Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
SERENITY
Araw giggle pushed its way up my throat, but I held back the wince when I saw how the raspy sound made his eyes darken dangerously.
“Definitely after coffee,” I spoke, pulling his head from the dark path I could see his thoughts start to travel.
He blinked, and the storm clouds that had been threatening were gone. “Deal. Can you do me a favor and grab the crutch from the hall closet? Second door on the left.”
“Yeah, sure.” I hustled down the hallway and pulled open the door he indicated. When I returned to the living room, he was already standing, and I nearly swallowed my tongue at the sight of him in nothing but snug, black boxer briefs.
I was snapped back from my ogling when he cleared his throat. “Oh, uh . . .” I thrust the crutch out to him. “Here you go.”
He took it with a chuckle that warmed me from the inside out and tucked it under his left arm, using it to help him navigate his way to the kitchen.
I followed after him, noticing his back for the first time.
There were scars all across his torso I hadn’t noticed before, spanning across his shoulders and running in a jagged, diagonal line down to his right hip.
The man’s body looked like it could have been sculpted from stone, but his flesh told a dark story that made my heart clench painfully in my chest.
I did my best not to stare as I hopped up on one of the barstools across the counter from him. Scars or not, Hunter McCann was still the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on. If anything, seeing what he’d survived made the pull I felt to him even stronger.
From the ease in which he moved around the kitchen preparing the coffee machine, it was obvious he was used to the crutch. But my curiosity had gotten the best of me.
“How come you didn’t put the prosthesis back on?” I asked, propping my chin in my hand.”
Once the coffee was brewing, he moved to another cabinet and pulled out a medicine bottle.
“I kept it on for too long yesterday. Overdid it a bit, so I’m paying for that this morning.
” He dumped a couple capsules into his hand, and I recognized them as over-the-counter pain meds.
“Once these kick in, I’ll be good to go. Until then, I’m giving my leg a break.”
He threw the pills back before turning to face me, his eyes once more traveling to my throat. “How are you feeling this morning?”
I sat up straight, lifting my fingers to the side of my neck to brush across my skin. That barely-there pressure was still enough to make me flinch and draw my hand away. While the outside was black and blue, the inside felt swollen and bruised, and my voice still hadn’t returned to normal.
“Well, I don’t think I’ll be singing at the Tap Room any time soon,” I attempted to joke, but it fell flat.
“I really am okay, Hunter,” I professed when his lips flattened into an unamused line.
“He scared me, and he hurt me, but I made sure he got his too.” I held up my nails as I remembered the blood I’d drawn.
“You should have seen the claw marks I left on that asshole’s face. ”
The coffee maker gurgled as the last of the rich, dark brew dripped into the carafe.
Hunter moved to the cabinet above and pulled down two cups, filling them both before bringing one over and setting it in front of me.
He went back for his as he said, “Milk’s in the fridge and sugar’s on the counter if you want it. ”
“Thanks.” I hopped off the barstool and headed to the fridge to doctor my coffee the way I liked it. When I spun back around, I noticed his gaze was pointed where my ass had just been.
Heat rushed to my cheeks at the hungry look in his eyes, and it was all I could do not to melt into a puddle right there on the floor. I sat back on the stool and cast my eyes down as I took my first sip while butterflies burst to life in my belly.
A minute later, Hunter spoke, breaking through the tension that was starting to fill the air. “I’m proud of you for fighting back, sweetheart. But I want to put my fist through something every time I look up and see those bruises.”
This was just another reason my head was so muddled when it came to this man.
Friends were protective of each other, sure, but this was next level.
When he took off last night, I was scared he was going to kill someone.
He went further than even my father and brother had with his rage.
I was trying to respect the line he’d drawn weeks ago after that first kiss, but it was getting harder and harder.
“Bruises fade, Hunter.” I let my eyes travel over his body to his leg. “I think you know that, honey. You can’t go around shoving your fist through stuff when you get pissed off.”
He inhaled deeply, dragging a breath in through his nose. Those icy blue eyes kept me pinned in place as he lifted the mug to his lips and took a drink. Why wasn’t I surprised to learn the man took his coffee black?
“All right. I promise I’ll do everything in my power to keep my cool.”
I smiled, feeling better than I had since I got home from my first ever girls’ night and had everything go epically sideways.
“I appreciate that. Now, as a thank you for letting me have your bed last night, I’m going to make you breakfast,” I announced, hopping off the stool and moving back to the fridge.
“Seeing as you’re a guy, I’m hoping you have bacon. ”
“In the crisper drawer on the left,” he instructed.
“Aha!” I pulled the bacon out and foraged for everything else I’d need to make a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. “You’re on toast duty,” I said as I spun around and deposited everything on the island. “Think you can handle that?”
One corner of his mouth hooked up in a crooked smirk. “I think that’s within my skill set.”
We lapsed into a comfortable routine. I cooked as he got out plates and silverware and set them on the island for us to eat at.
The conversation was easy, like both of us were mindful to stay away from the heavier topics.
I was curious to ask how he’d lost his leg, but I got the impression that particular topic made him tense.
I didn’t blame him one damn bit. I was sure the story came with some pretty terrible memories.
And I could be patient. I’d wait for him to tell me when he was ready, and if that day never came, I was okay with that too.
I loaded our plates while he poured two glasses of orange juice, then we sat side by side and dug in.
“Thanks, Wildcat. This is great.”
