Page 34 of Falling With a Spin

Looking at me, Hunter raises his eyebrows and moves over to close the distance, leaving just a sliver of space.

“Food has been ordered. It will be here shortly.” He says, smiling at me. There’s a small dimple that peeks out. It captures my attention, and I can’t seem to look away. When I catch myself staring, I give my attention back to the TV.

“Want to watch something while we wait?” I ask.

“Sure, that sounds good to me.” He leans back against the couch, crossing one leg over the other.

“Cool!”

Cool? That’s all you could say?

I mentally slap myself for being so dumb.

I turn the TV back on, and the show from earlier starts playing. It’s one of my favorites from HGTV, Tiny House Hunters. There’s just something so cute about little houses and people living in them.

Halfway through our third episode, a knock comes from the door.“I’ll grab that,” I say.

As Hunter reaches for the remote to pause the show, his hand lightly brushes my thigh, sending those same chills down my spine and warmth to my face.

I shoot up from the couch and walk towards the door, trying to shake the feeling I’m having. Opening the door, I see a delivery guy around my age with green eyes and black raven hair, holding two bags of takeout.

“Oh, thank you. How much do I owe you?” With a smile, I turn to the left to grab my purse from one of the tables next to the door.

“With that smile and what you’re wearing, it’ll be free,” He throws a wink at me.

“Excuse me?” I stare at the guy, unsure if I heard him correctly.

“You know what I mean, sweetheart.”

I grip the door handle, my knuckles almost turning white as I attempt to reign in my anger.

What is wrong with people?

I just want my fucking food, relax, and watch some Tiny House Hunters.

“Um, I'm not-” Before I can finish, the door slams against the wall, bouncing off the stopper. I look up with wide eyes to see Hunter standing next to me, arms folded across his chest and jaw clenched as his eyes narrow on the guy in front of us.

“I don’t think we know what you mean?” Hunter wraps an arm around my shoulder and brings me into him, still shooting daggers. “Mind explaining, buddy?”

The delivery guy glances between us. His boldness from earlier disappears instantly with Hunter’s presence.

“We’ll take that,” Hunter says, reaching out to grab the takeout bag, “on you.”

Delivery Boy doesn’t get a word in before Hunter slams the door in his face and walks back to the couch, unpacking the food on the table. I stand there, staring at the closed door for a moment, trying to grasp what just happened.

Whipping around I look at Hunter with wide eyes. “What was that?” I question in disbelief and point to the closed door.

“The guy was being a douche to you?” Hunter says, pulling out the food from the bags.

“Yeah, no shit. But I don’t need you saving my back everytime.” I cross my arms over my chest as frustrations starts to build. “I can fight my own battles.”

He lets out a deep breath and sits back. “You’re right. I’m sorry about that.” He runs his hands down his face and groans. “I just hate seeing guys treat women like a fucking object.”

Fucking preach it.

I walk over to the couch, sitting down next to him. “We don’t know each other very well, so don’t just assume that I need help because of what happened that morning or in the quad. I can see that it comes from a good place, but it makes me feel weak.”

“You’re anything but weak.” He looks up at me and the breath in my lungs vanish. “Now, are you going to eat some of this?” He asks, turning away from to open the containers of food. “Or are you going to make me look like a pig and devour it all by myself?”

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