‘Is something burning?’ Hunter asked, sauntering into the kitchen in his jogger bottoms and vest top. I groaned, opening the oven and swatting away the smoke that erupted from the gap. I coughed, opening the oven fully to take out my burnt attempt at chicken burgers. Hunter skilfully reached up and blocked any smoke from attacking the smoke detector and setting it off.
‘Well, there goes my dinner,’ I grumbled, tipping the plate into the bin and watching the burger flop into all of the rubbish.
‘Pizza?’ Hunter asked and I nodded, sighing as I walked towards the phone and ordered the food.
***
When I returned to the front room, I found Hunter sitting on the sofa with a bottle of vodka. I kept my distance from him and he sighed, running his hands through his hair.
‘Nothing has changed, you know, I’m not going to hurt you,’ he said and the tone of his voice was so serious, it was strange coming from his mouth. I nodded and folded my arms over my chest nervously.
‘Fancy playing a game?’ Hunter asked wearing a mischievous grin.
‘You sound like that guy out of Saw,’ I replied, dropping into the plush arm chair. He chuckled, shifting down from the sofa to the floor. I followed and Hunter placed the bottle between us. I hoped something like that could relieve some of the tension. As soon as I’d slept on the whole thing and wasn’t as panicked, I would be able to think more clearly.
‘Never have I ever?’ He asked and I shrugged, crossing one of my legs over the other and stretching.
‘Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex.’ Hunter kicked it off and I grabbed the vodka, taking my first small swig. I tried not to wince as the liquid burnt down my entire throat, setting it on fire. Hunter raised his eyebrows quizzically and I smirked.
‘It was Kenzi and it was a game of spin the bottle.’ I shrugged. ‘Never have I ever fired a gun,’ I retorted. Hunter’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t hesitate in picking up the bottle and taking a drink.
‘It was self-defence,’ he informed me and I scrunched up my nose.
‘That’s getting old.’
He shrugged, preparing himself for his next remark. ‘Never have I ever mooned someone,’ he replied and I stayed well away from the bottle. He didn’t seem surprised, he just watched me with his mystifying eyes, waiting for me to speak.
‘Never have I ever been arrested.’ Unsurprisingly, Hunter reached forwards and took a long swig of the drink, shooting me a smug grin. When he didn’t speak, I raised an eyebrow. swallowing the lump of bile in my throat.
‘I was done for beating someone up, no big deal,’ he said with a shrug. I sensed that there was more than that but I didn’t push it.
‘Never have I ever been to church,’ Hunter remarked with a smirk and I sighed, annoyed that I was living up to his assumptions. I took a drink and moved to sit back against the armchair.
When I was younger and my parents had just divorced, my dad used to make me go with him every week. It had to be the dullest day of the week, especially when I wasn’t religious.
Just as I was about to open my mouth for a snide remark, the doorbell went and I got up, leaving him hanging. I walked to the door and took the money that Hunter had left on the table to pay the pizza guy.
I put the pizza box down on the sofa just as Hunter reached up and grabbed my hips, pulling me down onto his lap. His lips grazed the sensitive spot between my neck and my collar bone.
‘Church girls just so happen to be very sexy,’ he whispered into my skin, gently pressing a kiss there before working his way up my neck. My blood started to power through my veins and any resistance that I had towards him melted. His fingers were tracing circles on my hips and I let out a small noise from the back of my throat, moving my head down to kiss him. He smiled against my mouth and deepened the kiss, taking over and moving us back against the floor. Hunter gently ran his hands down my sides under my shirt, pressing his lips to my neck. He ground his lower half against me and I breathed out through my lips, feeling the weight of him above me. Whenever he got this close, all thoughts of his arrogance disappeared and I couldn’t think of anything but how he made my heart race. I ran my hand through his soft hair and then down the warm, firm skin of his back, feeling it against my fingertips. Just as I felt the hard fabric of his jeans, I remembered what he’d put in the waistband a mere few hours before. I pushed back gently and Hunter immediately went with the push, backing up a bit. He opened his mouth to ask me something, but I cut in first.
‘I can’t live here,’ I said and he pushed himself back, rolling his lower lip into his mouth.
‘I told you that when you first got here,’ he said and I huffed, wiggling out from beneath him to distance us.
‘I know you did but I didn’t know quite how dangerous you were,’ I countered.
Hunter’s eyebrow rose and he sighed. ‘Is this still about the gun?’ he asked and I nodded, folding my arms tight against my chest.
‘You have a gun, Hunter, that’s illegal and all this shit that is going on between you and your brother is dodgy. I don’t feel safe,’ I said and he sighed.
‘If I tell you something, you promise not to freak out?’ he asked. I gave him a single nod and watched with interest.
‘The gun was given to me by my father,’ he said and I frowned.
‘Why?’
‘That’s not important,’ he said.
‘What type of dad gives his son a gun?’ I asked incredulously.
Hunter’s eyes shot to mine and behind them was a mixture of emotions. More prominent than any other was fear. ‘I have never fired it and I don’t plan on firing it. It’s unloaded and I keep it there to keep it safe, okay?’ he clarified.
I nodded again and rubbed my eyes. ‘I don’t know if I believe you, but okay,’ I said and he sighed.
‘I wouldn’t hurt you,’ he added and I nodded for the third time. I got up and evacuated the room, running my hands down my face with a sigh. I had no idea what to do or how to handle this. University was meant to be simple, studying and a bit of fun on the side. It was beginning to turn out to be more trouble than it was worth.
My feet moved almost mechanically. Forwards, backwards and across while my arms rose above my head and I ran my hands down my bare stomach. The beat rang through my chest and echoed around the warehouse. I had decided to take a break after uni. The crew weren’t practising but I didn’t feel like going home. So I did what I normally did when I was stressed or needed to sort my head out. Danced. I moved down onto the floor, allowing my arm to hold my weight as I shuffled and kept my feet in the air above me, almost as if I was flying, weightless.
Dancing had always been important to me, from the age of five when my mum enrolled me in ballet, to the age of thirteen, when I saw a street crew dancing for money in the streets. It sorted me out if I was stressed and provided a break from reality, which recently I really needed.
My breaths rushed in gasps and I smiled to myself, leaning forwards and resting on my knees.
‘You’re good.’ I raised my eyes and found myself glancing up at Seb.
I straightened, placing my hands on my back as I stretched myself out. ‘Um, thanks,’ I replied through my gasps of breath and Seb smiled.
‘No problem. Although, I didn’t come here to stalk you,’ he joked and I smiled, turning around to turn the CD player off.
‘So, what did you come here for?’ I asked, wiping my forehead with my towel.