I shrugged as I swallowed down the bite I’d just taken. “It’s no big deal. I like to cook.”
I lifted my orange juice and took a sip when something from the corner of my eye caught my attention. I read the fancy script and lifted my brows. “Ooh, you have a wedding next weekend? Fun.”
He crunched into a strip of bacon and let out a grunt that sounded less than enthusiastic.
I bit off the corner of my toast. “You’re not looking forward to it?”
“Not particularly.”
I dusted the crumbs off my hand and twisted on the stool to face him fully.
He swallowed a bite of eggs and regarded me curiously. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re a grump.”
He choked on the sip of coffee he’d just taken and coughed. “What?”
“You’re a grump,” I repeated on a laugh. “You don’t like engagement parties or weddings, and you get all grunty and grumbly when talking about either. It’s like you turn into a seventy-year-old man.”
“I do not,” he said, affronted, his brows knitting together in a frown.
I poked my finger into the divot between his eyebrows. “You do too. Weddings are awesome. You should be excited.”
He rolled his eyes on another grunt.
I snatched up the invitation and scanned the script. “So, who is Vera Moss and Oliver James?”
His chest heaved on an inhale. The energy in the room started to shift, the air sparking and crackling. He cleared his throat like he was suddenly uncomfortable, and when he spoke, he faced forward, like he was unable to look at me.
“Vera was married to a buddy of mine from my old team.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Team?”
“SEAL team,” he explained. Then what he said next was like a punch to the chest. “We lost him in the same explosion that took my leg.”
I sucked in a gasp that made my throat throb. “Hunter,” I whispered, my voice pained.
He continued on like he hadn’t heard me, and given the shadows that cast over his features, I thought maybe he hadn’t, being too lost in the memories of the past. “It was just a goddamn kid. We saw him coming but didn’t think he was a threat.
” He shook his head in disgust and repeated, “A fucking kid.”
“Hunter, you don’t have to—”
“He pulled out a fucking launcher and fired an RPG into the building where we’d set up camp. Bryce and I lost Moss and Danielson, another member of our team, and I lost my goddamn leg. Vera is Moss’s widow. She’s getting remarried to this Oliver guy.”
More than anything, I wanted to lean in and give him a hug, but something told me he wouldn’t appreciate that, so I forced myself to hold back.
His eyes looked haunted as he spoke, and it was killing me to see him go from the easy-going guy he’d been only minutes ago, back to the gruff, stormy man I’d first met.
“Hunter,” I said in a quiet voice. When his eyes came to me, I pulled in a deep breath at the shadows dancing in them. “I’m sorry I brought it up.”
The corners of his mouth tipped up in a small, sad grin. “It’s alright, sweetheart. Not like you knew.”
“I can see why you might not be excited to go.”
He grunted in response before sucking back the last of his juice like he wished it was a shot of tequila or something.
“Yeah, well, I almost didn’t. But she’s got two boys, Luke and Liam.
We’re tight. After I was discharged from the hospital, I came back and spent the next few years trying to make up for the loss of their dad.
They’re the closest thing I have to my own flesh and blood.
I gave them my word I’d go, so . . .” he trailed off on a shrug.
Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly be more drawn to this man than I already was, he went and said something that made me weak in the knees.
He really was the best man I’d ever met.
“I’ll go with you,” I blurted out, the words falling past my lips before I could give it a single thought.
He turned to look at me in bewilderment. “What?”
A part of me wished I could rewind time and edit that last part out, but since I couldn’t I decided to just ride the wave I’d put into motion.
“I’ll go with you. You’re clearly not looking forward to this wedding, which means you’ll probably end up miserable the whole time.
I love weddings. They’re an excuse to eat great food, dance until you’re exhausted, and, fingers crossed, enjoy the open bar.
That’s my kind of party. So, instead of you going by yourself and being bored out of your mind, I’ll be your platonic date, and I’ll show you what all the hype is about. ”
He didn’t look convinced, but I hated the idea of him being miserable, so I sweetened the deal. “And you haven’t even seen me do the chicken dance. You’re in for a real treat, my friend.”
His brow furrowed, the corners of his mouth dancing with a suppressed grin. “You’re serious.”
“Hell yeah!” I exclaimed excitedly. “And this will give me an excuse to buy a hot new dress and killer shoes. It’s a win-win. So what do you say?” I leaned in and bumped my shoulder against his. “You want to take me along with you so I can show you what all the hype is really about?”
Finally, the smile he’d been holding back broke free, and damn if it didn’t make me want to climb him like a tree. Not necessarily the “friendliest” thought, but who could blame me when he was sitting there looking so damn sexy?
“All right. You have a deal.”
I did an excited little shimmy in my seat and threw my arms in the air. “You won’t regret it,” I promised before hopping off the stool. “I’m going to grab a quick shower. Since I cooked, you’re on cleanup duty. Chop, chop, little onion.”
He looked at me with wide, flabbergasted eyes. “You can’t be serious?” he called as I started out of the kitchen.
“Oh, I’m dead serious,” I said over my shoulder as I moved down the hall. “And don’t think you’ll get any sympathy points or con your way out of it because you’ve only got one leg, buddy. I’ve seen your muscles. You can obviously do more with one leg than most men can with two.”
I shut the bathroom door on his burst of laughter, and despite the hellacious night before, I spent the rest of the morning smiling. Because earning Hunter’s laughter felt like a gift.