“Do you usually light candles?” I commented.
“Only when I’m expecting a beautiful girl to come over.” He smiled at me conspiratorially before his eyes wandered to Luna eating near the foyer. “Girls,” he amended.
Be still, my heart. “Charmer.”
“I aim to please,” he repeated the same words from the night of Shaun’s party.
I fought the urge to squeeze Hunter in my arms and plant kisses all over his face. “What’s for dinner?”
“I’m making you a grilled cheese sandwich. My specialty.” He pulled out a few ingredients from his fridge, including a familiar red dish. “And I’m having your lasagna.” He cast an apologetic glance my way. “I didn’t get to try it yet.”
“That’s okay.” I gave him a reassuring grin. “I hope you enjoy it.”
“I know I will.”
When Hunter stood in front of the kitchen counter to prepare my dinner, I decided I wanted to watch him do so.
I hugged him from behind and pressed my cheek to his muscular arm.
Myprincipewas an endless hearth, providing warmth and shelter, and I’d been cold for too long.
Hunter dipped his face to lay a kiss on my head and then went about his task. Meticulously slicing fresh sourdough bread, spreading generous dollops of his homemade garlic butter on each side, caramelizing onions, and gathering a mixture of three cheeses, followed up by bundling the sandwich and dropping it carefully into a hot pan. Next to it, tomato soup was being reheated in a pot on the stovetop.
When he finished plating my food, I was close to a marriage proposal.
This man could cook, clean, drive, dress nice, and give me mind-numbing orgasms? He was too good to be true. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world, given the privilege to experience him.
“Thank you for making me dinner.” I peered up at him with—no doubt—hearts in my eyes, accepting the plate from his hands.
Hunter beamed. “You’re welcome, Gabby. Grab a seat. I’ll be with you in a moment.”
While he heated up two slices of my lasagna for himself, I boosted myself onto a bar stool by the kitchen island. His laptop sat on the granite surface, the screen open and displaying an instalment of the true-crime podcast I’d recommended to him. I gasped. “I’ve been meaning to listen to this week’s episode. Have you already started it?”
“Not yet.” He came to sit on the seat beside mine with his own plate and two glasses of water for us. “I thought we could listen to it together as we ate. I took notes from the previous episodes and I have some theories I’d like to share with you.”
“Are you officially a true-crime podcast convert now?”
“You’ve turned me into a fan.”
Hunter taking a sincere interest in my hobbies filled me with immense happiness. This particular podcast was created by a local woman in Montardor, about a girl who’d gone missing during a Halloween party. It was no secret that I loved spooky affairs and it appeared that I’d successfully coaxed Hunter to the dark side as well. “This is the best news I’ve heard all day.”
He smiled and took a sip of his water. “More than hearing I only joined that blasphemous class because of you?”
I could practically hear the blush in his voice, but thankfully no hints of self-deprecation.
“Thesecondbest news, actually.” I lovingly grazed a hand over his jaw. “Knowing what I know now, all I can say is thank you. For joining that class, for having the courage to tell me how you feel, and, I suppose, for seeing something worth pursuing in me.”
Hunter’s eyes narrowed a fraction. He didn’t know the full story, but he understood that my ex did a number on me. Enough for me to run away from commitment, to fear love except in platonic forms, and to not always see myself in a good light. For the most part, I was confident. But there was a tiny nugget within me that felt unworthy because of my past. It was the only logical explanation for my self-sabotage and though I knew it sucked to still feel this way, at least Hunter wouldn’t judge me for my flaws.
We were all a work in progress and masterpieces took time to build. I just hoped Hunter stuck around long enough to behold me in my finest, nonpareil form.
“If I ever see your ex again, I won’t be responsible for any damage I do.” His gaze glimmered with a dark quality. “Fuck him for making you feel less than stellar. I don’t care what you’ve been led to believe, but you’re worth it, Gabriela.” He drew a knuckle down my cheek. “Give me enough time to prove it to you.”
I kissed him in reply.
Luna joined us as we started eating. Hunter sighed at the first bite of my lasagna, his powerful jaw working as he chewed. “This is the greatest thing I’ve ever eaten, Gabby.”
I’d just taken a bite of the sandwich, my own taste buds singing at the flavour of garlic, cheese, and warm bread. “Funny, I was just about to say the same thing to you. This is the greatest grilled cheese and tomato soup I’ve ever had, in my unbiased opinion.”
