(Edited)

Chapter 9 - KMCF

After Rocxy had eagerly dragged Hunter into helping out with no consultation of our opinions what so ever. Things were picking up its speed, three people helping out did just the job. Yes three, I didn't count Rocxy, she couldn't even do her job before or after Hunter showed up.

With every waking chance I got, I'd see her watching Hunter as if he was a piece of gold she was guarding. Don't think I was jealous, just annoyed. There's a big difference. I knew Hunter was attractive; okay, maybe he was more than 'attractive', he was breathtakingly sexy. But, because Rocxy was kept her eyes glued to him, it made that almost impossible to forget. Occasionally, I'd scold her, ordering her to stop flirting and in response, she rolled her eyes. It was even more frustrating watching Hunter shine his pearly whites at every customer. All of them were females.

You're an imbecile, if you think he'd just casually smile at you. You know him better than that.

I was mad at him, I knew part of the reason he hadn't been around. But, I wanted him to tell me the other reason. Instead, he wandered around my shop, attracting attention and seducing my customers with his looks. I couldn't stand it, everything hurt. His presence was badly eating me away, I craved for him the past few days, but Hunter actually being here made it feel like I was being stabbed every minute. I just couldn't get over the fact that he pretended I wasn't crying, how he repelled from me.

"Jen?"

I snapped out from my thoughts and quickly looked up. Hunter. I tried to keep my eyes still, to show him how capable I was. He looked immune to my temporary strength. "Yes?"

"We're thinking about going out for lunch, do you want to come along?" He asked. I stayed quiet, I had no idea what to say. Out of all the relevant questions in the world, he chose that one. With no response coming from me, Hunter spoke up. "Are you okay?"

Am I okay? Is this some type of joke? Hello! This is Jennifer, you can stop filming already.

I glared at him. Then I let it out, I snapped. "Am I okay?" I mimicked his question in a way that sounded displeasing. "That's what you're asking me? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you're the reason why I'm not okay?" There was a thick pain tumbling all over my body. "You pushed me away like I was a bad taste in your mouth and you didn't even bother to explain why, but instead you march in here like everything's fine. But, guess what? Nothing is fine!" I shouted in a whisper.

He let out a huge sigh. "I was meaning to talk to you about that." Hunter leaned toward the front counter.

"Meaning to? I'd be stunned if you actually even tried. Didn't six days give you a chance to reflect?" I could feel the sting off my tears trying to escape, I won't show vulnerability to someone who was protected from it.

He swiveled his head, scanning if anyone was looking and ironically, they were busy with their own selves even Rocxy. He turned back to me and pulled me into the storage room while I tried to put up a resistance.

"Hunter, let me go!" By the time I had finished my words of retaliation, Hunter had already dragged me into the room. Not only was I fighting for him to release me, but I was fighting back my tears.

He combed his fingers through his hair before he started leaning closer to me and slowly running his thumb across my cheek. Sweeping away the dragging tear that managed to escape. He kept his hand on my cheek, but I couldn't let him win.

I slapped his hand away, he was a bit surprised, but he managed to wash it away scribbled with a sigh and a soar laugh. "I'm not playing with you, Hunter. I'm serious." I crossed my arms at the same time he sighed again

He said something under his breath, but I couldn't quite make it out. "I ignored you for a reason. A reason that'll harm you even more." He twitched his hand up to touch me, but I could tell he remembered my actions and kept it down. "It's going to hurt you, Jennifer, better if we never had kissed."

My heart ached from the sounds of his words. I kept strong, a sign of breakage could've ruin my streak.

You ruined it when you leaked a tear. Remember?

I clenched my hands and began to speak. "I gave you something that I don't give away a lot. To me, a kiss is worth so much and you took it so carelessly and now you mean to tell me it was a mistake?"

He put on a poker face. I couldn't make out how he felt, so I decided to continue and that's when he spoke up. "I've kissed many women, Jen, consider yourself lucky. If a meaningless kiss meant that much to you, then you really haven't experienced as much as I have. " Even after he said all of that, his facial expression remained the same, but mine didn't. I was hurt, I really was a toy to him. A dumb, gullible toy. Most of me wanted to believe this wasn't the Hunter I knew, but the other part wanted to beat me up for even thinking he was remotely who he was in the past.

"What's gotten into you? Why are you acting like this?" I spat out in anger and frustration. The weight in my chest locked my throat, I could barely get words out without having them choke in the process. Every memory came rushing to light and I couldn't stop the flow of emotions. The pain in the back of my mind came forward by the slightest reminder of his words. Small crystal beads trailed down my cheeks over and over again only to fall off my chin and melt onto my shirt.

