Easy to Love You (24 page)

“Take me to bed handsome.” she said with that look that said everything she was thinking.

I tipped my head to Bentley and Nikki, who laughed at CC when she jumped into my arms. I carried her to the bathroom instead of to bed; I knew she was going to wake up with a horrible hangover tomorrow. She hated drinking beer and she bitched about it smelling like feet all night long but still drank it anyway.

When I walked into the bathroom I pushed the toilet seat down and then set CC on it. I reached into the shower and turned on the water; CC took off her shirt and bra and was now sitting in just her yoga pants. I adjusted the water, making sure it wasn’t too cold, I needed to sober her up a bit before bed.

When it was just right, I reached behind me and pulled my shirt over my head, threw it on the floor and then worked on getting my pants off while CC stood and did the same.

I grabbed her hand and led her into the shower.

“I love you.” CC said as she ran her hands up my chest and then back down over my stomach.

“I love you more baby.”

And then we both lost ourselves in each other, taking our time, covering each part of our bodies, being mindful of our fresh tattoos, until we were both shaking. When the water started cooling we turned the water off, dried and I sat CC back down on the toilet seat. I’ve only ever dried her hair once but I knew she’d loved it and tonight I was doing everything in my power just to prove to her how much I loved her. I was worshipping her.

I hope she understood why I was keeping this secret from her but I had a feeling she wouldn’t, and if this was the last night that we got like this, I was staying up all night instilling into her just how deep my love for her ran.

When I woke up the next morning, wrapped in Hunter’s arms, something felt off. I can’t explain the feeling but it was there nonetheless. I turned to look at his face and was surprised to find him awake.

“Mmm, morning,” I said as I snuggled a little closer to him. “What are you doing awake already?”

He tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear, “I never went to sleep.”

I looked up at him more intently. Studying his face now, I saw that his eyes were bloodshot and he just looked tired, “How come? I thought we wore each other out.” I smiled a devious smile. He did things to me last night I hadn’t known were possible, and I had the soreness as a friendly reminder.

He shrugged his shoulders, “I was just watching you sleep, you looked so peaceful.” He kissed my forehead and I sighed.

I glanced over his shoulder towards the window; it was still dark but the pinks of the sun were just starting to show. I threw the covers off us, “Come on. I want to go watch the sunrise.”

Hunter got up off the bed. I tried not to look at his perfectly sculpted back and ass, but I couldn’t help myself. He turned, sensing my eyes I assumed, and smiled sadly at me. I’m not sure what was going on with him but I needed to figure it out. We were at the place where we were finally able to be together and now he was sad.

I slipped on my yoga pants and layered them under a pair of Hunter’s sweat pants for warmth, then I pulled on my tank top followed by a T-shirt. I dug two pairs of socks out of the duffle bags, grabbed my Nike Shox and went to sit on the bed to put them on.

I eyed Hunter in the bathroom brushing his teeth. After my sneakers were on I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his core. “Tell me what’s wrong? Did something happen last night? Did I do something wrong?” I honestly didn’t think I had, but maybe I did without knowing.

He spit the toothpaste in the sink and rinsed his mouth, then he turned and wrapped me up in his brawny arms but still didn’t answer the question. I moved my arms from under his and reached up to cup his cheeks. That’s when I saw it, the storm in his eyes; something was definitely wrong. Yet another reason I loved his eyes, they were my answer for everything, even the stuff he was shutting me out of. I’ll give him time and he’ll tell me. He always does at some point.

I reached up on my tip toes, placed a soft kiss on his lips and then backed up so I could brush my teeth. Hunter sighed loudly behind me before he walked out and got dressed. When my teeth were clean, my face washed and hair thrown up in a ponytail, I walked over to the chair that was in the corner of the room where Hunter’s old couch used to be. Draped over it was the last piece of clothing I needed to put on, my pink and black Roxy hoodie.

I looked over my shoulder at Hunter, “You ready?”

He nodded.

I walked over and grabbed his hand; he led me downstairs, through the kitchen and out on the deck. He closed the sliding glass doors behind me and we made our way down to the beach, just in time to watch the sunrise over the ocean.

The wind was whipping my face and I shivered from the chill that crept through my layers of clothing. Hunter tucked me in to his side while keeping his eyes cast out over the ocean. He was a million miles away. I did the only thing I knew to bring him back to me. I slid my hand from the middle of his back slowly down and over to the left. I hesitated for a second, not sure if I should because my hands were freezing but I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sure, if anything, it would help with the slight sting from it being freshly done. I reached under his sweatshirt and T-shirt and gently placed my hand over his tattoo. He tensed for a second but soon relaxed, taking a deep breath and then letting it out.

He still wasn’t looking at me, but he followed my lead, reaching under my layers and covering my tattoo with his hand. This was the reason I’d wanted the tattoos inked in these spots. I felt like I could do exactly what the tattoo said. I could conquer the world with one hand as long as he was holding the other.

Even after the sun had been up for a little while I was still shaking from the freezing temperature. Reluctantly, we walked back into the house, hand in hand.

We were greeted by Nikki cooking breakfast in the kitchen, “Good morning.”

“Good morning, need some help?” I asked as I pulled my hoodie over my head and kicked off my shoes, not wanting to track sand all over the house.

“Um, sure if you want to, you can start working on the eggs,” she said as she took the lid off a pan to flip the bacon.

