My stomach rolled and I retched, vomiting again and again until there was nothing left in my stomach. Hunter came around and scooped me up from the ground making my stomach roll again and I leaned over and vomited as he kicked the door to his truck closed and locked it with his keys.
“Which one’s yours, Sav?” he asked me in a low voice, and I shook my head, burying my face in his chest and breathing him in.
“Savannah, which dorm?”
I opened my bleary eyes and pointed towards my dorm wincing as the movement sent a jagged pain through my head and made me retch, but I didn’t throw up again. He carried me across the lot and stopped at the door of my dorm.
“It’s locked, princess…” he told me, and his soft voice rumbled against my ears.
“In my purse. There’s a fob.”
I closed my eyes as he leaned me against the wall and lowered me to the ground as he opened my purse. My legs shook, and even though he was rifling through my purse, he still managed to hold me up. Once he had my keys in his hand, he picked me up and carried me inside.
“Which floor are you on?”
I forgot he didn’t know my floor or my room number or anything like that. My head was swimming as I answered and he didn’t respond to my whisper of, “First floor, room eight.”
Luckily my dorm leader, Martha, wasn’t there, or he’d have been made to leave, but the corridors were empty, and when we reached my room, I knew I was really lucky because ordinarily this wouldn't have been allowed.
He unlocked my door and pushed it open, carrying me inside and paused inside as he took in the small living room and the closed doors to the bedrooms and our small bathroom. We were lucky we had a small walk-in bathroom with a shower and sink, but it was tiny and there wasn’t enough room to swing a cat in it, but it was better than having to use the communal bathroom like everyone else.
“Which room’s yours?” Hunter asked as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.
“The right one…”
He stepped inside it, pushing the door open wider with his elbow as we went inside and setting me down gently on the bed. My heart raced as I remembered Florida and our first time, but he turned away from me and crossed towards the door.
“Stay, Hunter… please…”
My voice was hoarse, and he sighed, throwing his head back as he did and staring at the ceiling.
“Part of me wants to leave, but I’m scared if I leave that I’ll never see you again.”
“So, stay. I’m asking you to stay, please?”
His shoulders slumped and he faced me for a moment, then came back across the room and sat gingerly on the edge of my bed.
“Why’d you lie to me, princess?”
His voice shook and I knew that I’d really hurt him, but I also knew that there was nothing I could say that would excuse what I’d done.
“I guess I’m scared…”
My voice wobbled and I bit my lip as I told him the real reason behind my staying alone in my dorms. I didn’t want to go home because my dad hated me for choosing Hunter and he was always checking up on me, but that wasn’t the reason I’d lied. It was because I was frightened that if Hunter left me again, I’d shatter. My heart was fragile, and I knew that he had the potential to leave me and cut me out again.
“What are you scared of?”
“That you’ll cut contact with me again…”
He turned to face me, and I could see him trying to figure out what I meant, so I elaborated.
“Every time you leave me, I feel like I lose a little of myself and then you don’t contact me. It’s been two and a half months and I heard nothing. I texted you and tried to call, but you didn’t answer, and it hurts me…”
His face paled and he slid along my bed and dropped to his knees on the floor, leaning his head against mine as we spoke.
“God, Sav, I’m so sorry. I was trying to do the right thing and give you some space, but I fucked up. I missed you so damn much that it was killing me, and I threw myself into schoolwork to get myself over you, but it didn’t work.”
His lips pressed against mine, but I wouldn’t kiss him back. Not while I had vomit breath and hadn’t brushed my teeth yet. He kissed me more firmly and I kept my mouth closed shaking my head and pushing against his chest.
His eyes filled with tears and he scooted back from me before pushing to his feet.
“Do you not want me anymore?”
His soft voice and whispered pain tore at my chest and I knew there would never be a time I didn’t want him. A single tear dropped from his eye and rolled down his cheek and he closed his eyes for a moment, sucking in a deep breath.
“Hunter, it’s not that. I need to shower and brush my teeth…”
I got up from the bed and closed the gap between us, wrapping my arms around his waist and holding him tightly. He didn’t respond and I pressed a kiss to his chest, over his heart before I stepped back.
“I’ll be right back. Please don’t leave.”
He nodded at me and sat on my desk chair as I bolted from the room and darted into the bathroom. I showered as quickly as I dared because I was starting to feel queasy again and washed my hair, tossing it up into a messy bun when I realized that I’d forgotten my hair towel.
Once I was out of the shower and dried, I brushed my teeth and then went back into my bedroom wrapped in my towel. Hunter was still sitting on the chair and his eyes lit up when he saw me walk into the room, but before I could go to him there was a knock on the door.
I rolled my eyes and tightened my hold on the towel as I contemplated ignoring the insistent knocking, which was growing louder. Hunter shrugged at me and I turned, closing my bedroom door as I crossed towards the dorm door.
I opened it and my stomach dropped because my parents were standing at the door with a harassed look on their face.
“Mom, Dad, what are you guys doing here?”
My eyes narrowed as my dad pushed by me and into the room.
“Are you alone?”
His eyes darted around, and I knew he was looking for Hunter, but if he opened my bedroom door, I was done for because Hunter was in there.
