“What?” Tiffany glares at me. “And you think that the world needs more Vivian Wards? Honey, men up here don’t just come down off their white horse for just any whore.”
“If you don’t…” Victoria begins to shout as she sets her drink down on a nearby table. She takes a fighting stance but is cut off as the loud roar of someone to our side stops her.
“That’s enough,” Hunter shouts, causing everyone around us to look and stare.
Victoria softens, but still stands alert as Tiffany refuses to leave. Time drags as the woman before us refuses to tear her hateful stare from my eyes. Hunter takes a few steps forward making her finally snap out of her spiteful trance and turn his way.
“Huntie, I am just trying to look out for you, lover,” Her affectionate name for him makes me sick. Apparently it has the same effect on him, because Hunter shutters. Tiffany grabs a hold of his arm, but he tears her from his side and pulls me into him.
“Have more respect, Tiffany,” he says sternly, as he plants a kiss on my temple. “I was never your lover. Not then, and sure as hell not now.”
She huffs in annoyance, but doesn’t tear her eyes off him, or how he’s clutching me close. I start to pull away, but Hunter maintains his firm grip on my side and tugs me closer. Glancing up, he affectionately looks into my eyes. I melt knowing that she can say all she wants, but he is mine, and there is nothing she can do about it. He only has eyes for me.
“But Huntie,” she whines.
“Save it,” Victoria yells. “You might be here as a guest, Tiffany, but that doesn’t mean your presence is wanted. By me, or Hunter!”
Tiffany stomps her foot, as if her mini temper tantrum would change any of our minds. She waits, for what seems like almost an eternity, before huffing off the way she came.
Forcibly turning me around, Hunter searches my face. Worry fills his eyes.
“Are you okay, Angel?” He questions, before pulling me back into his arms. “Thanks, V,” he says over my shoulder when I still have yet to respond. “I didn’t think that I would be gone that long and wasn’t expecting Tiffany to bee-line it for her the second she stepped foot in the house. I only saw her coming up the steps a few minutes ago from the office.”
A foreign feeling, that feels a lot like anger, makes me pull back from his embrace. Maybe it’s due to the way I feel like he is talking over me as if I am not even here. Maybe it’s due to the way I saw Victoria stand up to Tiffany and wish I could have some more courage of my own. But something inside me snaps, and I waste no time making my sudden irritation known.
“I’m not a porcelain doll that you need to protect,” I say harshly.
He looks at me stunned and backs away momentarily before a small smile graces his face.
“I know that, Angel.”
“I can stand up for myself, Hunter.”
“I know that, too,” he stutters, as he drops me from his arms. “But I also know if I can protect you in any way, any way at all, I am going to do it. Regardless of if you like it or not. That’s a promise, Rochelle.”
His statement softens me for a moment, but the feeling of self-hatred starts to bubble up again. I always hide. Always find the back corner to shield myself away from the world.
I don’t know if it is Hunter’s confidence in me, or a newfound confidence in myself, but I don’t want to hide anymore.
“My step-brother, Hunter Alexander, always so demanding,” Victoria teases. I look back over my shoulder at her and smile. I like this girl. I can see her and me becoming friends. That’s maybe a first for me, ever.
“Watch it V, you might be like the little sister I never had, but that won’t stop me from shutting you up,” Hunter laughs, as he pulls me flush against him. Hesitance hangs in his stare, and I know I was the one that put it there. My stance softens. I melt into him and let him take over my world. His gaze changes to one of admiration and love, and I can’t help but blush.
“Watch it, that mouth got you into a lot of trouble throughout the years,” Victoria sasses, “Especially when I’d join in, we’d give my parents hell, and enjoyed every damn minute of it. Even the punishments.”
“Now, that’s the truth,” Hunter laughs.
“Especially since you were always the one I could blame everything on,” Victoria continues. “It was perfect seeing as your ass was always getting into trouble and they’d never suspect little ol’ me.”
Hunter laughs. A slight giggle escapes my lips. I look between him and Victoria and grow envious, wishing I had someone that I could have grown up with, got into trouble with, been able to talk to when the kids at school threw their lunches at me, spit at me, and called me rotten names.
“But now,” Victoria says, looking at me and smiling. “I see who is causing you all the trouble, Hunt.”
Normally, I would feel ashamed by her comment. Like what I was doing was wrong, and I needed to stop. Change. But her reassuring look makes me stand tall, and so I suck up the newfound confidence and smile back.
She walks a few steps toward Hunter. “I like her,” she says as she pats him on the shoulder. “Don’t screw it up, or you’ll have more than just her making you regret it for the rest of your life.”
She gives me a soft smile before taking her leave.
