by Rosie Praks
“But I want you to sit on my lap.” Hunter tightened his hold.
“No. Let go.”
“Could you just stay still for a second? I just want to apologize to you.”
“Apologize?” Clarice sat very still.
“Yes,” Hunter said. Then he laid her on the couch beside him and ducked off somewhere.
That man, Clarice thought. What had gotten into him? Didn’t he say he wanted her to sit on his lap? And now he just dropped her and disappeared.
Clarice was pissed off. So what if Hunter decided to go home now?
But Hunter didn’t go home. In fact, he came back holding a bouquet of red and white roses and a single pink bud. Her favorite color. Like those from Elise’s shop.
“Clarice.” Hunter sat beside her and spoke. “I want to apologize for my bad behavior from before. I want to start over. Can we start over?”
“Hunter… I…”
“I want to take care of you and our baby.”
Clarice sighed and turned to look at him.
“Hunter, we’ve been through this before. I just can’t take it if you cheat. I’ve never had a boyfriend before, nor a lover. But still, being faithful to me is the number one priority. I know it’s hard for you since you’re the number one playboy in Australasia. So don’t bother. It’s okay. I can look after my baby by myself. I’ll be fine. You don’t have to hold yourself responsible.”
“Clarice,” Hunter snapped, his voice serious, an icy fierceness within him. “Why are you so stubborn? I’m willing to change my ways. I’m willing to try. Why can’t you give me this chance?”
Give Hunter this chance? Give Hunter this chance to show he can change. She could if she wanted to, but she knew in the end, she would be the one that would suffer and hurt the most because she knew she would fall in love with him. Not now, though, but she knew if she stayed near Hunter any longer, she would. Hunter was just her kind of man. Perfect. Funny. Cute. Handsome. Kind. His only fault was his playboy behavior. And that’s the one thing she couldn’t stand. She just couldn’t have that.
“Fine. Hunter, you want a chance. I’ll give you a chance,” Clarice snapped. “You want to look after me and our baby, then that’s fine. But you must abstain from sex. Until our baby’s born. You can’t have sex with me or with any other women. And no flirting with any other women.”
“Clarice, Jesus. You won’t let me stay near you, yet you won’t let me cheat. How am I supposed to abstain that long?”
“I don’t know. That’s your problem. These are my conditions.”
Clarice knew she was being selfish, but she must threaten his male ego. If he saw she was winding him around too tightly, then he would back off and let her go. It was his obsession. But she knew if he stayed with her and continued to flirt with other girls, it would hurt her too much. That was just the type of girl she was. One man for life or no man at all. And right now she was testing him.
“If you want to test me, then fine. I accept. I’ll prove to you that I’m the man for you and our baby.”
“What? You’re accepting?” Clarice twisted her head when she heard this.
This shocked her. This wasn’t the answer she was expecting. Hunter should’ve been out the door by now.
“Yes.” Hunter nodded and went to grab Clarice again, but she scooted to the other side of the couch before he had the chance.
“But… but…” Hunter wasn’t supposed to accept this deal. What to do, Clarice? What to do?
“But what? What other condition have you got for me?” Hunter drummed his feet on the floor, his arms folded, waiting for whatever ridiculous condition Clarice could come up with.
“You… you… your feet must be three meters from mine.” Clarice suddenly remembered her three-meter rule she’d made up. “If you want to stay here and look after our baby, then your feet must stay on the floor and be three meters from mine.”
“You can’t get anymore ridiculous than this, can you, Clarice?” Hunter asked. “Three meters? Come on. Is that some random number you picked?”
“Yes… I mean, no. I’ve calculated and that’s the perfect number so I don’t—” Crap she almost spilled her lustful thoughts for him to hear. But she was relieved when Hunter only focused on the words three meters and not her reasoning behind it.
“Come on. It’s like we’re not even in the same room,” Hunter argued.
“That’s the point, isn’t it?”
