24. HUNTER
24
S he fought me on the nap thing for another ten minutes, claiming she was fine, until finally she shut up and closed her eyes. It didn’t take long until her breaths becoming slower and steadier, drifting off into a slumber.
Like the obsessed son of a bitch I am, I watched her for long minutes, taking in every inch of her features before I started playing with my phone, wondering what my life would look like without her in it. The thought alone makes me wanna hurl up my breakfast. Even if I can’t have her all, when it comes to Charlotte, I will always want anything she’ll give me.
When an hour later, the morning sun burns on our skin, she stirs awake, letting out a deep yawn. A groan escapes her lips, and I drop my phone to my side, turning my head to face her as she slowly opens her eyes.
“Morning, sleeping beauty.” I rest my head on my arm.
“I fell asleep,” she states, moving up on her elbows, as if I didn’t already know. Her cheeks are a bit puffy, that cute ‘just woken up’ expression in her illuminated eyes.
She’s fucking perfect.
“Yeah,” I blurt, a clear duh tone in my voice.
“The sun is burning.” She covers her eyes with her hands, squinting against the rays of sunshine.
“Yeah, I thought about putting some sunscreen on for you, but I’m not sure you’d appreciate my hands on your body while you’re unconscious.” An evil grin washes over my face and her head twists toward mine.
“Your flirting is getting darker by the hour.” She sits up, her blonde hair swishing over her shoulder as she studies me.
“Told you, babe. One of these days.”
“Shut up, asshole.” Getting up, she peers down at me, a beaming smile on her pretty face. “Let’s go swimming.”
We take off our clothes, exposing her skimpy bikini that has me groaning inside when she slowly walks toward the water, dipping in her toes like she did earlier. My eyes give in to a full once-over, taking in the swell of her hips, moving smoothly to the curve of her ass. It’s perky, fitting just right in her yellow bottoms, and my hands ache to be trapped between the fabric and her skin. Her back tenses as she sucks in the muscles of her core, clearly not impressed by the water temperature. I throw my pants off, revealing my swimming shorts before I follow behind her.
“Fuck me, it’s cold.” She looks over her shoulder with gritted teeth and a terrified expression.
God, she’s cute.
I shake my head as I close the distance, then lower myself to scoop her up in my arms. Without a second thought, she wraps her arms around my neck, and I bite my lip to push back the sense of how good she feels against my body. Cradling her, I stroll the final steps until the water submerges my legs.
“What the fuck are you doing, Hunt?” she screeches, panic etching through her voice, but there’s a hint of joy lingering in her eyes. “No, put me down. No! No! Put me down!” She tightens her grip on my body, pressing herself against my chest as she tries to climb higher when the water reaches her butt.
I let out a laugh while she keeps screaming at me, making this all the more fun .
“Put me down! No, Hunt! I will never talk to you again! Put me down!”
“Whatever you want, babe.” As the words leave my lips, her eyes widen, realizing what I’m doing when I let her go, dropping my arms beside my body.
“NO! You asshole! I hate you! Pick me back up!” She clings to me, wrapping her legs around my waist, leaning backwards to look at me with an angry scowl. Her center presses against my aching dick while I playfully look at her, my hands resting on her hips. I catalog every inch where her body is connected with mine, taking note of how perfectly she fits in my hands. Her thighs press harshly against my hips, her fingers locked behind my neck to keep herself up, but the rest of her body stills when our gazes collide.
“I hate you,” she says, faintly, our faces nearly touching.
“No.” I smirk, dragging my lip between my teeth. “But you probably will after this.”
Without giving her any chance to respond, I lower my body, taking her with me until we’re completely under the water. When the cold water envelops us, I let go of her before I resurface, throwing my wet hair back with a grin splitting my face. She comes back up huffing and puffing, her dark blonde hair completely plastered over her cheeks like a drowning kitten, and her angry eyes find mine.
I can’t help but laugh when I collide with the fire-filled look on her face as she splashes water my way.
