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It doesn’t take me long to shower, but I go ahead and put the extra effort into shaving because it’s hot as hell outside and I’ll be wearing shorts. My teeth are already a bit furry, so I spend extra time brushing and flossing. After a quick rub of moisturizer, I do a quick dry of my hair and pull it up into a ponytail holder. Throwing on a ratty t-shirt, a pair of cut-off jean shorts, and my flip-flops, I open my bedroom door for the first time in two days.
The apartment is silent and as I walk by Savannah’s room, I see it’s empty. Stopping in the kitchen, I pull a bottle of water out of the fridge and drink half of it, hoping to stop a little bit of the ache in my stomach because I’m hungry. Noticing a note on the table, I bend over and see it’s from Savannah.
Gabby,
Hope you are feeling better. I’m off on a quick assignment. I’ll see you tonight, and we can do dinner together if you’re up for it.
Hugs,
Savannah
I smile at her kind words, and it’s the first time my lips have quirked upward in two days, the feeling foreign and slightly weird. But it reminds me that although I may not have Hunter, I still have some awesome friends, who will just have to sustain me.
Speaking of awesome friends, I grab my truck keys off the pegboard on the kitchen wall and head for the front door. Time to get my Casey on.
I open my front door and immediately turn to my left to grab the mail out of our box, which is mounted on the wall. I lean into the foyer and throw it on the small table, content to look through it when I get back home. Pulling the door shut, I lock the deadbolt with my keys and then turn to walk down the stairs.
And I come face to face with Hunter.
He’s leaning back against the railing of the walkway, his arms folded over his chest. His hair is typically surfer-esque, sun streaked and windblown. His facial scruff is at the perfect length, not too scratchy and not too soft. His blue eyes are glinting as they look at me, but I can’t read the look on his perfectly tanned face.
He is utterly the most gorgeous man on the planet, and after I get over being blinded by his brilliance, it finally seeps into my addled brain that he’s standing here in front of me rather than sitting on a plane to Fiji.
“What are you doing here?” I ask in disbelief.
“We need to talk,” he answers simply.
“No, we don’t,” my brain automatically denies, thus pushing the words from my mouth.
“Yes, we do. ”
“No, we don’t. ”
“Gabby… give me the courtesy, please. ”
Oh, f**k that shames me, and while I have no desire to talk to him, because I am completely out of sorts with the fact he’s standing here when I just had accepted the fact I’d never see him again, my shoulders sag and I nod my head in capitulation.
“In your apartment if you don’t mind,” he urges, nodding towards my door.
My heart starts hammering as I turn around and unlock the door, pushing my way inside. I hear Hunter follow me in and close it behind him.
Glancing around… I’m not sure where to go. Kitchen? Living room? Bedroom? Definitely not, because that’s not a place we’ll ever be in together again.
So I opt for the living room, walking to the center of the room and turning to look at him. It’s reminiscent of just two nights ago when I stood in his, telling him that we were over, and breaking both of our hearts in the process.
I carefully watch Hunter as he walks around the living room, casually looking around, one hand tucked in the pocket of his shorts. The silence is deafening, causing my anxiety to ratchet up a notch.
He reaches down to one of the end tables and picks up a small sandpiper figurine sitting there, examining it briefly before setting it down.
The waiting… wondering what he is doing here, is killing me, so I say, “Um… I’m on my way to meet Casey, so… uh… this isn’t a good time. ”
“Casey’s not meeting you,” he says softly, picking up a small photo of Savannah and me that sits beside the sandpiper.
“She’s not?” I ask stupidly.
“No,” he says as he sets it back down. “She called you with that ruse to get your mopey ass out of bed, so I could talk to you. ”
I blink at him… once, twice. “Mopey ass?”
“Yeah. Heard you’ve been locked in your room for two days, pining away for me. ”
Okay, that is exactly what I’ve been doing, but the smug way he says it rubs me wrong.
“I have not been pining after you,” I assert, raising my chin up in the air.
He then turns to look at me, his face bland. “Do you think I’m stupid, Gabby?”
“What? No… I mean… that might be debatable right now,” I say, torn between confusion and anger. “Hunter… what in the hell are you doing here?”
In two steps, he’s standing in front of me, and the nearness of him nearly has me sobbing from the sensation. As he looks down at me, his eyes roam over my face as his fingertips come up to trace the outline of my jaw.
“You must think I’m stupid,” he says softly, “if you think I was going to fall for that line of horseshit you fed to me the other day. ”
“Hunter—”
“Terrible lie you told me… about Sasha,” he murmurs, his fingers sifting through my hair to cup the back of my head.
“Hunter—”
He leans down, his nose almost touching mine. “Pushing me away… trying to make me leave so I could have my shot at the world title. ”
“Hunter—”
“Sacrificing what we have together, because you thought it was what was best for me. ”
This last statement is laced with anger and bitterness, yet his touch remains soft.
“Hunter,” I say, begging him to listen to me.
