His shoulders un-hunched but not so much that I was stupid enough to think his interrogation was over.
“You’re gonna hurt her,” he said. “Even if you don’t mean to, you will. She’s not tough like your last girlfriend, she’s -”
“I know what she’s like,” I interrupted. “I know I said I wouldn’t make a move on your cousins, but that was before I met Isabelle. I have no plans to hurt her.”
It sucked to hear Taylor mentioned in the same breath as Isabelle. There was no comparison. Part of Hunter’s concern, I was sure, had to do with him thinking I wasn’t over Taylor. It had only been a few months. Even to me, it felt a little crazy to think about someone new, but I couldn’t stop. I wanted to get to know her better.
Hunter sighed. “If we lived here, there is nobody else I would rather see her with. You’re one of those good guys who cares about feelings and shit, and I know you’d take care of her. But we don’t live here.”
It was pretty clear that he cared about “feelings and shit” too. Mentioning that while he was still getting to grips with the idea of me with Isabelle would have been a quick way to find myself with a black eye though, so I said nothing. Even though he was acting all tough and protective, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, Hunter was one of the most big-hearted guys I knew. A girl friend of ours once described him as “a teddy bear disguised as a player.” That pretty much summed him up.
“Hunter, I swear I’d never do anything to hurt her, or you, or any of your family.”
“I know,” he said. “I just worry about the girls. Especially with that Leon creep around. Izzy got really weird when we talked about him at breakfast, like she was trying to play it down.”
“What did she say?”
“That she and Georgia can handle him. But she looked nervous. I think we should go to that party of Mischa’s and keep an eye on him.”
“You think he’s going to get an invite?” I laughed. “There’s no way Mischa would invite the guy who stalks her best friend to her party.”
“Sure, because invites matter when it comes to house parties,” Hunter said, rolling his eyes. “How many parties did we crash?”
He was right, we’d crashed many parties but none of them were held in places like Notting Hill. From what I knew of Mischa, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she hired doormen to keep out any unwanted guests. On the other hand, if Isabelle was going to the party, she might ask me to be her date and there was no way I was going to pass up the chance to be with her.
“Okay,” I said. “You’re right. We should be there. But … about Isabelle and me. Are you cool with it?”
To be fair, even if he said no, I probably wouldn’t have stayed away. I wasn’t willing to quit spending time with her before I’d really got to know her. But it meant a lot to me to have his support. I needed him to be okay with it.
Hunter gave me a small smile, and punched me lightly on the shoulder. “I’m cool. Just … be good to her, okay?”
“I will.”
On Monday, I thought I owed it to Hunter to prove that I wasn’t going to push him aside for Isabelle. He still hadn’t finished his project for school, so we spent the morning on the Mills’ computer, looking up facts and piecing together his assignment. Sure, he could have finished it on his own but it was quicker if I helped him. I used my smartphone to check facts while he typed up hundreds of words abou
t the history of Buckingham Palace and the royal family. It was kind of interesting. The only thing we knew about the royals before the project was that Pippa Middleton had a great ass and technically, she wasn’t even a royal. By the time we were done, we’d learned far more information about them than we would ever need to know, but the assignment was complete, with the photos we had taken added in for good measure.
It was past lunchtime when we were done, so we had a quick bite to eat, then took the tube into central London.
Oxford Street was buzzing with Christmas shoppers. Since the first of December hit and we were officially in the holiday season, it seemed like everyone had started to panic, and were heading out in droves to buy their gifts.
I hadn’t experienced Christmas in L.A before so it was hard to compare, but in London, the festive spirit was definitely in the air, and not just because it was cold. The Christmas lights weren’t on yet but seeing them hanging overhead added to the atmosphere, and the displays in the shop windows were begging shoppers to come inside to spend their cash.
“Do you think we should buy some Christmas gifts while we’re here?” I asked as we walked past a huge book store.
“What kind of a guy are you?” Hunter asked. “Christmas gifts are always bought on Christmas Eve in a last minute panic.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I agree but we’re in London. Maybe we can try for something a little more thoughtful than gift certificates and chocolates.”
“Like statues of Big Ben, and models of red buses and black taxis?”
His words made me think of my friend, Leah. She loved tacky keepsakes. I was tempted to buy her one before remembering she used to live in London, and probably had a full collection already.
“Maybe not,” I laughed. “But I guess we should have something to take home as a reminder of the trip.”
“Besides an ever growing stomach from Aunt Janet’s cooking, you mean?”
“Dude, that woman is a domestic goddess. It would be rude to turn down those meals!”