Page 101 of The Confidant
“Wish me luck,” Hunter said under his breath as he scooted his chair back.
“Good luck.” I set my phone back down on my lap, ready to give Hunter my full attention. I hadn’t asked him what his presentation was about, but it was sure to be good since Hunter always did a great job at everything he did.
Hunter walked to the podium with his iPad. As he started talking about the power of non-verbal communication, using his hands as he spoke, my mind was instantly transported back to yesterday and the way he’d held me with those same hands in the side-by-side.
When I’d suggested we ride in the side-by-side together, I hadn’t considered what sitting so close to him would feel like again. But it had felt absolutely incredible—even if my heart had felt like it might explode at a few points.
The whole afternoon had been amazing, actually. We’d laughed and joked around as we hiked to the top of the waterfall, which was something we’d needed again after so much angst the past few weeks. But even though we were joking one minute, as soon as he was helping me make sure my climbing harness was on just right, the sparks immediately flickered back to life.
I was probably weird for being so into it, but even as I lay down to sleep last night, my mind had still wandered to the way he’d tightened the straps around my waist and tugged on the loops to make sure I was secure.
And the way I’d felt when his hands had lingered on my hips before sliding across my lower back was probably sinful all on its own.
Mmmm. I closed my eyes for a second. I could almost feel his fingers grazing across the exposed skin on my back now. He’d only been doing it to adjust the hem of my shirt—making sure I was comfortably modest for my rappel. But yeah, I had a feeling that the innocent brush of his fingers would be playing over and over in my head until the next time I found an excuse for it to happen again.
Ah, I wanted to kiss him again so bad.
Even if it was just once.
Hunter kept talking, going into more depth about positive and negative non-verbal communication. And when he ran his hand through his hair as he tried to think of a word, giving it a slightly tousled look, I couldn’t help but think that he looked super sexy today.
Like, how had I managed to keep things in the friend zone for so long when he was so unbelievably attractive?
I let my gaze follow the veins extending from under his rolled-up sleeves, admiring the way they wrapped around his strong forearms. I liked being in those arms.
I studied his jawline as he spoke, loving how strong and masculine it was now.
I watched his lips as he formed the words I couldn’t concentrate on right now.
And then I shifted my focus to the turquoise-green eyes that lit me up every time they were looking my way.
How was it possible for someone to be so attractive? Like, every single thing about him was my exact type.
His eyes were perfect. His hair was perfect. His arms were perfect. His hands were perfect. His legs were perfect. His butt was perfect.
Yes, I was totally lusting after him, which was a sin according to one of the church magazines I’d read last month…
But man, God had really outdone himself when he made Hunter because he was perfection in human form.
Hunter kept talking. I must have had the devil rise up in me or something, because before I could think better of it, I was picking up my phone again and typing out a text that I knew would pop up as a notification on Hunter’s iPad.
Me:You look really hot today.
I hitsend.I knew the exact moment he read the text because his eyes dipped down to the podium, and in the second that it would take to read the flirty text, he suddenly started stuttering through his sentence like he’d lost his train of thought.
He regained his composure in a bit, but since I couldn’t help myself, I texted:You have sexy arms.
And just like with the first text, his words stuttered for a moment before he swallowed.
When he shot me a bewildered glance, I knew I had to send another text to make my message clear.
He was hot and I wanted him.
So bad.
I texted without looking at my phone, just watching him since his reactions were making my heart pound harder.
Me:You make non-verbal communication sound so hot.