“Then why am I even staying here, then? What happens if you’re unwell?”
“Then we can call that an exception, but if there are no walls or tables to separate us, you stay three meters away.”
“Jesus, Clarice, all these rules.”
Hunter was willing to submit to any ridiculous rule Clarice put up, but he didn’t imagine he would have to bargain with the three-meter rule. What other condition would there be next? Talking on cellphones when they were in the same house?
“My house, Hunter, my rules. You don’t want to stay, then there’s the door.”
Hunter gritted his teeth. “God, you really want me to leave that much?”
Clarice looked at Hunter seriously and was about to respond when he saw that look on her face, like she was about to say yes.
“Fine. Fine.” Hunter hastily agreed. “I’m sorry. I agree. But come on, three meters? Isn’t that a bit too much?” Hunter tried his plead again. Maybe if he argued a bit more, he could reduce it to two or one. That way he could still touch her.
“No, it’s not. I think that’s the perfect number. Now what will it be?”
“Fine,” Hunter said grumpily. And then an idea lit up in his head as he saw Clarice standing right behind the couch. He smirked. Without so much as giving Clarice prior notice, he hopped on the couch and kissed Clarice on the cheek, then jumped off the again and said, “I just kissed you. Now deal with that.”
Clarice couldn’t respond. She was too shocked.
“Hun… Hunter, you kissed me?” Clarice said, touching her lips, still in her little shock cocoon.
“Yep!” Hunter grinned. “That I did.”
“And you broke the rule.” Clarice awoke and started chasing him.
“That I didn’t.” Hunter ran around the couch, trying to get away from her. “I stood on the couch. My feet aren’t even on the floor, so the three-meter rule doesn’t even apply here.” Hunter grinned while dodging her chase. “Next time, Avocado, if you want to make a rule, make sure you state it clearly, because I’ll always find a loophole.” He laughed.
Clarice was frightened. Not so much of Hunter, but for her wellbeing. What if Hunter decided to cling to walls like Spiderman or stand on furniture? Then she would be in mortal danger of getting kissed by him all the time. And she knew her wall of willpower would slowly crumble like shortbread after one bite. No, she must not have this. She must punish him. So she continued to chase him.
“Get back here and get your punishment, Hunter,” she screamed, and then she felt herself getting a stitch in her stomach. Oh crap.
Clarice bent over and with haggard breath, she found the couch and sat herself down. Hunter, who was into the whole love chasing game thing, was too busy laughing for a few seconds extra, with his head thrown back for full effect, that he didn’t notice Clarice on the couch, with a pained expression on her face, until he bent forward again and saw her holding her stomach. He immediately went to her side, forgetting all about their personal space rule.
“Oh God. Clarice, are you all right?” His face grew pale at the sight of his beloved in pain. He cradled her back and touched her stomach. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have made you mad. I’m sorry.”
Clarice was about to turn to Hunter, to tell him she only had a stitch, when her stomach decided to answer for her first. It gave out an embarrassing but hungry growl.
Dinner that night consisted of Cambodian takeaway since the microwave food that Hunter made got smoked up and overcooked.
Hunter apologized with a little boy’s grin
on his face.
“Sorry, Clarice, I didn’t mean to burn your house down. I just thought I’d buy you something but then thought I’d cook something instead. Then I realized I can’t cook, so I microwaved some packaged food… and then realized I can’t even microwave the food properly, so now we’ll just eat takeaway. Is that all right, my sweet?”
Clarice almost bit her own tongue.
“My sweet?” she asked, her eyes as round as marbles.
“Or would you rather I call you baby? Actually, I like that name better. Baby. Baby.” Hunter tested Clarice’s new name on his tongue.
“Clarice would be just fine,” Clarice said and forked the satay dish into her plate.
“Clarice and baby, then. I’ll use them interchangeably.” Hunter chose to ignore Clarice’s sharp tongue. “So…” He began again when Clarice didn’t respond. “Do you like the flowers?”