I could see a bit of remorse in his face and as a result, he reached out to comfort me. I immediately slapped his hand away, if he felt so bad why did he say what he said in the first place? The question got me even more angrier and I slapped him. I slapped my childhood best friend across his face. The sound echoed throughout the room and I didn't feel sorry, just even more sad. "Âsshôle!" I blurted out before I left the storage room with a tear stained face.

Miranda was the only one staring at me once I had gotten out of the room. She gave a mortified face like she had just heard everything that happened. She ran up to me in a hurry, most likely to give me a hug, but I knew a hug wouldn't fix anything, it'd just allow me to cry even more. Instead, I whispered to her that I was going out to get some fresh air and think for a bit. I didn't want to be near when Miranda nagged Hunter's ears off and plus, I really needed some time to myself.

** **

I left, wandering the streets. I had no idea where I was going, but I didn't want to turn back. I had no cash on me, so I couldn't buy anything or do anything, just walk. As I walked, I murmured to myself and sometimes smiled pathetically. I could see the faces people gave me, they thought I was crazy or at least, not sane. Being crazy was better than feeling like trash. To think I wanted him back, needed him? I scoffed, I must've been really insane if I was thinking that. I couldn't even think of the slap I gave him because I knew I would start feeling bad. Even if it was his fault and even if he deserved it. I really was crazy.

I kept walking until I saw a bench near an empty park. It wasn't abandoned, just that kids were in school around this time. I sat down and took in deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale. I stopped my breathing excerise when I noticed I stopped crying. Now, the only thing left was to get rid of the sinking feeling in my stomach, the sharp pain I felt in my heart, and the pounding headache I had.

I smiled at the thought of Miranda scolding Hunter. Telling him off or even yellling at him until he went deaf. He deserved it in her eyes and mine too, but why did I feel so guilty? I sank my fingers into my brown hair and sweared, "fūck."

"You shouldn't swear." A mimicking deep voice spoke out from behind me.

Without turning around, I already knew who it was. "Grace, I know it's you," I waited for the pampered princess to take a seat next to me. It wasn't the right time for me to feel less about myself, but I had to look. Grace had her golden brown hair curled and perfectly placed behind her shoulders. Sparkling blue eyes, darker than my own and highlighted cheekbones and dimples whenever she spoke. She wore magenta coloured jeans, a tucked in plain white shirt with a matching dark blue, bomber jacket. Oh, and like always pumps. Grace looked like she had just stepped out of a Vogue issue.

"Damn, I really thought it'd work." She pulled out a magazine from her handbag. "I've been trying to repeat Luke's voice all day."

So Hunter didn't search for me?
Why do you care? Shouldn't you be the one searching for him?
No you shouldn't, the reason you're here is to get away from him.

I brushed aside my thoughts, they were all contradicting each other. "What's the point of that?" I asked.

She scooted closer to me, flipping through the completely bookmarked book. Until she found a specific page and smiled. "In order to establish a good marriage, you should be able to know every inch of your husband. What would he say? What would he do?" She finished reading the opening sentence of the paragraph and looked up at me. "See, that's the point. If I don't know any of these, my marriage will fall apart."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the magazine from her. "Who wrote this? I'm pretty sure they already have a criminal record." I flipped to the cover page. I wasn't surprised by the title after hearing what Grace had read. "Secrets of a Wife: Loving it all?"

"Give me that," Grace snatched the magazine from my grasp. "Make fun of me all you want, but this really does have great advice."

I rolled my eyes again. "Isn't the best advice communication? So that he knows and you know exactly what the both of you want, need, or think of?"

Grace burst out laughing both loudly and very obnoxiously. "And how's that working out for you?"

I slid a bit away from her, so passersby wouldn't think we were associated with one another. "First off, I'm not getting married and second, what are you talking about?"

"Jen, do I have to sound it out? I'm talking about you and Hunter. You're sitting here because of him, right?" Though she most likely knew she was right, she stared at me until I gave her an answer.

"I needed some fresh air." I blabbed the first think that came to mind, which was the summer breeze that passed by.

"Fresh air? How far does a person have to go to get some fresh air? Jen, you're twenty minutes away from Anders." She stared at me more extensively. "Just look at you. Your eyes are puffy and not to mention red. Your nose is also red and your face looks dry."

Again, I slightly moved away. "Allergies." I lied. There was no surprise that Grace was able to figure out what was going on with me, she was my sister after all. It could've been easier to tell her, so that maybe I wouldn't have so much weight on my shoulders. Yet, I didn't want to feel ashamed for crying over a guy.

"Allergies my åss, you've been crying." She punched my arm. "You've been crying over Hunter."

"Ow!" I began to message my bruising arm. "So what if I've been crying and I'm not saying it's because of Hunter, but so what? Am I not allowed to cry?"

