To My Immature Ex Boyfriend (The Inappropriate Bachelors Book 5)

by J. S. Cooper

  "Well, I didn't pick up the phone thinking you were someone else."

  "Well you didn't pick up the phone thinking I was someone else because I didn't call you."

  "Touché." He said, "Touché."

  "So what do you want Hunter?"

  "Well, I was actually just calling to see what you were up to, but I guess you're a busy lady and you have plans."

  "Yep. I'm busy so can you make it quick?"

  "Wow. Okay. I didn't think you were going to be so distant again. After the nice day we had."

  "I'm not being distant, but you know I'm going out and I have to get ready and so?"

  "Ah, so you are meeting a guy."

  "What did you want?" I mumbled. “And why do you think that I’m meeting a guy?"

  "Well, you just said you have to get ready."

  "Yeah. I want to look nice because I'm-"

  "You're hoping to get laid." He cut me off.

  "You know what, Hunter? That's really inappropriate and I'm not going to answer that. What do you want?" I snapped feeling annoyed. We'd had such a nice day and here he was being a dick again.

  "Hey, I'm not trying to cause problems. I just was kind of calling to see if you wanted to grab a drink or something tonight."

  "Well, you can see that I don't want to grab a drink because I'm grabbing a drink with someone else."

  "I gather that now, but I didn't know that before I called you."

  "Well, okay then."

  "Oh my gosh. You're like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "I mean, you were so nice to me today. And now on the phone, you're acting like a complete..." he stopped himself, "Well, you know."

  "No Hunter, I don't," I said loudly. "I'm acting like a complete, what?"

  "What do you think, Birdie?"

  "I don't know. That's why I'm asking you to tell me."

  "I don't think you really want me to finish that sentence."

  "Actually. I do."

  "Actually. I don't think you do."

  "Actually. I think I do."

  "I could go back and forth all night."

  "Really Hunter? Don't you have an appointment tomorrow with the bank, a really big business meeting that you said you were kind of nervous about?"

  "Yeah and?"

  "So you want to debate all night with me about-"

  He cut me off. "Oh my gosh. You love to talk, Birdie. You're so argumentative. What's going on?"

  "What do you mean I'm so argumentative? I'm just telling you that..."

  "So do you want to meet for that drink or not what?" He cut me off.

  "You already know I'm meeting someone else for a drink. Like, are you serious?"

  "Ditch them? Meet me instead."

  "I'm not ditching them." I sighed, "Look, I got to go. Okay?"

  "So are you going to meet me tomorrow afternoon?"

  "I don't know. Is that a good idea after this call?"

  "Birdie please?"

  "Maybe."

  "Hey Birdie?"

  "Yes, Hunter."

  "I had a really fun day today, you know?"

  "Yeah. Okay."

  "Did you?"

  "It was all right."

  "So I was thinking-"

  "You think?"

  "Yes, I do think, thank you very much." He chuckled and I was glad that he wasn’t completely angry at me.

  "What? I was just checking."

  "I was thinking Birdie."

  "Yeah?"

  "That perhaps we need to have another talk."

  "A talk about what?"

  "I don't know just-"

  "Look," I chewed on my lower lip. "Maybe we need to talk about stuff, but right now it's not the time and I don't know when will be."

  "Okay. So I guess I should let you go?"

  "I guess you should."

  "Hey, can I ask you a quick favor Birdie?"

  "Sure. What's the favor?"

  "If you end up changing your mind tonight..."

  "Uh-huh..."

  "Text me okay?"

  "What do you mean if I end up changing my mind? Do you mean like for a booty call or something? That's not going to happen."

  "No. I mean, if you want to grab that drink, if your date or whatever it is you've got going on tonight, doesn't work out as planned, text me and I'll come out and I'll meet you for a drink okay?"

  "Yeah. I don't think that's going to happen."

  "Just in case."

  "Okay, fine."

  "Have a good evening Birdie."

  "You too Hunter. Bye."

  Chapter 21

  Birdie

  "Hey, hand me your phone," Jane said, a little tipsy as she held her hand out.

