Page 24 of Enemy Daddy Next Door

Hunter hesitates and runs a hand through his long hair. “There’s someone out front, I just need to let them know now isn’t a good time…”

It hits me all at once. “Oh my god.”

“It’ll be quick, I promise. No more than two minutes,” he says, trying to back away.

“Oh my god!” I cry out and jump to my feet. “Is this one of your girlfriends? Did you have a hook up scheduled for tonight?”

Hunter inhales tightly. “Again, I don’t have ‘girlfriends’, Amy.”

The moon overhead feels like a spotlight shining on me. Not in a good way. “You know, don’t bother telling her to go,” I say softly. “I don’t want to get in the way of your plans.”

“Amy, I don’t want you to go.”

That tugs at my heartstrings. I want Hunter to want me. But not like this. Not when this emptiness could have been filled by one of those playboy bunnies. “No, I’m not just another one of your girls. I don’t want you to think I’m a part of your rotation or something.”

Hunter is quiet at first and then he laughs in disbelief. “Amy, I had no idea that you were going to come over tonight and we were going to…” He gestures toward the poolside, unable to find the words.

I remember how much older he is than me. He looks it right now in the moonlight, shadows casting heavier in the wrinkles in his forehead. This makes everything feel even worse. He should know better than to use a young woman like this, just to fulfill some sort of primal need. He has a daughter for Christ’s sake. How is he going to teach her to value herself if her own father has girls on tap in every area code? “You could have told me you were busy. You shouldn’t have even invited me down,” I say, my jaw tightening so my words come out clipped and stern.

Hunter’s eyebrows jump. “Now wait a second –”

“You can’t be alone for one second? You always need some girl f-fawning over you?” I feel all that rage I felt at the girl running through our yard return to me. That kind of anger that emboldens me in ways I still don’t seem to be able to understand enough to rein in.

“You can’t be seriously angry at me about this, Amy.”

My anger flares. “Of course, I can!”

“We just had a really nice conversation about some really intense stuff and that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t invited you down here, alright? How was I supposed to know that it would lead to anything more than just being friendly? How was I supposed to know that you’d kiss –”

“You kissed me,” I interrupt. “Let’s get that straight.”

Hunter turns his head slightly. “You’re right. That’s true.”

“So don’t blame me for –”

“I’m not blaming anyone! That implies there’s something to be blamed for and I don’t see any of this as being –”

“I do. Because it was a mistake.”

Hunter opens his mouth to speak but stops. He tucks his tongue into the side of his mouth, his cheek bowing outward and he looks down.

I can’t say it felt like a mistake. But given what I know now, how could it be anything but? He was just…biding his time with me. It wasn’t anything to do with feeling for me or enjoying my company. All I am is a way to pass the time to him.

I can’t believe I even considered giving my body over to him.

“If that’s how you feel, I’m not going to convince you otherwise,” he says coldly.

And just like that, we’re strangers standing in the moonlight as if we haven’t just twined our bodies together. As if I just haven’t told him something I haven’t told anyone else. Why did I feel so compelled to trust him? Something in those caramel-colored eyes. Tempted me. To taste and trust. A sweet, delicious treat. Turned out to be a sticky trap instead.

“I enjoyed your company,” Hunter adds in earnest. “However you feel about it is your own prerogative.”

He enjoyed my company. And it can’t have been only for the physical. That wasn’t implicit. We sat here and talked for god knows how long. He had to have enjoyed that too to have “enjoyed my company”.

Just as I’m about to respond, his phone buzzes loudly in his hand again, the screen lighting his face, tainting the moon-filled night. Any impulse toward forgiving and forgetting disappears in an instant. Hunter’s hand clenches around the phone, lips in a tight line. “I have to –”

“Yes, you two have fun,” I murmur and turn on my heels toward the gate back to my yard. “Don’t let me stop you.”

I don’t know what I would have done if Hunter called out after me. Tried to stop me. Because he doesn’t. He picks the easy way out. The thing that’s familiar and doesn’t require work.

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