Page 102 of Hunter

He cupped my cheeks in both hands and kissed me in greeting. When he pulled away, I kept my eyes closed, leaning on him and feeling instantly better.

He was like a cure. And I thought I might need him from now on whenever I had to deal with my parents.

“Hey, yourself,” he said, and I opened my eyes, taking in his brown, warm ones. “What are you doing by the elevators?”

“My parents came to visit,” I answered. “I just walked them out.”

Something shifted in his eyes, but it was gone before I could tell what that might be, and he smiled at me. “Ready?”

I nodded. “Let me go lock my door.”

* * *

Xavier insistedhe took me out to lunch before getting ice cream.

And I would have been fine with that if lunch didn’t take so much of our time, and Xavier was just one big tease during the whole thing.

By the time we made it to the ice cream shop, I was brimming with sexual frustration, and there didn’t seem to be an end in sight.

“I have ice cream at home,” I said when he opened the door for me.

He shot me an amused look. “Okay, baby.”

I scowled at him before forcing my face to relax. His smile went up another notch, making me want to slap him and kiss him all at the same time.

“Do you want to go back and have ice cream at my place instead?”

He laughed then, and for a moment, I forgot that I was annoyed at him, just taking in the moment to soak in the sound of his laugh, the wrinkles around his eyes, making him look much softer than he actually was.

He turned to me then, his laughter slowly trailing off, and what was left was a blaze of heat in his eyes that I was already addicted to.

He came toward me, and I couldn’t help when I leaned in closer to him.

I shivered as his lips touched my ear, and I felt him smile against me before he whispered, “Go get in line.”

Then he slapped my ass.

In the middle of the shop.

My mouth opened, and I looked around. There weren’t that many people around, and there weren’t any kids—thank God—but still.

I glared at him and walked away.

The girl on the counter looked at us, muttering under her breath that sounded something like, “So hot,” before she plastered on a wide smile.

“Hi, how may I help you?”

Xavier walked up close to me, pressing his front against my back. He wrapped his arms around my middle, and I tried not to show how badly that affected me.

I obviously failed because the girl’s smile widened, and I could feel my cheeks burning.

Ass.

We finally ordered an ice cream cone—chocolate chunks for me, and plain old vanilla for him—and got out of the shop.

“Let’s walk back to the apartment while we eat,” he suggested.

“Thank God,” I said, picking up my pace. We were about one block away. It wouldn’t be too long if we ran, right?

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