Clarice eyed the bouquet of red and white roses in the vase. So beautiful. It reminded her of that day when she delivered the flowers to Hunter’s house by accident. Clarice eyed the single pink rose in the middle. How did Hunter know that she liked pink roses?
“I got it from this florist. Oh, here, read this message.” Hunter took the card hidden between the blooms and handed it to her.
* * *
Clarice,
I’m sorry I made you mad. I hope you forgive me so we can start fresh, like this bouquet of roses.
A white rose represents truth and chastity, whereas a red rose represents affection and fidelity. That’s how I feel about you. And with the single pink rose, I want to tell you, you are beautiful, the only woman in my eyes. You are the only one that makes my heart happy, the only one my heart needs. So I’m sorry. Please forgive me.
Love, Hunter. XOXO.
Clarice looked at the note and then at Hunter, her eyes going glassy. Could she? Had she fallen in love with Hunter already? Her heart was wavering. Her strong barricade around her heart was starting to crumble down.
Should she? Would she dare to stand up right now and kiss him and tell him to forget all about the three-meter rule, forget about everything, and pretend they were lovers? Because basically speaking, she was starting to get sick of all these lustful thoughts going through her head. She knew her morals said it was wrong, but dear heavens, her body was yelling for her just to go for it. Hell or not, at least she could get a taste of this heaven again before her baby was due. So just one kiss. One little kiss to appease this hunger within her.
Clarice was about to stand on wobbling feet to proceed with her action when Hunter’s next comment stopped her and she came crashing on her seat.
“Don’t you like the message? The beautiful florist said all that, so I just copied the meaning from her. She was so nice.” Hunter spoke absentmindedly and continued chewing his food.
So he just copied the message from the florist, Clarice thought, fuming, as she took another spoonful of her food, not tasting the delicious peanut sauce and crunchy broccoli, but a metallic and foul element, possibly her own blood since she’d been biting her lips because she was so mad.
Here she thought it was all from his heart. What a despicable man. Tricking her like this. And she almost fell for it. Almost allowed her wanton feelings to win over her morals.
Her strong fort that was crumbling before was now resurrected in a split second. And this time she even put a lock on it. No more soft words and heartfelt feelings.
After dinner that night, Clarice sorted through her mail, but her concentration was already lost due to the male sitting in her lounge, casually watching TV like this was his own home.
Hasn’t he got a house to go to?
She thought since she’d finally caved in to allow him to care for her during her pregnancy that he would magically go home, since that was what he was always droning on about. But now since they’d finished eating their dinner, he was still in her house.
“You have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow? I’ll go too.” Hunter spoke from behind her shoulder. His hands went to lightly touch her shoulder as he peeked into her private space to look at her calendar.
“No need. I can go by myself.” Clarice twisted away her shoulder so Hunter would stop touching her. She was still feeling a little raw after he said all those things about that blond-haired woman from the florist shop. She should have put on another condition too. Don’t talk about his women in front of her.
“But I want to come. It’s my baby after all.”
“And it’s my body after all.”
“And it’s my baby after all. So since my baby is in your body, I’m responsible. I’m taking you.”
“Fine,” she yelled. There was no use arguing with Hunter. Whatever he wanted, he got. “Now, can you go?”
“That’s my baby.” Hunter smiled cheerfully, then picked Clarice up into his arms like a bride on their wedding night.
“Hunter, what the hell are you doing? Put me down at once.”
“Oh, you looked like you needed a pickup. All that scowling makes you look old. You don’t want to grow older before me now, do you?” Hunter laughed. “I’ve got a lot of catching up to do if I want to surpass you, so you better stay young-looking for me.”
“Hunter! I mean it. Put me down right now.” When Hunter continued to laugh, she resorted to blackmailing. “Look, just because I agree that you can be the father, you have no right to do as you like with me. The three-meter rule, Hunter. Remember the three-meter rule. You’re not obeying it. You’ll get your punishment.”