“Of course, I’m alone. What are you doing here?”
My mom began to talk, and I tuned her out as my dad opened Alyssa’s door and opened her closet in her room. My closet was too small for Hunter to fit inside and I knew he wouldn’t hide in a closet, even if I asked him to.
Next, he went into the bathroom and I stood with my arms folded across my chest as he opened my door and walked inside my room. He opened the closet door and looked out of the tiny window, but Hunter was nowhere to be found, and unless he had developed magical powers, I had no idea where he was.
I stood by my bed when something tickled my ankle and I glanced down to see Hunter’s fingers disappearing under my bed again. My dad didn’t notice as he and my mom shared a worried glance, but I was getting so irritated and my stomach growled loudly showing that I was hungry.
“Look, Mom, Dad, thanks for coming back, but I’m fine. Hunter isn’t here. And I’m done with you checking up on me. I’m just out of a shower and I’m freezing cold, so can you please leave so I can put on some warm pajamas and order a pizza.”
My dad growled and my mom smiled and slipped me some cash when my dad’s back was turned.
“If I find out that he’s been here…”
“Dad, I’m done with this. I told you earlier. I haven’t heard from Hunter in months and I can’t do this with you. You have got to stop this. It’s over and I won’t be home until you stop trying to dictate who I can see and what I can do…”
“I pay for your education…”
“No, actually you don’t. I got a full ride, but you help out with books and my expenses, but we can’t keep doing this. You need to get a life of your own and get off mine. This is the last straw, Dad…”
I watched as my mom and dad both stared at me, but I wasn’t backing down. I wasn’t a child, and I wasn’t going
to be treated like one while I was in college.
“You need to let me go, let me grow and stop trying to stifle me. I loved Hunter and I get that you couldn’t accept that, but he’s a good guy. Dad, you preach about second chances, but you weren’t willing to give him one…”
“That’s different. You don’t know what he’s capable of. He’s a monster.”
“Dad, you don’t know either. People are capable of both great good and great evil and we should be encouraging Hunter to be good, but how can he be when you continually judge him for his past sins. Forgiveness is divine or is that just nonsense?”
My dad glowered at me and ushered my mom out of the door.
“You’re on your own. I won’t have you throw Jesus and my beliefs back at me because I’m worried about you. We won’t be visiting again, and until you grow up and get over the infatuation with that boy, you aren’t welcome in our home.”
With those final words he closed the door, and I leaned my head against it, breathing deeply. As much as it hurt that my dad and mom had just walked out of my life, I knew it wasn’t my fault. Hunter was a good guy with a dark past and it just hurt that they couldn’t see that.
I jumped when a hand touched my waist and then Hunter tugged me around and pulled me into his arms.
“I’m so sorry, princess. I’ll leave and you can go after them…”
His lips against my forehead warmed me and I knew that I didn’t want him to go anywhere. I loved my parents, but not enough to give him up.
“No. Stay. Please?”
He lifted my chin and brought his lips to mine, licking and teasing me as his arms squeezed me tightly. His tongue slipped into my mouth and he pressed me up against the door with his body. I could feel the erection building in his pants and my body began to stir in a way that only he had ever elicited from me.
“Princess.” He broke off and pressed soft kisses down my neck and along my exposed collarbone. “Put some clothes on before I take you back to bed and make you scream my name.”
My insides trembled, but my stomach didn’t get the memo and growled loudly, ruining the moment.
“I’ll order us a pizza. You gotta get dressed and I’ll sit out here so I don’t forget that you’re hungry…”
He broke off and licked his lips as he stepped back and surveyed my almost naked body. My nipples hardened as his eyes scanned over me and my whole body heated under his scrutiny.
“Fuck me, princess… go get dressed…”
His low voice was hoarse, and he swallowed a few times before he walked over and sat down on the sofa with his head in his hands. I watched him running his fingers through his hair for a moment before I dashed into my room and pulled on a sleepshirt and some shorts.
Once I was dressed and a little calmer, I wandered out to the living room in time to see him frowning at his cell. I sat beside him on the sofa, and he turned to me, smiled once before his eyes went back to his cell.
I saw a message ping up, but he turned his cell away from me as he read it and chewed on his lip. For a few moments we sat in silence as he typed furiously on his cell and I watched as his shoulders rose and fell with his breaths. His sigh broke the silence and he stood up and began pacing around, glancing down at his cell every few seconds for about twenty minutes until a knock at the door broke the silence around us. I’d wanted to say something, anything, but I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing as he went to the door.
He answered it and handed the guy over some cash from his wallet, before he dropped the pizza boxes onto the table and resumed his pacing, pausing only to type away at his cell again. Something was clearly bothering him, but I wasn’t sure what it was and without asking I didn’t know how to comfort him. After another few minutes, I decided to broach the subject.
“Hunter, is everything okay?”
My voice was low, and he shook his head without looking at me or speaking.
“Can I do anything to help?”
I wanted to help him. I would if he’d let me in, but he glanced in my direction and the pain in his eyes almost knocked me backwards on my seat.