  "Why do you want me to hand you my phone?" I took another long sip of my Long Island Iced Tea.

  "Because I want to send a text message to Hunter." She giggled.

  "No way, Jose." I shook my head vehemently. I hadn’t heard such a bad idea in a really long time.

  "Listen to me," Jane said, "I think it's a good idea."

  "What? You think it's a good idea that I should let you text him from my phone? I don't think so." I looked at Olivia, Magnolia and Millie. "What do you guys think?"

  "I think it could be an okay idea," Magnolia said as she took a sip of her drink.

  "I think it's a bad idea," Millie said as she shook her red curls. "I don't think Jane should be texting anyone for anyone, because the last time Jane did that she-"

  "Millie, really?" Jane interrupted her. "Really? I think I-"

  Millie cut her off. "Jane, if Birdie wants to text Hunter, she needs to do it herself."

  "Exactly. I need to do it myself. Not that I know what I would text him." I made a face. "Do you guys really think I should text him? I just don't know what to do."

  "Oh my gosh, Birdie," Olivia sighed in frustration. "What is going on with you?"

  "What do you mean what is going on?"

  "I mean you're flip-flopping all over the place. One day, you think he's amazing and that he's changed. The next day, you're still angry at him, and then you're mad, and you're this and you're that. You're so up and down. I just don't even know what to think." She shook her head. “I know they say women are indecisive, but you really need to figure out where you stand with this guy.”

  "I mean, I know how it is.” Jane spoke up for me. “Girl, if you want to get laid, just have some fun," Jane said, wiggling her eyebrows as she did a little dance, as she grinned. "In fact, that's just about what I was going to text him."

  "You were going to text him that I wanted to get laid? No way you're having my phone," I said with a laugh.

  "No. I wasn't going to tell him you want to get laid. I was going to tell him to come out and meet us for a drink."

  "What?" My jaw dropped. "No way. I'm not going to invite him out."

  "I think that the best advice we can give you would be advice we give you after we actually meet him," Jane said. "Don't you agree, Magnolia?"

  "I do agree," she nodded. "I really, really agree. You girls were able to give me advice about Jagger because you knew him."

  Jane interrupted, "And you girls were able to give me advice about Tate because you knew him."

  "Yeah, but .." I said, and then paused. As I thought about the idea, it wasn't so bad. All they'd heard about Hunter was from me. They'd never met him. They didn't know his personality. They didn't know anything about him other than what I'd said. And well, maybe it would be nice for them to actually meet him and see him, and give me advice based upon that.

  "Okay, fine. I'll tell him he can come for one drink, but he might not even want to come, because he does have his big meeting tomorrow. If he's smart, he would concentrate on getting prepared for that rather than coming out to see us."

  "Yeah. But if he likes you," Millie said with a smile, "He'll jump at the opportunity to come out tonight."

  "He doesn't like me. He just wants me to forgive him so we can be friends
again, and maybe so he can get in my pants."

  "You say potato. I say potato," Jane said with a laugh. "Text the man."

  "Fine." I grabbed my phone from my handbag, and quickly opened a text message and sent one to Hunter. "Hey, if you're still up, you can meet me and my friends for a drink."

  He responded within five seconds. "Still up. Where shall I come?"

  I sent him the name of the bar. "He's on his way." I looked at my friends and then groaned. "Oh my gosh. How do I look? I didn't even put on an outfit that was sexy."

  "Well, you don't really want to look sexy. Do you?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

  "Well, no, but I still want to look good," I grinned. "Hello. Who doesn't want to look drop dead gorgeous to the ex?"

  "Girl. You look beautiful," Magnolia said with a sweet smile. "Just touch up your lipstick and you'll be fine."

  "Okay." I took a deep breath. "I think I need another drink before he gets here. My nerves are going a mile a minute. My heart is racing, and I feel like I want to throw up."

  "Why?" Jane said, and then she made a face. "Okay. That was a stupid question."

  "Yeah, that was a very stupid question," Olivia nodded. "Obviously she wants to bone the man."

  "I do not want to bone him. I just, you know..."