“Ooooh, I can’t wait to get that punishment from you.” Hunter laughed animatedly. “Ha, what will it be? A smack on the bottom?”
Hunter carried her around like one of those historical romance novels where the hero picked up the heroine and dropped her onto the saddle of his large stallion before whisking her off to a faraway land where they would live happily ever after. But because there was no stallion, he dropped her on the couch instead and jumped on top of her.
“But it doesn’t matter because I’m willing to let you punish me. As for now, though, it’s time to kiss you,” Hunter shouted before playfully kissing her on her face, chin, lips, and cheeks.
“Hunter, Hunter!” Clarice almost had a heart attack. Her head was spinning and her heart was jumping. Then in the next second, full-on laughter burst forth from her lips when she felt her feet being tickled.
“And now I’ll make you sing with your laughter too,” Hunter shouted playfully and started tickling her again.
“Hunter, stop it. I said stop it.” Clarice managed to speak between laughter.
Hunter stopped and lay on top her. “You see. You look really beautiful when you laugh. Stop making that grouchy face. I don’t want our baby to have a grouchy face when he or she comes into this world,” Hunter said, his fingers removing wet, sticky strands of hair from Clarice’s face. Her laughter made her all sweaty and sticky. She looked so alluring. And at that precise moment, he couldn’t control himself and he found himself leaning down.
Clarice’s pupils dilated. This was her chance to escape, to push him back, but she didn’t because she wanted Hunter too. So she allowed Hunter’s head to descend until his lips hovered just above hers.
At that moment, she continued to take deep breaths, as if she were stuck in this trance that bound them together. She wanted this. Oh God, she needed another mouthwatering kiss from Hunter because even though she told herself countless times that she wouldn’t soften her barricade, but just one look from Hunter and her self-control would come crashing down.
So, Hunter, please, Hunter, kiss me. Just kiss me, she begged silently as she pursed her lips.
As if Hunter could hear her thoughts, he bent forward a little farther too… until—
“Oh my God! Clarice! Big bro! What are you guys doing?”
Both Clarice and Hunter snapped out of their trance and turned to look at their intruder.
As for the intruder, he was so shocked that his mouth gaped open all the way
to the floor.
“Max!” Clarice and Hunter both said simultaneously.
Chapter 10
Max chewed his lips worriedly as he approached his cousin’s house. It’d been a week now and he’d been released from camp. God, now I feel like a prisoner.
Of course it felt more like a prison than a camp. After knowing the news about Clarice and Hunter together, Max didn’t have the energy to participate in any camping event, but spent most of his time plotting and planning for the perfect apology so his cousin wouldn’t hate him. And now he’d come up with the perfect plan. He would just have to talk to her, head on, and explain everything. In fact, he came as soon as the bus dropped him off at school.
So now here he was, his heart drumming so loud he could even hear it beating. Once he approached the house, he knew immediately that Clarice would be inside because her car was parked in the driveway.
“Hello,” Max called out softly as soon as he walked in. “Cuz, are you there. Your car is outside. Hello.”
Max didn’t hear any reply, which was rather strange because usually, Clarice would run up to greet him. But then again, this wasn’t one of those normal circumstances. She was mad at him after all. So maybe she was hiding somewhere.
“Hello,” he called out softly again, approaching the lounge. “Clarice, I’m sorry, okay. Where are you?”
And then he arrived and his eyes almost burst out of their sockets at the sight of his cousin and the man he called big bro entwined together on the couch.
“Clarice? Big bro? What are you guys doing?”
“Hunter, Hunter, get off me. I said get off me.”
Max watched his cousin as she swatted Hunter on his back so he would get off her.
Hunter hastily got off Clarice and she hastily sat herself down, straightening her clothes.
“What… what were you guys doing?” Max asked again, his face blushing red all the way down to his neck.
Oh God. Did my plan work to that extreme? Max thought. It was a mistake after all. And now, look. They’re head over heels in love with each other.