Never Been Kissed(90)

Ten seconds pass while Hunter stares at the phone. Ten seconds pass while I watch Hunter stare at the phone in his hand. And I watch his strong fingers curl around it, and shove it back at her.

I’m sure my breathing is loud enough for all to hear right now. But they don’t look back at me, or if they know I’m there, they pretend I don’t exist. I don’t know which one is better.

“Hunter, I’m getting tired of this. Call that fat bitch upstairs and tell her to go home. Wait, tell her to take the kid, too, and we’ll be all alone. I’ll do whatever you want, baby, I swear. You know how much you love my mouth on your cock.”

Ick. Way to bargain, Aly. Way to go.

I watch her rub herself against him, lips trailing along his jaw to his cheek...I hold my breath watching, watching for what’s inevitable for what comes next. Fire explodes in my belly, travelling through my veins, pummelling the base of my skull. Fuck, I’m going to kill her, I’m going to kill both of them.

I’m shaking, muscles tensing as I hold them back with a power of will I didn’t know I had. Something tells me to keep watching, to stay where I am. I do. I watch as my heart’s gauged out with Aly’s good intentions as they kiss.

They kiss.

Her head’s working back and forth, but I force myself to watch. I watch, looking at her, pushing herself up on him, arms wrapped around his neck, hips rocking into his.

I’m going to vomit, and after that, I’m going to cut open my chest and tear out my heart. That’ll hurt less, I’m sure of it.

His hands go to her arms, near her shoulders; she’s so tiny, his fingers easily wrap around them. Another tear in the vicinity of my heart. How could I have been so stupid, so fucking stupid? I should’ve known better.

Getting up from my crouch, I allow myself to look one last time, imagine it’s me and him in that embrace, stealing a few moments to ourselves before we have to go upstairs and see Matty.I almost don’t catch it.

Hunter’s hands tighten around her arms, shoving them down to her sides and away from the back of his neck. He tears his mouth away, shiny with her, and tainted the color of her lipstick. His voice is so low, so menacing I almost don’t catch it. “Get the fuck out.”





One hand at her upper back propels her out of the lobby and into the space where the outer doors are, effectively locking her out once Hunter swings the doors shut. I want to scream and cheer and wish I had a pair of pom-poms to go all Bring it On.

Aly screams, bangs against the door with her closed fists, even rapping her nails against the glass, just being an obnoxious asshole.

“You’re throwing everything away, for her?” She points and I’m caught. Too excited to duck back down, I give a lame little wave with Hunt’s keys in my hand. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Hunter?”

I watch Hunter’s body get tight, the muscles in his arm and the ribs tighten up, and bulge under his t-shirt. He looks like he’s going to Hulk-out any second, and the stupid idiot is still yelling at him. Doesn’t she know what’s about to happen?

God, but he’s beautiful, like an avenging angel –deadly and strong, lethal and serene all at the same time. That’s my Hunter, he’s there, in the savagery in the way he holds himself, the way his jaw is set, and the muscle jumps out along it. He’s resplendent. My breath catches, a little hitch, because it hurts to look at him like this, to see the animal part of him, so angry and proud.

“I don’t want you,” he tells her, voice the deepest I’ve ever heard it. His chest heaves up and down as he sucks in air, muscles corded out, sculpted into his skin like valleys and mountains that I want to touch. “I don’t want anything to do with you, ever again. You’re not welcome here anymore.”

“You’re a fucking idiot! You’re not in your right mind to be making these decisions, Hunter!”

His face gets close to the glass, and I watch her take two quick steps back. I only have the side view and my blood is pumping, my brain telling me to run; I can’t imagine what he looks like full-on.

“If you ever come back here again, show your face to either Sera, Matty or me, fuck, Aly, you have no idea what I’ll do.” Rage pulses in those words and I don’t know how she isn’t burned by them. “I’ll destroy your fucking life, like you’ve destroyed mine. Do you understand?”

The question’s rhetorical. Even I know that.

“I did no such thing! We had good times, didn’t we, Hunter? I took care of you, baby, and you took care of me and Jules.” Kat pets the glass, like she can touch him through it. “God, baby, please just let me come upstairs. I can make you feel good,” she moans, licking her lips.