Chapter 15 - KMCF

I stepped into Hunter's penthouse after he had typed in his passcode and scanned his fingerprint. "That's new."

"People are crazy." He said as he shook his head.

"Let me guess, you recently encountered one of those people, right?" I followed him into his kitchen.

Work ended late, which wasn't a surprise since Anders is a successful store. But, today it was really because people wanted to observe us. They wanted to clarify me and Hunter's relationship otherwise they wouldn't know if they were eligible for Hunter.

We acted oblivious towards the information, only because we ourselves didn't feel like bringing it up. Once the store had closed, Hunter and I caught a taxi to my place, so I could feed Ozzy and change into more comfortable clothes; patterned shorts, a plain white T-shirt and golden sandals.

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner." He turned his head to smile at me before he started to open his cabinets.

I grinned at his playful behavior. "What do I win?"

"Hmm.." He made a sound from pressing his lips together, to indicate he was thinking. He then pulled out a large bottle of blood red wine. "Wine."

I carefully took the expensive wine from his grasp. "Thank you." I headed towards his living room. He followed, along with two crystal clear tall wine glasses.

We sat on the same couch from two nights ago. I sat down on the same spot, so did Hunter. At first we both looked at each other when we had realized, I blushed, but Hunter grinned. I watched as Hunter poured my portion of the sweet smelling liquid in my glass and then, locked his slender fingers around the fragile item before handing it to me. He repeated the process again for himself.

"Remember my allergic reaction incident?" I drowned my eyes into my drink while trailing the rim of my glass with my fingers.

"Yeah," he replied with a questioning tone.

I managed to rip my eyes away from my drink and looked straight at Hunter. "Thank you."

I could recall the memory like it was yesterday. I had a severe allergic reaction to a certain type of soap a day before Hunter's prom. I was rushed into the hospital and had to stay overnight for observation. Hunter stayed with me for two days straight, which caused him to miss and cancel his entry to his own prom. I had know idea when his prom was, so I didn't know he skipped it just for me until weeks later. I was unable to confront him about it since he was already miles away.

"For what?"

I took a sip of my drink. "For missing out on your prom because of me."

His eyes kept constantly leaving me to stay somewhere else "I didn't-"

"Your parents told me." I quickly cut him off. "So, thank you." I sincerely smiled. I took a couple more sips till Hunter replied.

"You're welcome."

I finished the last of my glass before glaring at him. "I heard you took pictures of me with a swollen face."

He smiled cheekily. "I have no idea what you're talking about." His eyes began to shimmer a little.

I didn't know where I was getting the extra supply of confidence, I leaned in close to Hunter staring deeply into his eyes. "Your eyes."

He raised his eyebrows. "What about them?"

"They glow depending on your mood." I rubbed my thumb just below his eye. He was caught off guard, but he smiled in reassurance. I didn't know where the confidence was coming from. "Sorry," I said as I quickly pulled away.

I poured myself another glass of red wine after Hunter waved off my apology. "What's Vegas like?" I asked.

He paused. Maybe my question was a little personal? "Bright and beautiful," he smiled sincerely.

I was half way done with my new glass, but Hunter had barely finished his first one. "If you could choose, New York or Vegas?"

"New York."

"Why?"

He paused again. "Because you're here." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes before taking a another sip of my drink. "That's so cheesy that it belongs in its own category," I joked.

"Oh, and you can do better?" He said in an entertained tone.

"Of course."

"Okay, Ms. Anderson, the stage is all yours."

I finished my entire glass. I playfully bowed which ended up making me a little light headed, then cleared my throat. "Your legs must be hurting, because you've-"

"You haven't even finished and it's already cheesy." He chuckled.

"You're right, I haven't finished yet. Are you afraid mine might be better than yours?" Slowly after I ended what was supposed to be teasing, I could feel my head getting cloudy .

Hunter's laughter was the last thing I could remember, after that I could hardly remember what I said or did. It was official, I was drunk.