"So what? This means you're exactly what society pictures women to be. Crybabies and you definitely aren't one. I'm not sure what Hunter did to you, but you shouldn't run away and cry, stand up and fight. Be an Anderson, give it your all. People don't wait for someone to give them pure bliss, they find it." Grace stood up while I was still thinking about what she said.

She was right I couldn't live in a state of sadness all because of some guy. I could potentially lose what I've built up just from chasing him. I'm Jennifer freaking Anderson, not a coward.

"I have to go or else I'll be late for my spa treatments." Grace noted. "I hope you think over what I said."

I nodded, "when'd you get so wise?"

She held up the magazine from before. "I told you, this really does have great advice."

** **

When Grace had left, it left me contemplating. I knew exactly what I needed to do, but I didn't know how to get there. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go back to work or go home. Home sounded more pleasing than work; I could sit in my PJ's, snuggled close to Ozzy and maybe strategize about what my game plan could be. Or I could head back to Anders. In the end, I chose home. The only downside to my choice was the walk there. I had to walk for about 30 minutes because I didn't think twice about bringing all of my essential things with me.

When I reached my condo, I was ready to collapse. My feet were aching and were possibly on the verge of snapping off. I was really eager to get in and when I did, I wasn't ready for the surprise behind the door.

Hunter was pacing back and forth in my living room, speaking under his breath. Ozzy seemed to have been copying him, amused by Hunter's consistent movements. The sight of me had frozen Hunter, but rushed Ozzy towards me. The white cat circled around me in glee, but unfortunately for him, I wasn't happy. The sinking feeling in my heart came back and all of my emotions were skating on thin ice.

"Get out!" I yelled loudly. My hands were shaking along with my voice, I could barely get the two words out without a sudden crack. "Hunter, get out!" I yelled again, only to realize I was crying. All the pep talk I had given myself and the advice Grace had given me were all flushing down the drain.

"Jen, I'm so sorry." He looked devastated almost like he wanted to cry. He began walking towards me and while doing so, I wanted to move away, but I couldn't. He pulled me into a hug that made me want to cry even more. I tried my best to push him away, but my hands were too busy vibrating and all of my strength went to keeping my legs up and working. "I'm so sorry," He repeated over and over again as I was crying my eyes out.

I was confused as well as hurt, can someone who has hurt you purposely show up to make amends? Was who I saw the real Hunter or was this the real Hunter? "Is it true?" I asked. "Is it true you've done more with many different women?" I croaked softly.

He flinched a little and I knew then that the answer had to be yes. "Yeah," He answered like I predicted. It hurt like I knew it would because I liked Hunter.

"I like you, Hunter." Each word that came out urged me to tear up. "I've liked you for as long as I can remember and I di-"

"Jen," he interrupted. His tone sounded like he wanted me to stop, only I didn't want to.

"I didn't notice until a while back, but I wan-"

"Jennifer," Hunter said a bit louder than before. He also used my full name to address me, he rarely used my entire name, only when he was extremely serious. We pulled apart though we were still very close. "I'm not who you think I am, I'm not the same person from ten years ago."

"Then, who are you?" I questioned.

"That's a story for another day and until I tell you, I can't be with you. I can't let you pour your heart out into a confession without knowing the truth. And when the time comes and if you still want an us after hearing the truth, I'll listen to you full-heartedly." He smiled sadly.

You'd think after what he said, I'd give up entirely, but have ever heard of a person giving up on their long time crush in a day. "How-" I paused to rephrase my question. "How do you feel about me?"

"Jen," he sighed.

"I just want to know."

He stared at me for awhile before averting his gaze and sighing once more. "I want you," he started. "I want you, but I can't have you because you're someone I can't do that to. I'm afraid that once I have my way with you, you'll be any other girl I've slept with. I've hurt a lot of people because of what I've done in the past and I don't want you to be another person, you mean more to me."

I didn't say anything, mostly because I didn't know what to say. So, I slowly locked my arms around his waist and pulled him into a hug. He began to comb my long, brown hair with his long slender fingers. We just stood there, hopeless and unsure. That's when it hit me.

"You don't have to have all of me." I looked up to catch his puzzled face. "You can have my lips, neck, shoulders, legs, and arms. You can have pieces of me rather than the whole while we wait for the truth."

Hunter didn't say anything for quite a long time. I wasn't surprised, my idea was absolutely absurd and that's why I was scared that he might refuse. Hunter leaned in to place a delicate kiss on my lips, one that made my heart skip. He then moved his plush lips to my cheek, then to my forehead, and finally back to my lips. He left every area he touched fiercely hot and red. He pressed his soft and terribly perfect lips onto mine. Our lips moved together in synchronization as though they wanted to devour one another. "Yeah," he breathed in between the hot and steamy kiss. The warm feeling on my face rapidly spread all over my body while his scent completely put me under a spell of ecstasy.

Jennifer Anderson, what the hell did you get yourself into?