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“You’re welcome.” Gunner left the kitchen and went out the front door.
She could tell by the heaviness of his footfalls that he was still angry, but at least he’d given her an opening for them to talk again.
—:—
It was probably shitty of him to leave the way he had, but if he hadn’t, he would’ve been all over her.
Raketa was the first person he’d shared a meal with at his kitchen table. When Razor and Shiv had been here, each time, they sat outside or in the living room when they ate. It felt good, looking up and seeing her across from him. That feeling had quickly changed, though. As his eyes took in her thin frame and he watched her take mouthfuls of
food he had made for her, something he could only describe as primal came over him.
If he’d stayed in that room with her another minute, he would’ve thrown her over his shoulder, carried her into the bedroom, and torn the clothes from her body. Only after he’d looked his fill of her naked flesh, would he sink his body into hers in the way he longed to.
Going caveman on her would most likely result in him never earning her trust, which was why he’d left the way he had.
Her reaction earlier, before everything between them went to hell, puzzled him.
It was as though she’d never experienced oral sex before. He kicked the pile of logs in front of him when he realized he couldn’t remember whether they had or not the night they were together.
Probably not, since she left the next morning without so much as a see ya later. Given how inebriated he was, maybe the sex had sucked, and not in a good way.
He adjusted his shorts, knowing that if he didn’t quit thinking about a do-over, she’d probably slap his face before she stormed back inside and sequestered herself in the bedroom for the remainder of the night.
He stacked the logs in the pit, lit a fire, and then pulled two Adirondack chairs to the other side of it, so the shifting breeze wouldn’t blow smoke their way.
Just when he’d decided she wasn’t going to join him, he heard the front door open.
“Hey, there,” he said, looking her up and down. “Cold?” When he’d left, she had been wearing the same pair of shorts and shirt he’d stripped from her body earlier. Now she had on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. It was probably better that she’d changed, given his body’s reaction to remembering stripping her.
Gunner motioned to the chair next to him, and she sat down.
For a few minutes, he struggled with what to say. He was terrible at small talk. Sure, he knew how to flirt, but given the circumstances, that probably wouldn’t be the best approach. What did they have to talk about? He couldn’t ask her about her childhood, or even much about her life.
“Do you remember the first time we saw each other?” she asked, startling him.
“I do.” He closed his eyes, remembering that moment and how it had shaken him. “You took my breath away.”
“I didn’t think you’d remember,” she mumbled.
“You didn’t kill me. That’s hard to forget.”
“Oh, right. I did have a gun pointed at you; that would take anyone’s breath away.”
Gunner leaned forward. “That isn’t what I meant, Rocket Girl.” He stroked his finger down the side of her face. “It was the feeling I got when I looked into your eyes.”
“I couldn’t pull the trigger. That had never happened to me before.”
“Why do you think that was?”
“I don’t know. I’ve asked myself many times.”
“It was like we’d met before. Another time, maybe.”
Raketa laughed. “Like in another life?”
Gunner shrugged. “I can’t say I believe in shit like that, but, yeah. I can’t explain the way I felt. It happens every time I see you.”
“It’s the same for me,” she said, almost too quietly for him to hear.
