Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 234779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1174(@200wpm)___ 939(@250wpm)___ 783(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 234779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1174(@200wpm)___ 939(@250wpm)___ 783(@300wpm)
I want to tell him that’s not his job, but he goes on before I even get a chance.
“Turns out she was just making excuses, though. When I came to tonight… I lost it. I was fucking pissed. I grabbed the phone to call the cops. I didn’t even have to be the one protecting her this time. He had done enough damage that there’s no way he would’ve been allowed near us after that, but… she took the phone and begged me not to call. I didn’t get it. I’m so stupid, I believed her. I really thought she just wouldn’t leave him because she was afraid to.”
“That might be part of it,” I say carefully, but I definitely don’t want to take her side. With a mother like mine, I legitimately cannot begin to comprehend how his stepdad isn’t sitting in a jail cell right now. If someone ever did to me what Hunter’s stepdad did to him, that man might be the one with his head smashed against a sink because my mom would never in a million years put up with it.
Hunter shakes his head, staring off into nothing. “No. She was finally honest tonight. She sat on the edge of my bed, crying her eyes out. Not because of what he did to me, but at the prospect of losing him.” He pauses, inhaling slowly. I don’t know if it hurts to breathe deeply because of his physical injuries, or if the rest of what he has to say is just that heavy on his heart.
Then he answers my question and breaks my heart in half, but I’m not mad about it. I know his is broken, too.
“She told me she just loves him so much,” he says, his voice strained. He pauses to clear his throat and swallow, looking down at his lap and shaking his head. “And I guess… I guess I must be pretty stupid, because I thought she loved me.”
Tears well up in my eyes again, and this time, they start to fall. I take a labored breath and throw my arms around Hunter again, burying my face in his shoulder and holding on tight. I’m not careful this time. I can’t be. I just want to hold him and never let him go. I want to move him into my house and let my mom take better care of him than his stupid mom does. We might not have money, but what we have is much more valuable.
“I’m so sorry, Hunter,” I whisper.
I feel him nod in acknowledgment, his grip on me tightening.
“You don’t deserve this,” I tell him. “Your mom should protect you. She should love you and keep you safe. That’s her job. If she isn’t able or willing to do that, the problem is with her, not with you. Please believe that.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he grumbles, voice low. He’s still holding onto me so I don’t try to pull back.
“It does matter,” I say, wanting my disagreement to be firm despite the comfort I’m offering. I have no idea what to do in a situation like this, but I don’t ever want him to feel like it’s somehow his fault. I try to imagine what my mom would say to me in a position like this, but I can’t even get there mentally. I want to wake her up, because I’m sure she would know what to do, but Hunter needs me right now and I can’t bring myself to leave him.
He takes the cold compress off his eye and sets it down on the foot of my bed. He pulls away, so I start to lean back too, but before I can, his hand moves toward my face. He cradles it in one hand, his touch sending tremors of awareness shooting all through my body. The muscles in my legs even tauten, then a sensation stirs between them and startles the hell out of me.
My face heats up as Hunter guides me closer. My heart starts to pound as I realize he’s going to kiss me.
It’s definitely not how I envisioned my first kiss, but as we sit here on my bed in the dark, Hunter leans in and brushes his perfect lips against mine. It doesn’t matter that his lip is split open and probably tender; it doesn’t matter that I spent more time crying over him tonight than I’ve ever cried over any boy, and it doesn’t matter that the kiss is coming before the date. My expectations are completely obliterated, and this moment is so much more real than any I could have dreamed about.
I don’t feel nervous or self-conscious because of my own inexperience. I’m sure Hunter has probably kissed other girls before, but I know that none of them could ever measure up to what we have.