Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Which they did, but it’s not fun to hear about—a reminder of the stories we’d hear if this ever did come out.
The Pulse win, and I’m immediately on my feet, cheering about a football game in a way I never have in my life. I feel his excitement, his pure fucking joy as he jumps on Oakley’s back, the two of them cheering together.
Does this win mean as much to Hunter as it does to me? Because it’s not like a normal game, not with the way my heart is thumping in my throat, my body jittery as if little pulses of electricity are shooting through me. As wild as it sounds, this feels like it means something, like it’s somehow beating my father…for me, which is ridiculous and definitely a lie I’m telling myself.
“Fuck you, Ellis Blake Sr.,” Isla says, making me laugh.
God, I want them to meet. Want her to know Hunter, and for him to know Isla.
“Yeah, fuck him.” I flop back onto the couch, resting my head on her shoulder. “This is going to break me, isn’t it, Is?”
She sighs. “Maybe, but also maybe not. Whatever happens, you’ll be okay.”
“He’s Ellis’s.”
“Ellis is dead.”
“He was Ellis’s first.”
“Time of possession doesn’t matter, and even if it did, it matters less who had him first than who gets him forever.”
I hope like hell she’s right. “You know that’s a football term, right?” I tease, and Isla rolls her eyes.
“Wanna go out and have a smoke?” she asks.
“Nah, I’m good.”
We hang out a little while before she has to go. I’m only alone for a bit when my phone beeps with a text, and I know without looking who it is.
Hunter: We’ll be back in LA late…can I come over?
Me: I’m counting on it. After the way you played tonight, you deserve a reward.
A very, very sexy reward.
I give him the code to get into the building and let him know my door will be unlocked, to let himself in.
Hunter: I can’t wait.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Lucas
I don’t even try to sleep. It would be impossible. I cook dinner, eat, clean the house, go for a walk, edit photos, take a shower, basically anything I can think of to pass the time.
I have no idea what happened with Hunter and my parents, but judging by the way he was speaking to me, and apologizing to me, something went down.
I make my way to the darkroom. I’ve already started editing the photos I took of Hunter with my digital camera, but I haven’t started with the film. I can’t explain the delay, why I’ve put it off, as though keeping from developing these photos or showing him my darkroom will change anything when it comes to my relationship with Hunter.
One by one, I work on developing them, then hang them up to dry. I don’t realize how much time has passed since we texted and I came in here, until there’s a soft knock on my darkroom door. Eager excitement makes the back of my neck tingle as I slip off the stool to let him in. I pull the door open just enough. The hallway is dark too, and when I see Hunter there, decked out in a dark LA Pulse shirt, pants, and hat, smiling at me like I’m someone special, I can’t help but smile right back.
“Hi,” he says.
“Hey.”
“Do you want to…” He nods toward the hallway, but I shake my head, taking his hand and pulling him inside. Hunter comes easily, closing the door behind him. “Wow. I must be really lucky tonight. You’re showing me you.”
I frown. “What do you mean? I show you who I am all the time, mess and all.” I’m not good at hiding. It’s been so long since I’ve even tried.
“Yeah, but this is… Maybe I sound stupid, but this room feels like a part of you not everyone gets to see. A part of you I wasn’t trusted with until now.”
He’s right. He’s fucking right because showing him this does feel like he’s getting a glimpse into the hidden rooms in me I keep from the world, and maybe that’s why I wasn’t ready to show him before, why I wasn’t ready to develop these photos and bring him in here, because it was a way to protect myself.
But there is no protecting myself from Hunter, and I hope I never have to. “I didn’t know you were so observant…and sweet. Usually that stuff gives me hives.”
He chuckles. “I don’t want to do that.”
“You don’t,” I admit. Not him. “Come on.” I take his hand again and walk him over to my workstation. “This is where I develop, obviously…and then when I finish each one, I hang them here to dry.”
He looks up at the photos and inhales sharply, seeing himself naked and open for me…his smile, his chest, his cock soft and then getting harder, his back, his ass, even his hole. He looks at every one of them, studying them carefully.