Page 123 of Always You

Something dark flashes in his hazel eyes. “I’ll never get used to that.”

“I can imagine.” We fall silent, staring at each other, the lust slowly simmering down, reminding me of the friendship we used to have. He’s definitely gotten older; the features in his face have matured in the most handsome way while his bulky arms make him even more attractive than he was before. Like the dark prince any girl wants to be protected by. For the outside world, that’s exactly what he is.

A dark prince.

A rebel fighting his way through life.

But I still see him.

I still see the boy looking for a deeper meaning in life, looking to be loved, yet being scared as fuck when it comes his way. Thinking he doesn’t deserve the happily ever after that he so desperately wants. I want to scold him, give him a hard time for hurting me, but I find it impossible to not look past the hard exterior he shows the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who can find the door that leads past it, and I still can’t resist peeking in, even though I should run for the fucking hills if I want to keep my heart intact.

“Areyouhappy, Hunter?” I cock my head at him, my hand reaching out to his neck, brushing the bruises that have formed from his last fight. I shouldn’t. But I want more than anything to feel him under my palm, ignoring the fact that he’s not mine to touch. He snaps his head my way when our skin connects,his eyes wide as his lips part. The air changes to something palpable, consuming and addictive at the same time. Briefly, his eyes shut, as if he’s soaking up the heat radiating from my fingers, before he opens them with a pain that I’ve never been able to take away, but damn me if I didn’t try. Doing my very best to show him that he matters. That his feelings matter. Because they matter to me.

“I guess,” he says.

“You’re a shit liar, Hunten Hansen.” I pull back my hand, grabbing my glass from the table, swirling my ice cubes. “You always have been.”

“Only with you.” A small chuckle leaves his lips, and I smile. Realizing how much I’ve missed this.Us.How is it possible that after more than a year of silence, he can walk in and it still feels the same? Like our souls click when they shouldn’t fit at all.

“To be honest, Charls?” His hand plays with a strand of my hair, his gaze darkening. “I don’t know if I’m happy. From the outside, it seems like I have it all. I’m one fight removed from that championship belt. I have more money than I can spend in a lifetime. I live in a fucking villa in the Hills. What’s there to complain about? But when you ask me if I remember the last time I was happy, it has nothing to do with anything back in Cali.”

“Okay,” I drawl, a little scared to follow up on his gloomy confession, bringing my glass to my lips again. “When was the last time you were happy?”

“The quarry.”

I choke on my drink, incredulously coughing with wide eyes until my head slowly turns his way.You’ve got to be shitting me.

“The quarry?”

His eyes are serious as hell, but that boyish grin slowly enters the surface of his features, and a shiver runs up and down my spine when his hand strokes the nape of my neck. My eyes moveto the back of my head at the scorching movements, and I take a deep breath, trying to keep it together.This is bad.

“It’s true, Charls. When I think of the word happy, that day pops into my head.Our day.” He moves closer, leaning in, his breath fanning the skin underneath my ear. His hand massages my neck, and I close my eyes while a longing feeling builds between my legs.This is bad. But then why does it feel so good at the same time?

“What part?” I turn my head toward him until our lips are almost touching, and I stare into his mesmerizing eyes. He will always be my forever sin, and right now, I just want to let go over everything Ihaveto do. Everything I’msupposedto do and just give in to this everlasting pull.

“The part where I finally got a taste of your sweet lips.”

“Oh, yeah?” I try to fake indifference, but who am I kidding?

“Yeah,” he croaks out, his tone gravelly and needy, while he softly squeezes my neck in a possessive way. “The soft touch of your plump lips against mine.”

Oh, I’m in so much trouble.

His hand moves to my mouth, and he drags his thumb over my upper lip, then pulls it down, making them part in anticipation. He lifts his snapback to put it back on backwards, and I let out a deep sigh, the move making me feel like I’m back in high school.

“You still remember?” I want to close the distance between us, but part of me is holding myself back, telling me I shouldn’t. That I can’t cross that bridge again tonight, because we’ll be hurting each other by the time morning falls.

“I do. I can never forget.” He nods, his nose skimming mine. “But I need a reminder.”

Before I can respond, his lips crash onto mine, my hand latching out to grab his shirt in a tight grip, and in that exact moment, it hits me. It hits me when his tongue darts out, pressing against mine in an unstoppable hunger. It is as if in that moment a dooropens in my head, and he barges in. Making me realize he is meant to be mine.

That he is destined to be mine.

It isn’t the first time we’ve kissed, and it probably won’t be the last time tonight, but for me, there is only one clear vision and it’s labeledHunter Hansen. Everyone that came before him doesn’t mean shit. Anyone that will come after him won’t mean shit.

He’s my weakness, my everlasting craving, my never-ending addiction. The world around us seems to blur, the two of us spiraling down a rabbit hole I don’t think we will ever really come out of as his hands start to move all over my body. He presses me hard against the booth, and deeper into the leather while his hand snakes under my shirt, our mouths never disconnecting.

“I can’t stop, babe.” He huffs between kisses, making me nod in agreement.

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