  "We get it," Millie said with a grin. "I know when Marco and I started hanging out, well," she looked at Jane, "maybe I won't continue." Marco was Jane's brother, and she didn't really want to hear about what Millie and Marco got up to in the bedroom.

  "Okay. Lipstick on. How does it look?" I smiled at them.

  "Let's see your teeth. Let's make sure you didn't get any red on those whites," Olivia said and checked my teeth. "Okay, perfect."

  Within five minutes, I heard my phone beeping and I grabbed it again. It was Hunter. "I'm here."

  "Okay. Come inside," I texted back, "We're towards the back in a booth." I put the phone back down. "Oh my gosh, guys. He's here already."

  "I can't wait to meet this guy. We've heard so much about him," Magnolia said with a grin. "Is he going to be like Don Juan or Brad Pitt?"

  "He's none of those things, guys," I said, and then I turned around. I could feel that he was walking towards us. There he was. He was wearing some faded black jeans and a black shirt. He looked absolutely gorgeous.

  I swallowed hard. Maybe this wasn't a great idea. I was slightly tipsy, very horny, and very confused. As he approached me, I realized that he was looking like the best thing I'd seen in years.

  "Hey there, Birdie." He stopped in front of me and I stood up. "Good to see you." He gave me a quick hug and a kiss on both cheeks before turning to the table. "Hi, guys. I'm Hunter."

  "Hi, Hunter," Olivia said, "I'm Olivia. That's Magnolia. That's Jane and that's Millie. We're Birdie's best friends and coworkers here in the city."

  "Oh, nice to meet you guys." He nodded his head. "I guess I'm Birdie's ex and ex best friend, I guess. I don't know what to say. I guess ex-boyfriend and ex best friend, or just ex-boyfriend or ..." He cut himself off. "Okay. I need a drink. I'm just going on and on and on. That's not normally like me."

  "That's okay," Olivia smiled. "We're not going to bite you. I'm sure you're just nervous because you're meeting Birdie's best friends, and you know that we're here to protect her."

  "Yup. definitely need to get a drink," he said with a smile. "Are you girls all set? Let me get a round for everyone. What do you want?"

  "No. You don't have to do that," I said quickly, shaking my head. "We're fine."

  "No. Let me get you girls a round. Tell me what you want, and I'll order the drinks and be right back."

  I nodded and just watched as he asked the other girls what they wanted to drink. He interacted with them so smoothly. I realized that he was no longer the teen boy I knew. He was no longer the awkward shy teenager. He was a man, and he was confident without being cocky. He was a man that took charge. I liked that. I really, really liked that. He was different from the man that I thought he was going to grow up to be. Not that I really knew who he was now, because he'd only been back in my life a couple of days, but he wasn't the asshole that I remembered. He was nice, and he was friendly, and he was congenial. He didn't have that bro-y attitude that a lot of guys back home had. He was actually pretty cool. Not that I would let him know that I thought that.

  "And you, Birdie?" he said as he got the orders from the other girls. "What would you like or should I guess?"

  "Well, what do you think I'd want?"

  "Well, you always used to love Sex On The Beach and Tequila Sunrise."

  "Well, I kind of graduated from Sex On The Beach," I laugh, "but a Tequila Sunrise is always good, though I've been drinking Long Island Ice Teas." I shrugged. "Surprise me."

  "Okay," he nodded. "Actually, would you come with me?"

  "What do you mean would I come with you?"

  "Well, I might need a hand carrying the drinks back to the table."

  "Oh yeah, sure." I looked over at my friends. "Do you guys mind if we just go to the bar real quick?"

  "Of course not," Jane said with a wink. "Take your time, guys."

  "Uh-huh. We’ll be right back." I just rolled my eyes at her. "Come on." I grabbed his arm. "Let's get these drinks quickly."

  "Okay. You lead and I'll follow," he said in a deep husky voice, as we walked towards the bar. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. We waited behind two guys and I could feel him staring at me. "What?" I said as I looked over at him. "What's going on?"

  "You're not here on a date," he grinned.

  "No. I never said I was going to be here on a date."

