Page 37 of Gunner

I felt Haizley’s eyes on me the moment she noticed I was here. I felt the blaze of anger once she realized who I was sitting with. Our souls were connected. I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know why.

But she was fucking mine.

Casting a glance toward the door, I locked eyes with her. I didn’t smile. I kept my expression blank, waiting to see what she would do. She hadn’t accepted my claim. Fuck, I hadn’t accepted it myself until just now. It was only right I gave her time to catch up.

Still, it didn’t stop me from willing her to stomp her pretty little ass over here and stake her own claim. I wanted to see the jealous side of her. I wanted to see the passionate side of her.

Hell, I wanted to see all sides of her. Everything. She had no idea how much her very existence consumed my mind.

She would.

One day.

And I was a patient man.

I could wait.

Confronting Brian the other day, combined with Simon overhearing my declaration, ensured the entire town would know Haizley was mine.

I knew that was what prompted Penelope’s little ambush today. The woman prattled on, oblivious to the fact I was ignoring her every word. I was too focused on the goddess that had entered my life.

I watched the emotion flicker across her face. Starting with shock, then anger, then something that I hoped was jealousy before she shut it all down and looked away.

I sighed in disappointment as she walked to the counter, planted her ass on a stool, and ignored me.

Don’t worry, my little lamb, the wall you’re hiding behind is no match for the wolf.

“Gunner, are you listening to me?” The angry voice of the woman sitting in front of me tore my attention away from the object of my desire.

For that she was done.

“No, I am not fucking listening to you. I have told you repeatedly, I am not fucking interested,” I snarled.

Standing up, I reached for my wallet. Throwing a couple of bills on the table, I turned away, and Penelope grabbed my arm.

“Gunner, you don’t get it. We were made for each other. You have no idea what I can do for you.”

“Do you know how to shut your fucking mouth?” I asked. “Since the moment you sat down, uninvited I might add, you haven’t shut the fuck up.” My voice rose with every word.

I knew I was making a scene, but this chick just didn’t get it.

She wasn’t my type. I didn’t like strong and independent. I liked meek and mild. I wanted someone who would obey. Someone who relied on me.

I know what you’re thinking. That isn’t Haizley.

But it is.

To everyone in town, Haizley was the girl who had grown up too soon and taken care of herself since she was sixteen years old. The girl who put herself through college and became a therapist with the strength to shoulder everyone else’s problems. Everyone else’s troubles.

I saw the real her.

The woman who was tired. The woman who needed someone to hold her up under the weight of everything she felt she had to do herself, and for everyone else. She needed someone who put her needs before their own.

I was that someone.

“Gunner.” Penelope’s lip quivered, her eyes watering. She thought I would cave at the display of emotion. She didn’t realize I saw what really hid behind her fake pout.

For sure, her manipulation tactics worked on so many others, but I wasn’t falling for it. My mother used tears to get her way when I was a kid. Convincing me that she needed just one more drink. One more hit. I fell for it time and time again until it started to affect Mellie.

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