“I love you too, babe.” He gently pulled out of me and lay next to me in bed, pulling me into his side. “I’m sorry for everything, I really am. I wish we had spoken about this sooner. I hope that made up for the past years? I’ll agree, though. It was definitely worth the wait. Now, I think both of us need to get some rest, because now that I have you, I’m not letting you go. And I have plenty more dreams to bring to life throughout the night.”
I tried my hardest to stay awake. However, everything that had happened today was starting to take its toll. I lay my head down on Hunter’s chest and heard his heart beating a slow rhythm, lulling me to sleep.
It wasn’t long before my weariness won the battle, and I fell asleep in the arms of the man I had loved for my whole life.
Last night had been amazing.Waking up in Hunter’s arms was the best feeling of all, and it was something I wanted every day for the rest of my life.
Sex with him had been so different from when I was with Wayne. He was so much more considerate and caring, and I started to wonder if Wayne had ever loved me at all. I was starting to realise that I was just a cash point to him, or a way he could get off when his secretary was unavailable.
I knew Hunter loved me. Not only had he shown me many times during the night, but when I looked back, I recognised the looks he had given me over the years before Elliott died.
Hunter had gone down to make breakfast for us as I lay here. I knew I would have to get up soon, but part of me just wanted to stay here all day. I knew that couldn’t happen, though, and decided that I had given him more than enough time to get ready, so I got out of bed and grabbed the clothes he had given me last night.
I got dressed and headed downstairs, finding him in the kitchen just finishing breakfast. I walked over to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
He turned and smiled. “I put your phone on charge over there. It’s been going off for the past thirty minutes with calls and text messages from Wayne. I was going to answer it, but didn’t want to cause you any more problems.”
I grabbed the phone and saw there were ten missed calls, and even more texts from him ranging from anger to complete desperation. I chose not to answer any of them or listen to any of the voice messages he had left. I saw only one message from my mum, which surprised me. However, when I read it, I understood why.
Mum: Hunter let us know you were at his place. Call us when you get up and let us know what’s happening. Also, Wayne has called a few times. I said I didn’t know where you were and acted worried. I wanted him to suffer thinking something had happened to you.
I giggled a little. My mum could be extremely petty when she wanted to be. From Wayne’s messages, I could tell he was already panicking and had probably called the police. I would have loved to see what they thought about him wasting their time when they heard the truth. I decided I would send him a text saying I was fine and staying with a friend, which wasn’t a lie, then blocked his number.
“Everything okay?” Hunter asked.
“Yes. I think he has gone through every emotion. Anger, regret, and begging. I sent him a message saying I was staying with a friend, as he had been contacting my mum. Now I have blocked his number. I never want to speak to or see him again.”
He placed my breakfast down in front of me, leaned down, and pressed a kiss to my lips. “I’m glad to hear that. Now, eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”
We ate breakfast together in relative silence. I noticed the more time we sat here, the more distant Hunter seemed to become. This wasn’t unusual for him, especially if something was worrying him. I had seen it plenty of times before. He got up from the table when he finished his breakfast and looked out the window.
“The weather looks to have eased, so I can take you to see your parents today. They are worried about you.”
I suddenly felt sad; I wanted to stay here with him. I had thought after last night that he would have wanted that too, but it seemed he didn’t.
Was everything he had told me a lie just to get me into bed?
On the other hand, was he just starting to feel the regret and guilt of the promise he’d made to my brother?
I decided not to mention anything. I knew when he felt like this, he would work through it himself and then talk it through with me.
There was always the chance that he wanted to talk to my dad first before he committed to a relationship with me. However, this time, I wouldn’t let him wallow in his own thoughts. I would give him a few days before I came back and made him talk.
My voice sounded less than confident when I spoke. “Okay.”
He turned around and looked at me with sadness in his eyes. “I’m going to head up and get dressed. Take as long as you like. We don’t have to rush out.”
With that, he walked out of the kitchen and headed upstairs, and I was alone again with my thoughts.
Why had Elliott made things so difficult for me? Couldn’t he see what that promise would do to us? Hunter may have not been the right man for me, but who was he to make that decision for us? At least without that promise, we could have lived a normal, happy life, even if it was one as friends. Instead, we had lost everything we built in our teenage years and thrown it away.
I sat there for a moment, all the pain of yesterday evening returning. I wasn’t going to allow Elliott to dictate our lives anymore. He was no longer here and didn’t get a say in my life. No matter how hard it was, I was going to make Hunter see that not only were we good together, but that we did belong together and always had.
CHAPTER 8
Hunter
When we arrivedat Bryan and Lily’s, I could tell Ember was upset that I was taking her to her parents and not letting her stay with me. However, I needed to do this. I needed to visit Elliott’s grave and talk to him. I knew it sounded funny, but I loved Ember and I needed to make peace with him over breaking my promise. I knew I couldn’t get his blessing now that he was gone, but I at least needed to tell him the truth for my own sanity.
