Chapter 30
Catherine Celia
I stared at Hunter’s text until the word yes looked like it belonged to someone braver than me.
Hunter: Can I see you?
Me: Yes.
One word, and my pulse had turned into something wild and unsteady beneath my skin. Billie sat beside me on the guest house couch, close enough that her shoulder pressed into mine.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“No,” I whispered.
Billie’s face softened.
I swallowed, my throat tight. “I’m not sure about any of this. I’m not sure how it works or what my dad will do or what happens at the arena or how we fix everything we broke.”
“I hear a but in there,” she said.
“I need to see him.”
She nodded once, like that was enough. We went outside, and I waited with the girls by the pool. Taylor’s phone buzzed in her hand, and a second later, she looked toward the long gravel drive.
“He’s here,” Billie said quietly.
My heart dropped and lifted at the same time.
Billie Rose watched me. “Breathe,” she urged.
“I’m breathing.”
“Take him to the guest house. That way you’ll have privacy,” she said.
I gave her a hug. “Thank you.”
I walked up to the stone path leading from the driveway.
Hunter looked wrecked. Not in the obvious way.
Hunter Russell did not fall apart where people could see.
But his eyes gave him away. He looked tired and worn out.
They were full of everything he had put in that letter and maybe everything he had not.
He saw me and stopped walking. For a moment, neither of us moved. The space between us felt loaded.
“Hi,” I said.
His mouth moved like my voice hurt him. “Hi.”
He was close enough that I could have touched him if I reached out.
I didn’t, and neither did he, but I watched the way his gaze swept over my body.
I was wearing a royal blue bikini with a gauzy white cover-up over it that hit my knees but didn’t leave much to the imagination since it was translucent.
“We should talk in the guest house, so we have privacy,” I suggested.
He cleared his throat. “Sure, lead the way.”
When we got into the guest house, Hunter didn’t waste time. We paused in the middle of the living room.
“I talked to your dad,” he said. “I asked him for his blessing to date you.”
My breath caught.
Hunter’s gaze held mine. “Not permission. I told him you don’t need that. But I told him I love you, and I asked him not to stand in your way if you decide you still want me.”
Something inside me folded. Because that was what I had needed. Not a trade request. Not him trying to resign. Not him leaving before the hurt could get worse and calling it space. I needed him to stay. To face my father and the mess and the consequences without making me carry all of it alone.
“What did he say?” I asked.
Hunter’s mouth curved, but there was no humor in it. “That he still wants to punch me.”
“That sounds right.” I nodded, and a hint of a smile curved my lips.
“He also said he won’t stand in your way, whatever you choose,” he added.
My eyes burned.
“He said if you choose me, we’ll figure out the team side after. With Tatum. Dr. Patel. Wren. Boundaries. Whatever needs to happen.” Hunter swallowed. “But only if you choose it. I’m done making decisions for you and pretending it’s protection.”
I looked away because if I kept looking at him, I was going to cry again, and I was tired of crying. “I was so angry at you,” I blurted.
“I know.” He looked completely and utterly defeated, like he knew what I was referring to, but I pressed on anyway.
“You walked out and left me there with my parents and all these impossible choices, and I felt like you had decided for both of us that it was too hard.”
“I did.” His voice was low. “Not because I didn’t love you. Because I did. I was scared you’d look at the damage this relationship caused and realize I wasn’t worth it.”
My throat ached.
“Hunter, I’m not her. I’m not Amy,” I said softly.
His eyes closed for a second. When he opened them, something raw looked back at me. “I know you aren’t, Catherine. I’m sorry I let old fear make choices in a relationship that had nothing to do with her.”
I wrapped my arms around myself.
Hunter’s hands flexed at his sides, but he still did not reach for me.
“I love you, Catherine,” he said.
The words landed differently out loud. In the letter, they had felt impossible. Here, with him standing in front of me, they felt terrifyingly real.
“I love you,” he said again, quieter. “I love you enough to face your father. I love you enough to do this properly. I love you enough not to ask you to lose yourself so I can keep you.”
The tears came then. One slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.
“I love you too,” I whispered.
His breath left him like I had hit him.
“But I need you to understand something,” I said, my voice shaking. “I can’t be with someone who disappears when things get hard. I can’t spend my life waiting to see if fear wins every time there’s a cost.”
“It won’t. I can promise I won’t choose fear for both of us again.”
Hunter met me halfway. His hand came to my waist slowly, like he was giving me time to change my mind.
My fingers curled into his shirt, and for one second, we just stood there breathing the same air.
Then he lowered his head and pressed his lips to mine.
This time, he felt familiar. He kissed me softly at first, muttering how much he missed me.
I ran my fingers through his hair, missing the soft strands beneath my fingers.
Then the kiss grew deeper as hunger built low in my belly.
I made a soft sound into his mouth, and his arm tightened around me.
“Catherine,” he breathed.
“I need you,” I whispered.
His forehead rested against mine. “Are you sure?”
“No,” I said, because it was the truth. “But I choose you anyway.”
The green and gold in his eyes swirled together into an intoxicating deepness that reeled me in.
He kissed me again, and this time, he moved us back toward the couch.
He touched me like he had missed me with his whole body.
Like every inch of space from the past week had been something he needed to erase carefully, with his hands at my waist, my back, my face. I kissed him harder.
That was all it took for the hunger to take over. He took off my cover-up as I moved my hands to the hem of his T-shirt. I pulled it over his head as he pulled the cover-up over mine. We both paused for a moment, taking each other in. I took in every ripple of his muscles.
