19. Hunter
CHAPTER NINETEEN
hunter
Emma slumped against me with a moan. I wobbled as I picked her up, holding her like a princess.
“You guys are staying the night,” Cam said. “You can use the guest room.”
“I’d be… Actually, yeah.”
I could barely fucking see straight. Doing shots with Emma had been the worst idea in the world. She was a quarter of my size but could hold four times as much liquor.
It was midnight, and everyone had either cleared out or were staying over. Sarah, Colt, and Sammy had sandwiched into the other spare bedroom.
Which meant there was one left.
“Hunter,” Emma crooned. “Hunter. I think you’re really hot. But you’re also such an asshole.”
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” I grunted.
Cam raised a brow. “The couch?”
Fuck my life, man.
“Just kidding,” I said quickly. “Uh... Goodnight. I love you.”
“I love you,” Emma sighed, burying her face against my chest.
I went still, looking down at her. My heart was beating out of my damn chest.
She was a ridiculously cute drunk.
Cam let out a low chuckle and clapped me on the back. “Alright. I’m going to lock up and head to bed. I left a couple water bottles on the side table because I figure you’ll need it. I’m already looking forward to breakfast in the morning to cure these hangovers.”
I nodded and carried Emma to the extra bedroom, kicking the door shut behind us. She grinned and opened her eyes, looking up at me. “Why do you hate me?”
“Emma,” I said softly. “I’m gonna get you in bed.”
“Fucking finally.”
“Not… Not like that.” My god. She was killing me. I let out a low laugh as she looped her arms around my neck, hanging onto me as I put her on the bed. She fell back, pulling me with her. “Emma. Emma, Emma… God, your grip is fucking strong.”
She started to wrap her legs around my waist and I grunted, stopping her.
“Emma, no. I don’t want this with you,” I said sternly.
Her eyes widened and she went still, looking up at me. “Ever?”
I sighed, pressing my forehead to hers. “You’re drunk. You’re really drunk right now. It’s a miracle you didn’t tell everyone about everything.”
“I can keep secrets,” she whispered.
“I know. I want to get you cozy in bed so you can go to sleep. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“You’re too old to sleep on the floor. Just sleep next to me.”
Goddammit. Why did there have to only be one bed? I thought again about going out to the couch, but…
“I promise I don’t bite,” she whispered. “Hard.”
I grabbed hold of her again and moved her up the bed. I grabbed her heels and fought to unclasp the straps. Usually, Cam and Haley’s house had a no-shoes policy, but they’d let it go for the party tonight. I wished they would have enforced it, because unclasping Emma’s heels was way harder than it should have been. She giggled as my fingertips brushed her ankles, satin skin that I wanted to pepper with kisses.
“Do you need help?”
“Nope,” I grunted.
“ Nope ,” she mimicked. “So gruff. So grunty.”
“Emma,” I snorted, grabbing hold of her legs and holding them in place. Her calves felt damn good in my grip. “Stop wiggling. I’m drunk too, silly.”
“If I vomit on you, will you still love me?”
The corner of my mouth tugged into a smile. She wouldn’t remember anything I said right now, right? “Yeah, sparks. I’d still love you if you vomited on me.”
I managed to get her heels off and tossed them to the floor. I kicked off my boots too and looked at her.
There really weren’t any words to describe how beautiful she was. Whenever I looked at her, I felt the whole world stop. All I wanted to do was make her smile like that for the rest of my life.
She lifted her head, smirked, and then let it fall back into the pillow. “Can we get naked?”
“No,” I said. “No naked.”
“But why? I want you. I imagined you watching me the other day, you know? I even watched plumber porn since I figured he’d have hands like yours.”
What? My cock perked up and I swallowed hard. “Emma. You don’t need to tell me about that.”
“Do you want to hear about it?”
“Not while you’re drunk. I rather know you actually want to tell me. And you shouldn’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“Because you make me crazy. I’m not good for you.”
“You’re so good for me,” she protested. She started to sit up, but I shook my head.
“Lay back down.”
Her hand patted the space beside her. I sighed and crawled over, yanking the blankets back. She started to roll the wrong way and nearly went off the side of the bed.
