“Because you aren’t willing to hear her out or understand what she’s feeling. If someone is reinforcing their boundaries you need to listen. If you ignore that enforcement, you may get what you want for a short time, but they’ll leave.”
Hunter crosses his leg over his knee and it bounces. “Explain the logic there. She’s seen how bad things can get. Why would she fault me for being careful with her? She means something to me.”
“So talk to her, Hunter. Being able to protect your partner is a great trait. Making sure she’s not in danger is excellent. Talking to her is how you are going to keep your relationship instead of just keeping her alive.”
He scoffs.
“You can get vulnerable in here with me. You have before,” I remind him, holding his gaze. “What’s stopping you from having the same conversations with her?”
He rubs the back of his neck. “It’s one thing to talk about it here. It’s another to just volunteer information.”
I take a slow breath. “How else are you going to get close to her?”
“Fucking her until she forgets everything but my name and exactly how good I can make her feel seems like a damn good option.” He leans towards me and his big hands move over his knees. “What do you think about that, Dr.?”
I’m soaked from that sentence alone, but I swallow. “Let’s stay on topic.”
HUNTER
“Ithink I am on topic,” I argue, watching her squeeze her thighs together. “Isn’t sex intimate? Doesn’t it help couples bond? Something about dropping inhibitions so conversations can flow easier after, once all that damn frustration is gone?”
Valerie tucks her hair behind her ear and meets my eyes. I adjust myself openly. I don’t care if there are cameras on me. I want her to know that I’m hard forher. Her and her alone.
Her eyes linger on my obvious hard-on, but she licks over her bottom lip and forces herself to meet my eyes. “Did you come here for validation or help, Hunter?”
“Aren’t they one and the same?”
“No.” No compromise. “I can validate you, but that wouldn’t be quite as beneficial and it certainly wouldn’t be worth your money or time. Of course, if you don’t like my expert opinion on this case – the girl you’re interested in and all – then you can always speak to someone else.”
So this is the game today – ultimatums and ignoring what we both want. A ridiculous pretense. We’re good in bed together. We’re good after we have sex and talk. Why is the rest so hard?
“Then, by all means, invalidate me.”
I catch an almost eye-roll, like my sass is actually getting under her skin and threatening to rip apart this professional mask she puts on. “I am not invalidating you. I am reminding you of how your well-intended actions can come off.”
“Please, continue.”
“If you have an entire relationship founded on sex, what happens when the spark isn’t there anymore? What happens when she’s not in the mood? How is lust going to inspire you to protect her when you’ve told me about your father and how demanding he can be? Furthermore, when you first came here, you made it clear you wanted her for more than sex.”
“I do,” I growl, not liking her implication.
“Show that, then. I’m sure she’s well aware of what you offer in that respect. And that’s not a stand in for a real connection with someone. If she felt it, that’s what’s going to keep her interested in you.”
I hate this back and forth. I hate that she’ll only see me in her office, and I hate, absolutely hate that fucking blanket she hung up in her window. All these attempts to block me out. I could believe it’s Chase or Lief she wants to avoid, but I know I have a lingering suspicion that there is something specific between Valerie and me.
“Then how about we take this conversation and turn it slightly?” I lace my fingers together over my knee. “My brother and best friend like her too. We’ve fucked her together. We’ve fucked her apart. She went on a date with both of them, but not me.”
“How does that make you feel?”
“About as good as that cliché line does, Valerie,” I say.
She makes a note. “Have you asked her out?”
I blink a few times. I could have sworn I’d asked her out. To get dinner, to go to a club, even to watch a movie, but the more I think about it, the more the memory erases itself. Was it a dream?
“No. I don’t suppose I have. But now hardly seems like the best time for me to do the asking considering she’s putting walls up … literally.” The last word is a growl.
She taps her pen against the clipboard. “Maybe you should have a conversation with her to see if you can build that connection and get a date.”