He hissed, “Seeing you in a bikini is going to be the end of me.”
“Like the Fourth of July?” I smirked.
His eyes widened.
“Did you know I was in my parents’ guesthouse that day?” I suddenly asked.
“No, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off you in that bikini,” he admitted.
“I could tell, which is what messed with my head,” I admitted.
“Is that why you had to go to the shower to get yourself off like a dirty girl?” he rasped.
“Yes,” I purred.
“Lie back on the couch, baby. Show me what thinking of me did to you,” he said.
I did as he asked.
“Move the bottoms to the side so I can see that pretty pussy. I missed it so much.”
His words made me so wet that my breathing picked up.
“That’s it. Slide two fingers between those lips. That’s it, baby, rub. Fuck, you’re making me so hard,” he groaned.
A loud moan escaped me. “Hunter.”
“I got you,” he said, kneeling before me on the floor.
He removed my bottoms and then dipped his head. The moment his tongue connected with my clit, a loud moan escaped me.
“I missed this pussy,” Hunter muttered as he licked me from seam to clit.
It didn’t take long for me to build. My moans grew louder.
“I want you coming on my cock,” Hunter said.
“Yes. Yes.”
He stopped, and I felt the loss of his tongue, but the anticipation of his cock inside me got me even more worked up. He stood and removed his shorts and boxers in one swoop. Then he sat on the couch. “Ride me, baby.”
I hadn’t even removed my bikini top yet, so I untied it and enjoyed his heated eyes on me as he took in my breasts.
Then I removed the bottoms. I sat spread-eagle on his lap.
We kissed for a minute, and I tasted myself on him.
It felt so good to be back in his arms. To feel this connected to him.
He rubbed and tweaked my nipples, which made me clench down below.
I was so ready for him when I guided his cock inside me.
We groaned together from the sensation of him filling me.
“I love you so much,” he said.
“I love you too,” I replied as we looked into each other’s eyes.
Then I began to move, and Hunter adjusted his hips so he could thrust deeper inside me.
Things built fast as we got lost in the fit of ecstasy.
His fingers dug into my waist, helping me ride him harder and faster.
My orgasm hit like a tsunami, pushing me over the edge.
I called out his name. I chased and chased this feeling that I had missed so much.
Then Hunter stiffened and came inside me, calling out my name like a prayer.
For a long time after, neither of us moved. Then I shifted, and Hunter stood up.
“I’ll get a towel or something to clean us up,” he said.
He returned with a damp towel and a smile.
His eyes looked lighter as he moved to clean me up first. After he cleaned himself, he sat back on the couch, and I crawled into his lap.
He cradled me, and I held my cheek against his heart and listened to the beats.
“We still have to deal with everything,” I said eventually.
“I know. I can talk to Tatum, Dr. Patel, and Wren,” he offered.
“Wren knows, but okay,” I replied.
I watched his eyes bug out.
“She knew we snuck into the towel closet too,” I said.
“Shit,” he hissed.
“Relax. She’s, my friend. She isn’t going to give us up,” I assured him.
“Okay,” he said. He caressed my hair.
“I want to finish my internship,” I said. “Then I go back to my fourth year in a few weeks. I’ll mostly be at the hospital, but I want to finish my research with the team.”
“You will,” he assured me. “I’m nearing the end of my career. I’m putting you first.”
“I don’t want that. I want us to talk things out and find solutions that make both of us happy.
I have to apply for my residency this year.
Internal medicine is three years, then a sports medicine fellowship is another year.
My career is important to me, and it takes up a lot of my time.
I want to make sure you know what you’re signing up for. ”
“I know, and I want to support your dreams, but where do Isla and I fit into that picture?” he asked, and I knew it was a hard question for him.
I placed a hand on his cheek. “You and Isla are my family. I love you both, and I know it’s going to be hard because I remember my dad making dinners and staying with babysitters or Aunt Paris because Mom was working in the hospital.”
“I get it.” He nodded. “We’re your family too. We’ll be there to support you. Whatever curveballs life throws us, we’ll deal with it together. For now, it would be better if we laid low until your internship is over. That way, the media won’t get hold of our business.”
“That makes sense,” I agreed.
“And I need to take you out on a real date.” He laced his fingers with mine.
“I’d like that a lot,” I smiled. “Now I think we better get dressed. Billie Rose has probably been pacing for the past hour, worrying about me.”
“They’re going to know we just had sex,” Hunter grinned.
“It’s fine. We’re all adults.”
“Liv is like a sister to me,” he winced. “I was like ten when she was born.”
“Old man, I’m practically the same age as Liv,” I laughed.
We got dressed and cleaned up. We walked out of the guest house and went straight for the pool area.
Hunter said hello to the girls, then kissed me on the lips. The girls made oohing sounds from the water. Then he said he’d be in touch after he spoke to management. He also told me to be ready for a date tonight.
“We can’t really go anywhere without the media finding out about us,” I brought to his attention.
“Leave the logistics to me,” Hunter replied.
“Have a good day,” he waved to my friends.
I watched him walk off. Damn, he had a fine ass. Once he was gone, the girls were on my case, asking every imaginable question, starting with Billie Rose.
“Did you have sex on every surface of the guest house?” she asked.
“No,” I said quickly, and she blew out a breath. “Just the couch.”
“Okay, new couch it is,” she laughed.
I didn’t share much about what went down in the guest house, but I did assure my girls that Hunter and I were in a good place. I spent the rest of the day smiling, swimming, and enjoying time with my friends, but most of all, I was excited for a future with Hunter.