Page 67 of Strut

He put a finger to my lips. “Shhh. It’s okay. I should never have left that out where you could see it. It’s not a list of what I want you to do—” He grimaced when I raised a brow and looked a little sheepish. “Well, okay, maybe I’m hoping you might consider doingsomethingon there, but in the end it’s your choice and Iwillrespect that, I promise. I just wanted you to have options ready when it came time to think about it. And to be honest, if I didn’t do something last night, I was tempted to find where Darcy lives and beat the ever-loving shit out of him.” He shrugged. “The list seemed the better option.”

I managed a grin and kissed him again, lingering against his warm lips. Then I pulled back and took his hand. “Let’s go back to the apartment.”

He breathed out a long, slow breath and nodded to my knapsack. “Were you running away from home?”

I snorted softly. “Maybe. Kind of. It was stupid.”

“Not stupid at all. Your place or mine?” It was a simple question with a lot behind it and Hunter wasn’t giving anything away.

But I didn’t have to think. “Yours. I want to be with you. I can’t face the others.” I didn’t tell him that what I really meant was that home had suddenly become wherever he was. Go figure.

He looked relieved. “You need to call Tim. I texted him when I saw you up here so he could stop worrying, but he’ll be on my case if you don’t call.”

I frowned. “You’ve talked with Tim?”

He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them again, cheeks pink. “Yeah, well, I might’ve gone to the apartment looking for you.”

A wave of guilt crashed through me. “Shit, I’m sorry. I should’ve left a note. I was just angry and—”

“You kind of wanted to worry me?”

Heat raced across my face. “Maybe? God, I’m such a child.” A thought occurred to me. “Just howdidyou find me?”

“You said you went to parks to think, and I knew you loved it up here, and it was close to the apartment. Once I knew you hadn’t gone to your own place, I took a chance on here.” He shrugged. “I walked the whole length, including all the access points down to the street level and nearby cafés, but I never saw you. I was on my way back home when I saw you sitting here.”

“I went into the Chelsea Markets for a coffee not long ago. You probably passed when I was in there. I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologising. As long as you’re okay?” He took my hand and pulled me to my feet.

I went straight into his arms and buried my face in his neck. “I am. Kind of. At least I feel better after talking to Rhys. And I want to look at your list again.”

Hunter pulled back and studied me, a deep ridge between his eyes. “Are you sure?”

Was I? Who the fuck knew?I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just want to look.”

“Okay.” He cradled my face and stared into my eyes from just inches away. “Just please, don’t leave me like that again. I was so fucking worried, Alec. If I screw up, then tell me. We can work it out. But don’t just... leave.”

I stared at him, cataloguing every crease and smile line on his face, every twist of emotion I hadn’t expected to find in his eyes. “You didn’t sign up for this, Hunter.” I ran my hand up his jaw, relishing the unruly overnight scruff he hadn’t yet trimmed. “Regardless of what happens, I’m a freaking mess right now. AndifI do decide to take this further, I won’t have your business affected as well.” I lowered my hand, immediately missing the feel of his rough jaw in my palm. “It might be better for you to step back for a bit.”

Hunter laughed, loud and hard, and it kind of shocked me. “Oh, is that right?” he mocked me, eyes narrowed on mine. “Well, that’s just too bad because I’m all in here, Alec. Read my lips. You and me? I’m. All. In. So you can take your might-be-better-for-you speech and shove it.”

My eyes shot wide and I opened my mouth to say... who knew what... but Hunter barrelled right on.

“I know.” He raised his palms. “It’s probably not the best time to tell you, but it’s how I feel. Let me be here for you, please. Tell me to back off if you need to. I don’t pretend I’m any good at this.” He hesitated, his eyes on mine, brown on blue, clear and present. “But I want to be, Alec. For you, I definitely want to be.”

Well, shit.Any protest I was about to make was drowned out by the inconvenient hammering of my heart against my ribs. I leaned in to kiss him long and slow and his arms slipped around my waist as mine circled his shoulders. He tasted of the night’s sleep and worry and too many promises to think about. And when we were done, I rested our foreheads together and let his warm breath wash over my lips.

“I’d like that very much.” I brushed our noses together. “You’re better at this than you think. A lot better. And I’m all in too, just so you know.”

“Just as well.” He kissed me again, then took my hand. “Come on. Let’s head back. You can call Tim on the way. And just for the record, ‘I’m okay’ is not an acceptable answer to text a frantic boyfriend. Not even close. I’m making it a rule. Just saying.”

Boyfriend, huh?I smiled at how easily the word rolled off his tongue. And yeah, I could live with that.

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

Hunter

When we got backto the apartment, I bustled Alec into the shower to warm him up as much as anything else. His hands were solid blocks of ice even though the sun had turned the day into a crisp fall stunner. I laid some fresh clothes on the bed for when he was done, and then, with Alec’s permission, I Skyped Rhys for some advice. For me.

---