**Hunter's POV**

I noticed she was drinking at a fast pace, but I didn't think her third glass would max out her alcohol intolerance level.

Jen looked more bubbly and perky, not exactly how she is. Her slurred words and sagging arm movements were enough to give her away. She was drunk.

She rambled on about some unknown topic while I discreetly video taped her behavior. I needed proof if I was going to tell Jen she was drunk tomorrow. I laughed loudly, she was unbelievably funny. I turned off my camera when I couldn't take it anymore.

"I bet I can ask you anything right now." I smirked mischievously. This was becoming amusing, I had known Jen for almost my entire life, but I'd never seen her drunk.

"No, no, no." She shook her head roughly. "I-I'm a tough cookie." She grew a sloppy grin on her face that almost made me laugh even more.

"Oh, really?" I couldn't help, but tease drunk Jen. She shook her head repeatedly. I chuckled at her child-like behavior. I watched as she took more sips of wine, each time she had the same cheerful expression.

Beautiful.

"Do you love me?" I blurted out. The words just slipped out my mouth, I didn't even have the opportunity to piece them together.

She looked at me with no facial expressions. She then pressed her perfectly manicured finger against my chest. "The real question is, do you love me?" She morphed her face into suspicion.

She swallowed the remaining of her wine when she realized I wasn't saying anything. I couldn't answer a question I myself didn't even know the answer to.

"That's what I thought." The second she finished her sentence my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and answered it.

"Hunter Manning."

I looked at Jen, who was critically eyeing me.

"Hello," the familiar voice flowed through my ears. She was a short blonde and beautiful, not as beautiful as Jen. She was also an amazing worker, she never gave in to my attraction, so she was highly qualified to manage Cacciatore Albergo, plus she was extremely skillful and intelligent.

"Laura?" I questioned.

"Oh, it's Laura," Jen slurred in annoyance.

"Yeah. Is that a woman? You never quit, do you?" She scolded me in a playful way.

"Laura." I said in an assertive voice. I would've loved laughing along to her joke, but this wasn't the time.

"Sorry, Mr. Manning," she said apologetically.

"Why are you calling? Did something else happen?"

Jen grabbed my glass and gulped down the entire thing. She wasn't the goofy drunk Jen anymore, she was the frustrated drunk. She then tried to walk as though she was sober towards the kitchen. I pressed my hand against my phone. "Jen?" She didn't reply back, but she did send me an angry stare.

"No, I just wanted to inform y-" there was a loud flattering coming from the kitchen that overpowered Laura's voice. "Manning?"

"Call me back later." I ordered before hanging up the phone. I went toward the kitchen at a quick pace. Waiting for me was Jen sitting on the floor, surrounded by kitchen assortments.

"Hunter," she softly called out my name. She stretched out her hands for me to pull her up. Her bottom lip was slightly pushed forward, what was meant to be innocent became a seductive gesture. Her crystal blue eyes twinkled every time she exposed them from their shortly held naps. Her hair became a piled mess, but perfectly managed to highlight her sharp jawline and pink filled lips. The affects of the alcohol was not only bad for her body, it too was bad for mine.
"Hunter?" She called my name again. She had snapped out of her angry behavior and was now replicating a child-like act.

I exited out of my thoughts and pulled her up to her feet with ease even though her body seemed jelly-like because of the alcohol. I held on to her hand to keep her from moving away from me as I got out a glass of water and pain medication. "Put this in your mouth." I compressed the pill between my thumb and index finger. Jen was bound to get a killer hangover in the morning and what's the best way to avoid that? Taking pain relief medication when you're drunk.

"No." She shook her head aggressively. "Jennifer doesn't take pills." She narrowed her eyes.

I sighed. "I knew you'd say that. So, that's why I'm willing to negotiate with you."

"Keep talking."

"I'll make you pancakes if you take the pill," I informed.

She slowly blinked, then falsely yawned. "Pancakes?" She garbled.

"Blueberry pancakes." I emphasized.

