Trying Not to Love You (26 page)

It was around dinnertime when we arrived home on Sunday. When we were home from school, everyone hung out at our house. This would work in our favor, because with our whole family around, I would not have to worry about anything getting out of control.

Hunter turned off the truck but didn't make a move to get out; he reached over and grabbed my hand. "No matter what happens when we step foot out of this truck, just know I love you and nothing will ever change that, nothing."

A few tears fell from my eyes; I knew with those words that there were going to be problems. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hands and smiled over at him while saying. "I love you too." I took one deep breath and let it out slowly. "Ok let's go face the music."

We walked into the house hand in hand; everyone had gathered at the table, just about ready to eat. I did not look anyone in the eye when we walked in. I went directly into the kitchen, still holding Hunter's hand. I was thankful he had not dropped it yet. I knew he would and when he did, a little piece of my heart would stop.

Mason, Cooper and Jackson were standing by the stove quietly talking. When they noticed we had walked in, they stopped and all three scowled at us. I expected the least amount of problems with Cooper because he and Jaylinn were together.

"We need to talk." Jackson spoke up first.

Hunter and I nodded in agreement. Mason looked from Hunter to me and then back to Hunter before he shook his head and walked out. Great!

The four of us walked outside to the garage. No one said anything for a few minutes, no one wanting to address the elephant in the room.

I decided I needed to speak up first and at least address Cooper, who had no valid argument. "Look I know you guys don't like the idea of me and Hunter. You have your own reasons and I don't completely understand but whatever. Coop, you can't even put up a fight since Hunter knows you're with Jaylinn. He knows you will take care of her even with your track record." This conversation had me worked up. "From the day he found out about you and her in the kitchen, he hasn't said shit to you about it. And now, you're going to start shit because he and I are together?"

Cooper looked over at Jackson and then back at me. "I know and I don't really have a problem with it. I know he'll treat you right, but I know he broke your heart once before too and that's what I don't like." He looked at Hunter and continued. "You're like a brother to me; you are a brother to me. Don't break my sister's heart, and we won't have a problem."

Hunter nodded and said, "Same goes to you; just because I'm not giving you shit for going after my sister doesn't mean I don't give a shit if she gets hurt. You know she has shitty taste in guys. I'm pretty sure you beat the shit out of a few of them."

I looked at Jackson, waiting for his reasoning. He looked in Hunter's direction and said, "Look, I don't have a problem with this. Yeah, it bothers me a little because she's my sister, but you're already family. I don't have to worry about someone looking after her and protecting her." He looked at me and said, "We aren't your problem, Mason is. He hates this. We tried to talk to him, but he's not hearing us. Maybe if you talked to him one on one he might listen."

"Yeah alright, I'll try." I walked over to Cooper and Jackson, and gave them both a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek.

I grabbed Hunter's hand and whispered, "Two down, one to go."

He scratched his head and said, "Um, make that two to go. Your dad still hasn't said a word to either of us."

Jackson chuckled, slapped Hunter on the shoulder and said, "He's easy. Just have Kenzie bat her eyelashes. It's always works."

Laughing, I told him, "Shut up, you're just jealous."

The four of us walked back in the kitchen, grabbed something to eat and sat at the table with everyone else. Mason was still missing but Hailey was there and mouthed, "Sorry." I shrugged my shoulder and gave her a small smile, because there was nothing she could do. She gave me my weekend alone with Hunter, and I could not ask for anything more than that.

After dinner was all done, the girls and I were cleaning up and doing the dishes. I heard the front door open and slam shut. I snapped my head over to Hailey, knowing who it was. She shook her head, dried her hands and went after Mason. I gave her a few minutes before following her out.

When I walked into the sitting room, it was chaos. Mason and Hunter were nose to nose. Jackson and Cooper both had a hold of them so no one would take a swing. Both were yelling at each other. My dad walked up behind me and broke them up.

"Mason walk away now!" He yelled at Mason.

"This is my fucking house. I'm not going anywhere. He can fucking leave," Mason yelled back at my dad.

I looked over at Hunter. He looked at me and shoved Jackson's arm off him. "Fine, I'll fucking go." Then he stormed past me towards the front door.

"Wait, Hunter, don't go." He was not stopping, so I ran after him. "Wait, I'll go with you. Just let me grab my shoes."

I ran into the dining room where I left my Uggs and quickly put them on. When I stepped back in the hallway, my dad was there talking to Hunter while Mason was yelling something at someone.

"Daddy," I started to say, but he cut me off.

"Baby girl, just go upstairs." He said angrily.

Well he was still calling me Baby girl, so he wasn't pissed at me. Not wanting to push him any further, I walked off towards my room. Before I walked out, I turned to look at Hunter who was looking at me. I mouthed, "I love you," trying to remind him of what he said in the truck to me.

Hailey came into my room a few minutes after me; I was lying on my bed staring up at the ceiling.

