabs my shirt and pulls me closer, fisting her fingers around the fabric, and when she slides her tongue against mine, I lose all my restraint. I wrap my hand around her neck and sink into her, deepening the kiss as our bodies do all the talking.