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“Hunter…”
“Roman, I need you to do this quick, okay?” Hunter interrupted. “Just say what you need to say and then go.”
Roman was still near the door so Hunter forced himself to look up. Roman was fidgeting like crazy and as heartbroken as Hunter was, he couldn’t stand to see Roman struggling so he said, “It’s okay, Roman. I get it. I mean, it was just a few days, right?”
“What?”
“You felt a responsibility for me after that night in the club and when you didn’t hear from me, you felt obligated to make sure I was okay…”
Hunter ignored the way Roman stilled and his jaw hardened.
“You want a clean break-”
Roman was striding towards him before he could even finish his sentence and when Roman’s forward motion continued, Hunter had no choice but to back up until he hit the wall just beyond the kitchen cabinets.
“You need to stop talking right now,” Roman growled. “Because I didn’t just spend the last hour and a half trying to figure out how to tell you I love you only to have you ruin it with some bullshit about responsibility and obligation.”
What?
Hunter opened his mouth to ask that very question when Roman pinned him with a hard stare and he snapped it shut again.
“What you saw downstairs and here just now was me trying to find the courage to tell you how completely in love with you I am. And yeah, I know it’s too fast and I know you’re probably better off with some guy like that twat down there who couldn’t keep his eyes off your ass-”
Hunter was about to interject but Roman cut him off with a hard kiss.
“He was totally checking out your ass,” Roman said. “Little bastard is lucky I didn’t rip-”
This time it was Hunter’s turn to yank Roman down for a kiss but where Roman’s was brief, Hunter made sure his wasn’t and by the time he released Roman, all of Roman’s insecurity seemed to have returned because he couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice as he said, “I don’t need you to say it back but I need you to know I’ve never said those words to another living soul before and no matter what happens between us, you’re it for me.”
When Roman fell silent, Hunter gently asked, “Is it my turn?”
When Roman reluctantly nodded, Hunter reached up to cup his face in both his hands. “I’ve never said those words either, Roman. And while I’m not afraid to say them to you, I am afraid you won’t believe me…that you’ll think I’m saying them to spare your feelings or to keep from losing you. So I’m going to wait until I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’ll believe me…that you won’t doubt for even a second how I feel about you.”
To Hunter’s relief, Roman actually relaxed and then his arms were folding around Hunter, drawing him in. Hunter wrapped his arms around Roman’s neck and just held on to him as his insides exploded with joy. Roman loved him.Him.
“Can you stay for a while?” Hunter asked, his lips skimming over the skin just below Roman’s ear.
Roman’s only response was a nod and since neither of them seemed in a hurry to move, they just stood there in his tiny kitchen holding each other.
ChapterNine
Roman cursed as he inadvertently knocked the empty glass off the nightstand next to his bed as he fumbled for his ringing cell phone. A glance at the clock showed it was just past three in the morning, London time. He couldn’t make his eyes focus enough to see the caller ID just before he answered.
“Roman?”
Roman’s heart nearly stopped at the sound of Hunter’s broken voice.
“Hunter, what is it? What’s wrong?” he asked gently even as he jolted upright and searched out the button that would turn on the light next to the hotel room bed.
“Um, I know it’s late…I’m sorry-”
“Baby, it’s fine, just tell me what’s wrong.”
Hunter didn’t respond at first and Roman’s panic went up another notch. He’d video chatted with Hunter earlier in the evening just before he’d gone to sleep and he’d been fine. Roman had been in London for four days and was scheduled to fly back to Missoula in two. He’d been in regular contact with Hunter the entire time via calls and texts and although he could tell Hunter was missing him, he’d still seemed upbeat.
“Hunter, I’m going to switch the call to video, okay?”
“No-” Hunter cried. “I don’t want you to see me.”
