‘I’d rather not. For all I know you could kidnap and torture me. I’d never be seen again,’ I replied snottily, deliberately trying to annoy him. He sighed and pulled the car onto the pavement in front of me. ‘I’m pretty sure that the cars are meant to stay over there. This is pedestrian turf,’ I said, gesturing towards the road and crossing my arms over my chest. Hunter raised an eyebrow, seemingly amused. Either I wasn’t as irritating as I thought, or he just had a soft spot for loons.
‘Andy, if I was going to kill you and torture you, I’d do that in your sleep. You also have pepper spray apparently. I’d rather that stayed in the bottle and not in my eye sockets.’ He paused to trail his eyes over my body in my dance gear. ‘The quicker you get in the car, the quicker you can get home.’ I shook my head, making a move to walk around the car but the engine roared in protest. ‘I’ll give you three options, okay?’ Hunter said, holding three of his fingers out. ‘One, you can get in the car. Two, you can avoid getting in the car and I’ll drive home quickly before locking you out or three, I’ll just run over your legs so that you have no choice in the matter.’
I groaned, clambering into the car. Hunter’s eyes never left me as I slammed the door shut and put the seatbelt on.
‘After a short time of living with you, I’ve come to the conclusion that you don’t do anything gently,’ he mocked, pushing the gear stick forward and backing off the pavement and back onto the road.
‘That’s because I like it rough,’ I purred, tapping his thigh.
His large hand latched around my wrist, pulling it up from his leg. His eyes were trained on the road ahead. ‘Don’t even bother. I’ve had enough cold showers thanks to you; I don’t want to go through another.’
I sniggered and took my hand back, resting it on my own thigh and tapping out the rhythm of the dance song.
‘Did you find anything out about Seb?’ Hunter tried to ask casually but the tension in his voice was a bit of a giveaway.
‘Yep, I found out that he has a top secret lair below the warehouse and there are all sorts down there, nuclear missiles, guns, hell, I even saw human test tube babies.’ I noticed that Hunter was attempting to glare at me but his lips were slowly curving into a smile.
‘Seriously, Andy, did he say anything?’ Hunter pushed and I rolled my eyes, looking out of the window.
‘I’ll tell you what he did if you tell me why you want to know,’ I countered and he shook his head with a smirk.
‘Keeping you in the dark is best.’
‘You’re making this sound like something out of the Godfather,’ I mumbled, earning a small chuckle from the driver’s seat.
The rest of the drive went by in silence, so did the walk back up to the apartment. I left Hunter to lock up his car and grab his bag while I jogged up the stairs – avoiding the death trap of a lift – and unlocked the door.
Dumping my bag on the armchair, I slumped down onto the sofa, feeling something sharp dig into the back of my leg. Hunter’s feet were making an echoing noise through the passage and when I shifted to see if I could see him, the sharp object pinched my leg.
I grunted, picking up the sofa cushion. I found myself staring at an object that I’d only ever seen in films. The metal was cold against my fingertips and my stomach dropped to my feet. I felt Hunter’s presence by the door and I turned to face him, holding it between my fingers carefully, making sure not to touch it properly.
‘Hunter, why the hell do you have a gun?!’
Hunter didn’t say anything; he just rubbed the nape of his neck nervously, causing me to narrow my eyes on his speechless form. The gun was heavy and I suddenly realised I was holding A GUN!
I carefully shoved my hand in his direction, holding the butt of the gun between my fingertips. There was no way that my hand was going near the trigger, I didn’t want to go to jail for manslaughter, even if the guy was an absolute arse. I doubted that excuse would hold up in court.
‘Self-defence,’ Hunter said at last, taking the gun from my trembling hand and shoving it in the waistband of his jeans. I stared at the area he’d placed it and I could still see it protruding from the top of his jeans.
Opening and closing my mouth a couple of times, I attempted to formulate words. ‘Self-defence from what, exactly?! Those girls that you can’t remember hooking up with?’ I exclaimed, standing up from the sofa to try to intimidate him. What I didn’t account for, was his height. If anything, his gaze intimidated me. I suddenly didn’t feel so safe around him.
‘You’d be surprised at how strange they get,’ he replied and my eyes widened. His hands immediately shot up defensively and he grinned. ‘Relax, I was kidding.’
On instinct, I slapped his arm. He didn’t even flinch so I rolled my eyes and took a few steps back, trying to stay still. The sight of it and the feel of it was going around and around in my head. It was then that I realised I definitely couldn’t stay there with him.
‘So, why do you have a gun?’ I tried again.
Hunter sighed, perching on the arm of the sofa. ‘Like I said, self-defence.’ I huffed, shifting to face him. His green eyes shot me a warning to shut up, so I decided to take it. Getting up, Hunter cleared his throat and I took a few steps back instinctively. ‘You don’t have to be scared of me,’ he said softly and I almost found myself sinking down onto the seat next to time. Almost. Instead, I shrugged as if it was nothing and continued on my route to the kitchen.
It was when I got there that I began to freak out. There was no way that my mum or dad could find out about this, but I’d have to tell them if I decided to move and then I’d have to explain why I was moving. Moving wasn’t an option. Getting rid of the gun seemed too Mission Impossible for me and even then, where would I take it? Just arrive at the police station and tell them that I randomly found a gun? I didn’t think so. Confiding in either Seb or Kyle didn’t seem like a good idea either. What if the gun was defence against Seb? The guy could be a maniac and I had a horrible feeling that I’d walked into something way over my head and the only option would be to leave as quickly as possible.
In the end, to calm myself down, I attempted to cook and nervously gnawed on my lip.
‘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