“Fuck,” I barked, grabbing onto her before she hit the floor. She laughed as I dragged her back up, cursing under my breath. “I’m always catching you.”
“I’m always falling for you.”
Oh. Everything stopped for a moment. I swallowed hard and pulled the blankets around us.
“Do you get tired of catching me?”
“No,” I said. “I never could. Now, get some sleep. We’ll deal with everything else in the morning.”
She turned over onto her side and stared at me. “I can’t believe you did shots with me.”
“I can’t believe I did shots with you either.”
“Then you kissed me a lot.”
“I sure did. Goodnight.”
“But what if we did more than kissing?”
“Emma. Go to sleep.”
“Fine.” But then she smiled, her eyes closing. “I’ll just dream about you instead.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Goodnight, dimples.”
“Goodnight, sparks.”
My eyes opened slowly, painfully, then shut again. Sunshine poured through the window, filling the room with early morning light. All the storms had blown through without really hitting us, thankfully. Fuck . A soft groan left me and I tightened my arms around the body curled into me, her warmth…
Who the fuck was in my arms?
Emma.
She let out a soft hum, her face buried against my chest. At some point in the night, I’d lost my shirt, but otherwise the two of us were still clothed.
Which meant my cock was straining against the zipper of my jeans. I closed my eyes, willing myself to stop, but it wasn’t working very well.
Emma stirred, long lashes fluttering. I expected her to scream at me or shove me away, but she looked up, her eyes softening.
“Hi,” she croaked. “Oh god, my head.”
“My entire body.”
She smiled, but didn’t pull away. Instead, she ran her finger tips up my stomach, her nails scraping my skin and only making me harder.
“Emma,” I whispered.
“I’m not drunk now.”
“Neither am I.”
“And I want you even more than I did last night.”
Fuck. I was losing control. Everything in me screamed for me to touch her. To kiss her.
“If…” I trailed off, unsure of what to say. “If we do this, we can’t let it derail our plans to go back to normal.”
“Deal.”
“Are we really doing this?” I asked.
“Please,” she whispered. “I want you.”
Years of wanting her hit me like a damn truck. I rolled her onto her back, pinning her beneath me. Her eyes widened as she looked down between us, to the bulge of my jeans, and how fucking hard I was for her. The skirt of her dress hiked up over her smooth thighs, her lace thong short-circuiting my brain.
“Please fuck me, Hunter,” she whispered. “I’m going insane. All I want is for you to fuck me for hours, over and over and?—”
I crushed her lips with mine. It was clumsy at first, all of my nerves rattling as it hit me that I was touching Emma. I was kissing her, had her beneath me, in the same bed.
“Oh god,” she moaned.
I clamped my hand over her mouth, my eyes widening. “We have to be quiet.”
She nodded and moved her hips against me, grabbing hold of my other hand and guiding it to her breast. I cupped her and then tugged down her dress straps.
“You’re beautiful,” I whispered reverently as her breasts spilled free. Her nipples were light brown and hard, begging for me to suck on them.
I leaned down, my lips brushing her skin.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Rise and shine, kids. Breakfast is made,” Cam yelled from the other side of the door.
We immediately broke apart, both of us biting back moans. Emma immediately pulled her dress up, her eyes vaulting daggers at the door. I shook my head in frustration.
“I’m going to kill your brother,” Emma muttered.
“Get in line,” I growled.
“Helloooo? Lovebirds?” Cam called.
“We fucking hear you!” I yelled, closing my eyes. “We’ll be out in a few.”
I heard his smug chuckle. That fucker.
“Breakfast,” Emma said. “Food. And then…”
Her gaze searched mine. We were both sitting on the edge, ready to jump, and for once…
For once I couldn’t stop us.
“After breakfast, I’m dragging you to my bed. Or your bed, if you need to go home for Donnie.”
“Yes,” she said. “Yeah. Okay. Food, then let the dog out, then my bed. Or your bed. Or the shower since we both smell like we were up until god knows when.”
I sat back, straddling her hips, and held out my hand. She took it, and I brought her knuckles to my lips, kissing them gently. “Deal.”
She smiled. “Deal.”