Page 104 of Pinkie Promise

“Busy night?” Tanner asks.

It takes me a moment to realise that he’s talking to me.

“Oh, um… you know…” I lift my eyes up to Hunter but he’s looking dead ahead, his tongue poking roughly in the side of his jaw. He flashes a look across to Tanner but Tanner just grins back at him.

“So what’d y’all do?” Tanner continues. “Polish the cap’s helmet?”

I try to work out what the hell that means while Hunter socks him in the gut.

When they finish their little brawl Hunter clutches me back under his bicep, exchanging a loaded glance with his roommate. I can tell that their fight is totally non-malicious but Hunter still jerks his chin at him and says quietly, “Watch your mouth.”

Tanner looks far too pleased with himself.

I narrow my eyes on him and make a mental note to Google locker-room language.

I step up onto the coach and Hunter braces his arms on either side of the frame. He gives me a subtle nudge with his chest as he says, “Go sit at the back, baby.”

I turn around to face him, my cheeks burning red when I realise that I’m the first person boarding.

“Hunter,” I hiss quietly, absolutely mortified by the fact that his whole team is stood behind him, watching me and waiting to get their seat on the coach.

“I need to have a word with the guys.”

“But–”

“Fallon.” He gives me a heated look, his deep hockey captain tone making something twist in my belly.

I nod my head, spellbound, and then I scamper to the back of the bus, hoping that his teammates really will be as cool with my being here as Hunter is saying that they are.

Knowing that the windows are tinted I peer out so that I can watch Hunter give some sort of pep-talk to his team. They all look pretty laidback about whatever he’s saying, nodding and occasionally glancing my way, as if they can sense me back here.

I pull away from the window and quickly settle in the corner at the far left, folding my knees up under my chin as I wait for Hunter to come join me.

Part of me wonders if I should be embarrassed by my feelings towards Hunter. I told him from the get-go that I didn’t like depending on people – that I needed to be strong, stable, and stand on my own two feet. But right now I love the sense of wholeness that being around Hunter gives me, a sensation that I’ve never felt before and now wouldn’t want to live without.

I wonder if it’s the same for him.

Hunter’s teammates begin filing onto the coach and in less than a minute Hunter is right beside me.

He drops down next to me and then he hauls me up onto his lap, kissing fervently at my cheeks as he wraps one of his arms around my upper body.

“You smell so good,” he murmurs quietly, his other palm squeezing my thighs.

I can’t help but notice that all of his teammates have left the rest of our row empty.

Hunter notices me looking at the three free seats to his left and he smirks indulgently.

“Captain’s orders,” he says simply, his voice gruff and satisfied.

“You’re gonna make all of your friends hate me,” I tell him, peeking over the headrest in front of us to make sure that no-one is literally sat in the aisle.

He snickers and says, “Fallon, are you kidding? The only thing that my teammates wanna do to you is have you for themselves.”

“Hence the hiding you just gave them out there?” I ask, hitching up an eyebrow and crossing my arms over my chest.

“They’re my friends, baby, I didn’t give them a hiding. I just, you know… gave them a warning.”

Can I be a feminist and find a guy’s possessiveness attractive at the same time?

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