  "I guess you never said you were going to be on a date, but you sure didn't say you were meeting a bunch of friends."

  "I didn't know I had to tell you that."

  "You didn't," he grinned, "but I guess you were trying to make me a little jealous."

  "What do you mean? You're the one that assumed it was a guy. Why would I think that would make you jealous?"

  "You knew it would make me jealous if you went on a date."

  "Okay." I just shook my head, but inside, I felt like screaming, and jumping up and down in joy. "Are you all ready for your meeting tomorrow?"

  "Yeah. As ready as I'm ever going to be." He reached over and ran his hand down the side of my face.

  "What are you doing?"

  "You had hair there. I was just brushing it away," he said, though his fingers never left my cheek.

  "Uhm, okay." I stared into his eyes, my heart racing. "Thank you, I guess."

  "You don't have to thank me," he said softly. "You're so beautiful. You know that, Birdie?"

  "Thank you again?"

  "I was thinking ..."

  "Wow. You seem to do a lot of that these days."

  "Ha ha. Very funny," he chuckled. "I was thinking about you and ..." He paused.

  "What is it?"

  "What'd you mean what is it...I was just trying to tell you."

  "You just made a weird face."

  "I did? Must've been involuntary. Okay. I'm not going to talk about us right now. Maybe I've been doing too much of that." He shook his head. "Crazy, huh?"

  "What's crazy."

  "It's normally the girl that wants to talk about their feelings all the time. But this time it's me."

  "That is such a sexist comment, Hunter. You know that, right? It's not always the girl that wants to talk about their feelings. It's ..."

  "Shhh," he said, and he pressed his lips against mine.

  I melted into him for a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. I could smell his cologne, woody and intense. His skin was warm. I found my hands on his shoulders. I pulled back, slightly out of breath.

  "What was that?"

  "What was what?" He said with a smile.

  "You know you just kissed me."

  "Yeah, and I'm going to do it again," he said, and he pressed his lips against mine one more time.

  This time it lasted for mo
re than a few seconds. This time his hands went around my waist and brought me into him. His body felt hard and strong against mine. I almost groaned at the touch of him. I could feel the hardness in his pants pressed against my stomach. I could feel my panties growing wet. How could he be hard already, from one kiss, from one little touch? I pulled away from him, feeling breathless.

  "Hunter, you shouldn't be doing this."

  "Shouldn't be doing this, or you don't want me to do this?" His eyes bore to mine, dark, veiled and secretive. I couldn't tell what he was thinking now.

  "Hunter, I just ..." I didn't know what to say. I couldn't lie. I wanted him. I didn't care about the past. I didn't care about the future. All I cared about was this moment. I wanted him. I needed him. The way he was looking at me, the desire I could feel emanating from every pore of his body. I wanted him so badly. I wanted his shirt off. I wanted his jeans off. I just needed to feel and touch him.

  He pressed his lips against my forehead, and then against my cheeks, and then against my lips again. He pressed his forehead against mine, and his eyes stared into mine, so close that it was hard to focus.

  "Birdie," he whispered against my lips, "Just one night for old time's sake."

  "Hunter."

  "One night, Birdie. I know you want it too.”

  "But we can't.”

  "We can. We can do anything we want to do, right?"

  His right hand slipped down my back and towards my ass. He squeezed gently. I groaned as I felt my stomach pushed up even tighter against him.

  "I want to touch you, Birdie. I want to kiss you. I want to say sorry to you in all those ways that I haven't been able to say sorry before."

  "Hunter, I'm not going to just sleep with you just because."

  "Tell me you don't want it, Birdie. Tell me that you don't need this as badly as me. You can do whatever you want to me. You could even consider it a hate fuck if that's what you want."

  "Really, Hunter? You're going to let me," and I did some air quotes, "give you a hate fuck? Like really? Is that punishment?"

  He laughed. "You got me there. No. It's not punishment, but maybe ..."

  "Maybe what?"

  "Maybe it'll be a way of me showing you just how much I've missed you and how sorry I am."

  "How are you going to show me how much you miss me and how sorry I am just from me having sex with you?"