“You asshole!” The amount of water that hits me in the face becomes more and more, her movements more frantic with every splash. Finally, I leap forward, her squeal loud and echoing through the open clearing. Diving underwater, I reappear right in front of her. My body is screaming for her touch, and I softly grab her side to tug her toward me. She grows quiet, her fury quickly replaced by anticipation .
“It’s not that cold, is it?” I whisper, placing my forehead against hers, while I wrap her legs around my waist under the water, cupping her hips. I can’t resist moving them farther, until my palms are settled on the curves of her ass. Our lips are almost touching, and I’m waiting for her to pull back any second now.
She shakes her head, swallowing hard. “No, it’s not. But you’re still an asshole.”
For a second, I think she’s going to kiss me when her eyes move to my lips, and she leans in. But she moves past my face, resting her chin on my shoulder, her lips grazing the skin on my neck.
“I know, babe.” I brush her long hair aside, then place a kiss on the crook of her neck to match. Goosebumps trickle down her skin, willing me to believe that it’s the result of my touch, even though it could easily be the cold water. We stay like that for a few beats, surrounded by nothing more than the sound of falling water into the quarry, while we are completely content in each other’s arms.
Just existing.
Together.
“Tell me something about your dad,” she finally says, resting her cheek on my shoulder while I keep holding her in my arms. I move my head to look at her, our lips so close to brushing, a sweet smile on her face. I bite my lip to not dive in, moving my head back to look out at the water in front of me while I think of something to share.
“He was an athlete,” I start.
“Really?”
“Mmhmm,” I say, nodding while I walk us back through the water to the less deep part. “He was a Hurricane.”
“What?” Admiration ebbs through her tone, pride filling my chest. “A North Carolina Hurricane? ”
“Yeah. He retired from being a pro when I was about eight. Started training the kids. He was great with kids. Not just Logan and me, but every single kid he met. All the boys at the club looked up to him, which made me even more proud he was my dad, you know?”
“Did you play hockey?”
“I did.” I move us back to the edge, then plant my ass on the pebbles underwater, the water still wrapped around my waist, while she straddles me. “Logan and I were really talented. We became midget minors a year before we were eligible. We dreamed about being hockey-playing brothers, always getting a two-for-one deal. We wanted to win the Stanley Cup, together .” My face falls, and I swallow, having a hard time thinking back to those carefree moments at the stadium when it was just my father, my brother, and me. He was hard on us, always pushing us to do better, but also always making sure we had fun. We’d play tag at the rink after our training, and he’d win every single time, even though Logan and I got better every year. Those are the moments I miss the most, hearing our laughter echoing through the rink while the cold air numbed my face.
Young, wild, and free.
Not a care in the world other than becoming a part of the NHL as soon as possible.
“But then they died,” she says with a cracking voice as she moves her head back to face me. Her gorgeous green eyes find mine, and I expect to find pity there, but instead they’re filled with love. Affection . They are beaming at me with hope, because that’s what she’s been giving me for the last year.
Hope for a better future.
“But then they died.”
A troubled sigh flutters over her lips, and before I realize what she’s doing, her hands cup my face, and her pink lips land on mine. Stunned by the move, I freeze for a moment, until I snap out of it and wrap my arms tight around her waist. It’s heated, soft, filled with tenderness, and even better than I imagined it could be. It feels surreal, like utter bliss, everything I need but don’t deserve. She sets my entire soul on fire, sealing my fate as if it wasn’t already set in stone. But it’s the form of intimacy that’s making my heart race. Our kiss lacks lust; feeling our lips locked together is comforting, loving, the boost of confidence I craved after opening up to her.
Finally, she breaks our connection, way too soon for my liking, pressing her forehead against mine as I wait for her to say something. Her eyes move back and forth while our lips continue to brush against each other.
“I’m here, Hunter Hansen. Always,” she says breathlessly.
“I know, Charlotte Roux. I know.”
The corner of her lip rises. “Best friends first. ”
I nod in agreement, and she gets off me, standing up in the water.
“Friends first. Although,” I admit, standing up next to her, “you’re making this really hard for me to not flirt with you if you’re going to keep planting your lips on mine.”
She gives me a small push with a playful glare.
“Shut up, asshole.”