“Don’t ever lie to me again, Gabs,” he says with warning as his lips come closer to mine. “I don’t like it, and it has no place in our relationship. ”
Then he kisses me… roughly, his fingers sinking into my scalp and holding me tight. His tongue pushes in between my teeth, swiping at my own, causing my head to spin and my hands to involuntarily latch onto his rock-hard biceps.
His kiss is demanding at first, forcing me into submission, making sure I understand I f**ked up and he’s here to take control of the situation. I don’t even think to fight him; instead, I open myself up and return the kiss as if my very life depended on making him understand that I know I f**ked up.
Eventually, his movements soften against me, and I sigh against the gentleness with which his mouth moves across mine.
When he pulls back, I open my eyes to see him staring intently at me. “Tell me you love me,” he demands.
“I love you,” I answer quickly, assuredly, most definitely.
“Tell me you will never push me away again. ”
“I’ll never push you away again. ”
“Tell me you know I love you, the way you love me. ”
“I know it, Hunter,” I say quietly, tears starting to fill my eyes.
“Baby,” he says with care, pulling me into his arms. He tucks my head into his chest, stroking the back of my head, while I start to cry into the soft cotton of his t-shirt. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I’m sorry,” I mumble through my wet tears. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. ”
“I know,” he whispers. “I figured it out quick enough. ”
Pulling back, I ask, “How?”
Hunter releases his hold on me and takes my hand. Leading me over to the couch, he sits down, pulling me onto his lap so I straddle him.
Running his hands up my legs and onto my hips, he looks up at me. “Baby, I was devastated when you left my house. Was like a f**king zombie… walking around, packing my shit up to leave. But something was bothering me… a look on your face… a moment of uncertainty when you told me about Sasha. I kept coming back to that, and then it hit me… you were making it up. I don’t know how I k
new it, but I just did. So I called your little cohort, Sasha, and got the truth. ”
“You called Sasha?”
“Yeah… after I reamed her a new one for filling your head with bullshit, she told me about your conversation by the truck. She also told me about her coming out of my bedroom that morning, trying to get you to believe that we had slept together. My baby didn’t believe that though, did she?”
“No. I knew you wouldn’t do that. ”
Hunter’s hands leave my h*ps and come up to hold my face. “Gabs… you cannot unilaterally decide what’s best for me. This whole charade was stupid and nearly destroyed both of us. ”
I close my eyes, shame coursing through me. My hands come up to grip onto his wrists, not to remove his hands, but to hold him in place. When I open them back up, I look at Hunter intently. “I’m so sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing. I just didn’t want you to pass up something that you would regret later. I know how special this opportunity is. ”
Hunter pulls me forward and gives me a swift kiss, then pushes me back again so I can look at him. “It is a special opportunity, Gabs. But it’s not as special as my opportunity with you. Trust me when I say… this is the right decision, for me to stay here, because of you. ”
“But I don’t want you to regret it… maybe come to hate me for it later. ”
Smiling at me with censure, he says, “Not possible. Listen to me… I have had an amazing surfing career. I reached all my goals I ever aspired to. But when I made the decision to leave and come back here for Brody, I didn’t have a moment of regret. That told me that I was ready to leave, that I had nothing more to accomplish. ”
“Really?” I ask, hoping beyond hope he truly means that.
“Really. My goals right now are very simple. Want to hear what they are?”
I nod at him.
“Okay, and these are in no particular order. I’d like to take you back into your bedroom, strip you naked, and make you come with my mouth. Then I want to f**k you… hard… so you never forget the passion we have between us. I want you to move in with me, so I can wake up every morning with you wrapped up tight against me, and I want to take you around the world… and share with you all the beautiful places I’ve been. One day… I want to have children with you, and God willing… they’ll give us grandchildren. I want it all, and in no particular order, but if you agree, we should probably start with the f**king thing first. ”
“No, with the making me come with your mouth first,” I tell him as I lean in to give him a kiss.
He returns it, hot and wet, his arms wrapping around me and pulling me in tight.
I pull back briefly, causing him to growl at me. His eyes are hot and needy, and I can feel his thickness pulsing between my legs as I straddle him.
Softly, I bring my hand up to his face and lay it against one cheek. “I love you, Hunter. I’m so sorry I did that to you, and I promise I’ll never push you away again. ”
“You already told me that, baby. ”
“I thought it bore repeating,” I whisper. “And I want to help you accomplish all those goals you set out. ”
He smiles at me then, wide and brilliant, as he stands from the couch with me wrapped around him. “Let’s start in the bedroom, and then we can work on getting you moved in with me. ”
“Sounds like a plan,” I tell him, my heart filled with more happiness than I’ve ever known in my entire life.
Hunter walks back to my bedroom, carrying me in his strong in his arms, toward a future that I had always dreamed of with him.
Now… that future is a reality.
Epilogue
Walking into Hunter’s kitchen, I deposit the large box I was carrying on the counter. It’s taped shut and has the word “Dishes” written in black Sharpie. There’s a lit candle on the counter and subtle wafts of cinnamon apple hit my nose. I expect that’s Gabby already putting her touches on Hunter’s house.
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