"How about a kiss?" She puckered up her lips in a failed attempt to get me to do the same. I hesitantly didn't kiss her, I would never do anything indecent to a drunk person. Even if that person was extremely gorgeous and feisty at the same time. "No? I expected that. I must not be your ideal type." She frowned. I was taken aback by her words, but I shook them off. This was the price I paid for pushing her away.

She opened her mouth and gestured for me to pop in the pill. I did. I then, carefully handed her the glass of water to help the process. When she was done, she licked off droplets of water that had landed on the tip of her upper lip. She sighed with satisfaction as if it was the best glass of water in the world. "What's got you smiling?" She uttered with a lopsided grin.

I didn't even notice I was smiling, but that's one of the effects Jen has on me.
"Nothing." I draped her over my shoulders as she shrieked.

"Hunter! Put me down!" She hollered.

I ignored her demands and walked into my bedroom while Jen constantly tried to kicking and hitting out my hold. I cautiously dumped her onto my king sized bed. Her face was filled to the brim with outrage. "You're drunk. You need to sleep it off, Jen." I pinched the bridge if my nose as I spoke.

She quickly sat up. "N-No, I'm not, Hunt. As you can see, I'm perfectly sober." She tried her best to make a convincing smile, but like I had said, she was drunk.

Although, I did laugh at her the effort she put in to seem a little bit abstemious. "I'll believe you when pigs fly or would you like if I drove you back home," I retorted.

"I wanna stay here," she muttered. For some reason her reply made me somewhat happy, it made a smile show up.

I looked into my closet to find a shirt suitable enough for her to wear as pajamas. When I found one, I tossed it to her. "Wear that." I demanded.

She stuck her tongue out. "Wear that." She mocked.

"I'll go stand outside until you're d-" Jen had already kicked off her shoes and was even in the middle of separating her shirt from her nicely curved body, exposing her lacy white bra. "Jen." I turned away from her unintentional temptation.

"What? Oh." She laughed hysterically once she realized the situation she was creating. She began to take off her shorts as she smiled devilishly my way.

"Jen." I walked up to her with the dress shirt in my hand. I prevented my eyes from looking at her beautiful, tan body.

I knew if I tried to get her into the shirt, she might've fooled around. My hand caressed her cheek, so she was bound to look at my me. My forehead leaned into hers, she was hooked onto my bait. Slowly, while I got her attention I put on the dress shirt for her. She was entranced to such a point that I was more than halfway through with buttoning the shirt. "Done." I grinned at my helpful skill.

Her mouth formed an "o" in surprise. "Very sneaky, Mr. Hunter!" She pouted.

I pulled back the bed covers. "Mind getting into the bed?"

She climbed inside the covers, her face was a combination of drowsiness and slight frustration. "I'm going into the covers because I want to, not because you told me to." She stated. She nestled her head on the various types of pillows resting on my gigantic bed.

"Okay, Jen." I brushed off the few strands that hung loosely over her red face as I smiled. "Good night."

I walked to the door, attempting to turn off the lights that neighbored near the exit.

"Wait!" Jen shouted. She sat up when I turned to face her. "Stay with me. Please."

I didn't say anything yet, I was still processing how incredible her words and appearance matched perfectly.

"Please," she pleaded again as she yawned.

"Fine." I finally said.

Leave when she falls asleep. I thought.

I slided into my bed, right next to Jen. I clapped my hands together which automatically turned off the lights. She placed her head on my chest, her shampoo scent filled my nose, but I wasn't bothered by it, in fact I was satisfied. I stroked her hair slowly as she moaned in pleasure.

"I'm Jennifer.." she softly sung in a familiar tune. "You're supposed to say, I'm Hunter."

I snickered. I remembered the nostalgic song, how could I have forgotten the words we put together to symbolize we were best friends? "Okay, start over."

"I'm Jennifer.."

"I'm Hunter."

"Guess what we are?"

"Cooler, stronger, better?"

"No. We are best friends fore-" Jen unexpectedly dozed off, unable to finish the next verse of our sentimental song.

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