“No, you can’t. I’ve just been told that Hartley and Holly don’t want to see me ever again and that I’m on my own again. They were supposed to fly out to see me on New Year’s, but Tracey’s just messaged to say that it’s not happening.”
His voice shook and a tear rolled down his cheek, but it was the shaking of his shoulders and the shuddering breaths he was drawing in that told me he was reaching his breaking point. His brother and sister were everything to him and he’d risked everything, including his life to get them away from the club and to safety.
My heart broke for him and I rushed over, wrapping my arms around him and holding him as he broke apart. We sank to the floor and he sobbed against my chest as I ran my fingers through his hair, trying to comfort him.
“I’m so sorry, Hunter.”
“She’s right, it’s too dangerous, but I miss them. They aren’t even allowed to contact me and the only time I’ve spoken to them since I left for New York was when Larry was out of town on business.”
I tightened my arms around him and wished I could take his pain away, but I knew I couldn’t. Instead I tried to distract him from his pain by kissing his lips softly. For a moment he didn’t react and then he shifted under me, kissing my lips with reckless abandon.
“I know what you’re doing, princess…” he muttered softly, before his tongue slipped into my mouth and his arms tightened around my back.
My vision clouded over and all I could feel was Hunter’s body under me. All I could taste was him and it was intoxicating. I didn’t hear the door to my room open, nor did I hear the loud footsteps or the gasp from my mom, until rough hands gripped my shoulders and pulled me away from Hunter.
“What on earth are you doing?” my dad yelled in my face as he swung me around and shoved me roughly away from Hunter towards my mom.
“Dad, what are you doing here?” I asked furiously and he glowered at me.
“What am I doing? Saving you from committing a mortal sin, that’s what. And with that boy? I thought you knew better than that?”
He spun towards Hunter as Hunter stood up and faced off with my dad.
“You stay away from my daughter. She’s too pure and innocent for the likes of you.”
Hunter stared daggers at my dad and pushed himself up onto his feet. My mom gasped and pushed me behind her as Hunter stepped up to my dad and glared down at him.
“She’s old enough to make that choice for herself and if you put your hands on her again, I’ll…”
“Hunter,” I called out softly from behind my mom and his eyes shot to mine. I watched as they softened, and he glanced between my parents and me for a few moments. My mom was speaking low in my father’s ear and my heart sped as I saw an emotion cross Hunter’s face. It was gone before I could identify it, but then his gaze hardened as he met my eyes.
My mom stepped forwards and was about to speak, when Hunter put his hand up and stepped towards me. His gaze lingered on my face and I saw resolution there. He blinked and swallowed as he took one more step, but my dad stepped between us and my mom held my arm tightly, refusing to let me go when I tried to shake her off. His next words took the fight out of me though.
“I don’t want to break your family up, princess, so I’m out.”
He shook his head and barged by my parents, slamming the door at his back and leaving me openmouthed in shock as the sound reverberated around my head.
“Savannah Alice Simmons, what were you doing with him?” my dad asked as soon as he was gone, and I stared up at him with my mouth still hanging open. Never in a million years did I think Hunter would leave me like that, but then again, he’d just found out he wasn’t allowed to see the only two members of his family that he had left.
My dad slapped me across the cheek and the pain caused me to yelp and back up a step. My cheek burned and my eyes filled with tears as I stared between my
parents. My mom wouldn’t meet my eye and my dad’s furious glare burned into my soul.
For a moment there was silence and then I squared my back and pried my mom’s hands from my arm. Her nails had broken the skin, but I didn’t care about that.
“Get out!”
My voice was low, and my hands shook as I stared between my parents.
“Get out. I’m done. You don’t get to barge in here and demand anything of me, so get out.”
“We will not. We pay for this place and we will protect you…”
“Protect me from who? The only people hurting me right now are you two.”
I sucked in a breath and wrapped my arms around my waist as I realized what they’d just done. They’d cost me Hunter and I wasn’t about to let them bully me into changing.
“You mind your tone, Savannah.”
My dad’s voice was harsh, but I was done. I was past my limit with them. They’d tried to push Craig on me, refused to believe me that he was borderline rapey and then hated Hunter before they even gave him a chance.
“I will not. I love him and you are a hypocrite. You judged Hunter based on his past, but aren’t you supposed to live without judgement? Isn’t that what you preach? Isn’t God supposed to judge all sinners? Who are you to judge him? To judge me?”
“I’m your father and YOU WILL OBEY ME.”
“I will not. Now get out. We’re done here. If you ever want to see me again, you’ll leave now because if you don’t, I’m telling you that I will never come back home, and you won’t ever hear from me again.”
“HOW DARE YOU THREATEN US?”
My dad was close to losing it, but my mom stepped in front of us and put her hand gently on his chest.
“Come. She’s made her choice. She’s chosen sin and that’s on her. Let’s go.”
My mom refused to look at me as she led my spluttering dad from my room, dropping my key by the door as they left. I could barely see them through my tears, but as soon as I heard the lock click closed, my legs gave out and I crumpled to the carpet in tears. My tears came thick and fast as my world crumpled around my ears.
Christmas Wishes: A Christmas Romance Anthology Page 24
