Page 31 of The Unexpected

“Have you been telling anyone else about us? Or about what’s going on?”

“No, of course not,” I lie. “Well, maybe I hinted at it to Chloe, but that girl just started blabbing on and on about some dude named Aiden she met at the party, so I doubt she even heard.”

“Good,” Hunter grunts. “Because you know what we’re doing is fucked up. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care what people say about me. I’m going to fuck who I want and everyone else can deal. But I don’t want your good reputation to be tarnished, sweetheart.”

This time, it’s my turn to snort.

“Hunter, no one thinks I have a “good reputation.” They think of me as a wild party girl who takes her clothes off at the drop of the hat. I have no idea how so many people know about my prison strip tease, but yeah, everyone seems to know and no one was even surprised. So I’m not worried about my reputation at all.”

The huge man chuckles.

“I guess I didn’t think of it that way. And what’s this about the prison striptease again? Your dad mentioned a little, but I couldn’t pry the whole story out of him.”

I roll my eyes.

“It’s lame. There was a party, and I got into a fight with another girl. Before you know it, the cops showed up and I was thrown into the slammer! It was so unfair.”

Hunter knows me too well, and raises a dark brow.

“Was it really?”

“Okay, so yeah, I did punch that bitch. In the vagina,” I add. “But she deserved it!”

Hunter’s choking down laughter now.

“Okay, okay. Keep going. You’re in jail now.”

“Yeah, so they throw me into my own cell, and it was freezing. Like there was no blanket, and I was in a party dress, so I didn’t have a sweater or anything. I was desperate to get out, and so I did a striptease for the guard on duty. Don’t worry, he didn’t touch me or anything. But yeah, that guy appreciates tits and ass, and soon, I was walking out of county, no problem.”

Hunter’s brows go up.

“And there’s no record?”

“There isn’t,” I confirm. “Somehow every record of me being there disappeared. No fingerprints, no booking sheet, no nothing. So if anything, the striptease was totally worth it.”

My uncle whistles under his breath.

“Shit, honey. I’m impressed. You have some real skills.”

I wink, throwing my blonde hair back with one hand.

“You know it. I should give a lesson on how to escape from prison. But on a different note, are we really going to go through with this?”

He doesn’t look up from his lo mein. “With what, exactly?”

I roll my eyes.

“You know. The pastor thing. We have an appointment tomorrow afternoon.”

He lifts his gaze, and it’s like looking up at the high beams of a truck: sudden, dazzling, a little dangerous. “You want to bail?”

“No,” I say, and to my surprise, it’s true. “I just want to know what the plan is. It’s not every day you walk into a church office and get railed by your—” I glance away, cheeks prickling, “—by your uncle in front of another man.”

Hunter’s mouth curls up at one side. He drops his chopsticks into the carton, wipes his hands on a napkin, and leans both elbows on the island. “You’re a funny girl, Stella. And yes, I did rail your sweet, creamy pussy. Hard. And I don’t regret it at all.”

I blush, and he grins. Then, he says: “We’re going back. No hesitation.”

The admission makes my heart stutter. I swallow the impulse to tease, because I want to hear him say it again.