Hunter reached out for my hoodie, and I handed it over. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to him, kissed me, then said, “I’m going to run this upstairs and jump in the shower to warm up.”

I placed another kiss on his lips, “Okay, love you.”

He gave me a half smile, “Love you too.”

He walked away and I shuffled off to the kitchen to get started. I’d pulled out the eggs, bowl and whisk and placed it on the counter when Nikki turned towards me abruptly.

“I hope this isn’t weird. I’m not sure what you heard about that night but I want you to know that Hunter is…” she paused for a moment before she continued, “I’m not even sure what to call him. He saved me from getting raped that night. He could have walked away, turned his head and acted like nothing happened, but he didn’t. If it wasn’t for him, I’m not sure how I would have fared. You’re lucky to have him.”

Wow, I knew something had happened to her but I wasn’t exactly sure what. It wasn’t in Hunter’s nature to just act like he didn’t see anything. He was a protector, my fierce protector.

I glanced over at her. She appeared shy, but deep down I think she was stronger than she gave herself credit for. I honestly don’t know how I would’ve ever dealt with that. “I’m sorry for what you went through.” I grinned, thinking about my man upstairs, “I think I’m pretty lucky too.”

“Just remember that some of us are still looking for what you have.” She stirred the bacon again while I cracked the eggs into the bowl. “Ok, enough deep stuff; tell me about this wedding you’re planning.”

And so I told her all my visions of how I wanted my wedding planned. We laughed, got teary eyed and laughed some more. She promised me that no matter where she was, she would come to our wedding. I really liked Nikki; she was pretty awesome once she let her guard down.

Breakfast was all set on the table so I went to go round up the troops. I banged on Bentley’s door first, then Mason and Hailey, which was a mistake because I heard shit that I really didn’t want to. Last, I slipped into my room in search of Hunter. I thought he would’ve been out of the shower by now but he wasn’t.

I opened the bathroom door and the steam from the bathroom engulfed me. “Hunter?” I called in, blindly.

He didn’t answer right away. I walked closer to the shower and reached for the curtain with a shaky hand. Pulling it back, slow panic swept through me. Hunter had his arms folded up against the wall with his head resting on them. “Hunter?” I said again, gently this time.

He still didn’t answer me, didn’t move.

I stepped back and stripped my clothes off. I adjusted the water because he had it scorching hot, and when it cooled I climbed in behind him. I ran my hands up his back and his muscles tensed; I did this a few times before he started to relax, then I placed my hands on either side of his hips and turned him. He let me.

“We need to talk,” he whispered before cupping my cheeks and kissing me.

I knew this. I’d felt it the second my eyes fluttered open this morning.

I took a deep breath, preparing myself. “Okay.”

I kissed her again. Damn; I didn’t want to do this. It was time though, I needed to pop our bubble and tell her the truth.

Her stomach growled, I chuckled, “Let’s get you something to eat first.”

She didn’t argue, thank God. She doesn’t cope well with shitty news and I knew she wouldn’t eat for a while after this. We dried off, got changed and went to go get some breakfast.

Everyone was already downstairs at the table, eating. Hailey’s head snapped up when we walked in but she didn’t say anything. Mason eyed me, waiting for an answer on whether or not I’d told her, I shook my head. He nodded and went back to eating.

The energy at the table was low. It’s like everyone knew what was coming. The only shitty part was that CC didn’t. I barely ate. I pushed my eggs around on my plate and only drank half my orange juice; CC noticed but didn’t comment.

I stood up, dumped my plate in the trash and went back upstairs to our room. CC didn’t follow me but I knew she would when she was ready. Waiting for CC to join me, I packed up our bags getting everything ready in case she wanted to leave right away.

A while later there was a tap at the door, Hailey peeked her head in. “Can I come in?”

I nodded and resumed my position in the chair with my elbows on my knees.

Hailey walked in and quietly shut the door, “You ok?”

I shook my head. I was fucked up, and I was about to hurt the one person I’d never wanted to hurt.

“I’m going to be honest with you. Kenz and I are a lot alike, you know this.” She took a deep breath. “If it was me, I’d run.” She sat on her knees in front of me. “I’d be running because I’m hurt and angry that you didn’t trust me enough with the truth.” She covered my hands with both of hers. “But…I’d come back. I don’t know how long I’d be gone, but I would be back.”

I stared at her, gauging her, trying to figure out if there was any chance that she’d be lying to me. I didn’t see anything but understanding.

“I know I break your balls all the time, Hunter, and I may be a pain in your ass, but I love you like I love the rest of them. I’m not going anywhere, and I’ll help you anyway I can.” She sat up on her knees, placed a kiss on my cheek and got up to leave the room.

CC walked in behind her, head hung low. She sat on the bed and patted the spot next to her. I got up off the chair and sat beside her.

“Look, I know whatever is going to be said isn’t good. I’m not sure I really care what it is.” She shook her head. “No, I do care. If it has to do with our family, the three of us, I want to know.”

She’s feeling me out; damn, the ache in my chest was getting stronger and stronger. “It does.”

She closed her eyes; shoulders slumped, “Okay. Just…whatever it is, know that I love you.”

Damn, my eyes stung. “Okay, before I start I need you to promise me that you will listen to the whole story. Know that I did this for us, our family.”