She laid down next to me and sighed. "I'm sorry he's being such an asshole about this. He ruined the whole weekend for all of us once he figured out that you and Hunter were doing your own thing. When he saw the text, he just lost it." She turned on her side to face me. "The message popped up in the screen, so it's not like he was snooping or anything."

"It's ok, I shouldn't have responded." I turned to look at her. "Thanks for helping me though."

She sat up and had a huge smile on her face. "So, tell me everything!"

"Oh my God Hails, it was perfect; he was perfect." I sat up and stretched my legs out in front of me. "I'm so glad I waited for him. I can't even explain to you how I feel about him now after this weekend."

"Aww, I wish the asshole didn't ruin my weekend though. I had plans for us."

Groaning, I said, "Please don't, I don't want to hear it."

She laughed at me and said, "See we can get along, why the hell can't they?"

Shaking my head, I say, "I don't know Hails. I knew this was going to mess shit up with Hunter and me though. I just hope he doesn't choose them over me."

"Don't even think like that Kenz, seriously. If he wasn't serious about you, he wouldn't have gone away with you, and I am pretty damn sure he would have left by now."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I really hope she is right.

Hailey and I talked about everything we did during the weekend for a while before my dad appeared in my doorway.
Damn!
I wonder how long he has been standing there. I hoped not that long, or he would now know that Hunter and I slept together and that I was no longer a virgin.

Hailey climbed off the bed and excused herself. When she passed my dad, he walked in, sat on the end of my bed and patted the spot next to him.

"You know I love you baby girl." I nodded. "I talked to Hunter and Mason. I don't know what good it did, but I tried. I don't like all this fighting. Are you sure that this is what you want? Mason seems to think you're going to get hurt for some reason."

"Dad I'm sure, even if it doesn't work out between me and Hunter, and I get my heart broken." I looked down to the floor. "I love him Dad."

My Dad sighed loudly and shook his head. "I thought so. You always did have a crush on him."

I looked over at him and he was smiling at me. "Just protect your heart baby girl. You know I already think of Hunter as a son and he has always looked out for you, so I'm leaving this to you two to figure out."

"Thanks Daddy, I love you." I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him.

"Love you too."

Hunter knocked on the open door and I waved him in. I let go of my dad and went to stand next to Hunter. "You ok?"

He looked at me, contemplating his answer. "Yeah."

My dad excused himself and left. I sat on the bed, pulled Hunter between my legs and I started massaging his shoulders.

"So what did Mase say?"

He tensed a little bit under my hands, "He told me I'm not good enough for you."

Sighing, I told him, "He's wrong Hunter. You are." I kissed the back of his neck and continued to rub his shoulders.

"I think I'm going to get out of here and let shit cool off." He stood up and pulled me up to wrap his arms around me. "I love you CC."

I reached up with both my hands and grabbed his face. "I love you too." I kissed him and then told him, "You give me the chills when you say that."

He looked at my arms to see the goose bumps, and then kissed me again. "Let me run downstairs to grab your bags."

"Oh right, I almost forgot."

We walked out to Hunter's truck to grab my bags, and passed Mason on the porch with Hailey on his lap. We stood behind Hunter's truck out of Mason's view. I kissed Hunter goodbye and asked him, "When are we leaving to head back school?"

"I'll be over around ten. I got class on Tuesday or I would stay for a few more days." He kissed me one last time and said, "Plus, I'm pretty sure Mason is ready to get rid of me."

"Stop it, he'll come around. I'm his sister; he can't stay mad forever." He grunted, climbed up into his truck and took off.

I grabbed my bag off the driveway, made my way back up to the porch and stopped in front of Mason and Hailey. "Mase, can we talk?"

Hailey tried to get up off his lap but he pulled her back so she couldn't move. Hailey looked down at him, and he looked up at her. She said, "You need to talk to her. Knock this shit off, Mase."

He looked at me and then back to her, and asked, "Talk to who?"

I stood there, stunned that he would say something like that to me. Hailey pushed his shoulder back, got up, and walked in the house. A second later, she came out with her purse and keys and told Mason, "I'm leaving. When you decide to grow up call me." Then she looked at me and said, "Love you Kenzie. I'll see you in the morning."

I didn't answer her, and she kept walking towards her car, I wasn't sure if I was going to cry or scream. Mason got up and pulled the door open with such force it banged against the house, and then I heard him say "Bitch."

After standing there for a few more minutes, I walked inside and threw myself into doing my laundry and cleaning up my room, before finally falling asleep.

The last two months had flown by in a haze. All my classes were going great; I was getting mostly A's and B's. Hailey and I had moved out of the dorms and moved in with Hunter and Bentley. We only stayed at the dorms once a week to make our presence known. I had offered Bentley money for Hailey and me staying there all the time but he told me as long as we cooked dinner 3 times a week that was payment enough. Otherwise, they would still be eating pizza every night.