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Walking into the kitchen, I’m shaking my head, and place my glass in the sink.
When I turn around, I stand frozen in shock when I spot Jade staring at me.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
She stands in front of me, this time her hair is up in some fucking sexy librarian bun. Her blue eyes look brighter than when I first found her. Somehow, she makes a T-shirt and jeans the sexiest outfit I’ve seen on a woman.
“What are you sorry for?”
She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth as she decides how to answer my question.
“Pushing you away. Staying locked in my room. Mia made me realize I was holding myself captive. She said I need to also free myself from the prison of my own making. I think she’s right. I want to live again. Can you help me, Hunter? I don’t know how.”
Jesus Christ. This woman. All the air has left my lungs and I realize I haven’t spoken. She just spilled her guts to me and I’m standing here like a moron. I move to her and pull her into my arms, “Sassy, anything you need, it’s yours. Fucking anything.”
When she wraps her arms around me and presses her face to my chest, I swear my entire existence shifts. I know we have a long way to go but right now this feels so fucking right.
She pulls back slightly so she can look in my face and giggles, “You smell different.”
“Are you saying I stink?”
She shakes her head, “No. You smell like a man. I like it.”
I can’t help the grin on my face as she blushes crimson. This is what I always loved about her back when we were kids. She speaks before her brain has a chance to warn her. Jade says exactly what she’s thinking, frequently leaving her embarrassed. I lean forward and run my nose up the side of her neck before growling in her ear, “Baby girl your scent drives me fucking wild. It’s taking all my restraint to not devour you. This is me exercising control, so I can be what you need. One day you’ll beg me to make you come. When that day arrives, I’ll be ready to eat you for fucking days.”
“Hunter,” she whimpers. I swear to God that needy little sound she just made, has a direct line to my dick.
CHAPTER EIGHT
JADE
When I was a teenager, I got hooked on this TV show about real estate. The lady real estate agent, the star of the show, always had chocolate chip cookies out for open houses. She explained that the smell of the cookies reminded people of home. When they walk around the house with the familiar smell, they can picture themselves living there easier.
Hunter is my chocolate chip cookie. He smells different, manly. That scent, I remember from so many years ago, is still there too. Orange spice and rosewood surround me as he holds me tight. It’s exhilarating, comforting, and terrifying all at the same time. I’m conflicted. I want to curl up in his arms and never leave. Yet, the urge to flee is so strong.
“I’m going to go back out there.”
He kisses me softly on the neck. I stifle back the moan threatening to escape. His lips, like his scent, feel like comfort and warmth with a bolt of excitement. The night I lost my virginity to him, I said I could feel him from my head to my feet. That hasn’t changed. One tiny kiss on my neck, and my body hums, even though I know it shouldn’t. Hunter pulls away from me and heads back to the living room where his friends are. I stand frozen in place, attempting to control my racing heart and heavy breathing.
Taking a deep breath, I head back to where everyone is.
Everyone is sitting on a sectional sofa. Willow and her man are huddled together on one end. Mia and hers are in the middle, so close she may as well be on his lap, and Hunter sits on the far end by himself with space beside him. I know he wants me to sit beside him, but I don’t. If I sit that close to him, I know he’ll touch me. While I want his touch, I also don’t. I’m a walking contradiction. I take a seat in one of the two large chairs across from the sofa. Hunter’s expression shows his disappointment before he quickly reverts to his stoic look he has mastered through the years.
He clears his throat, “Jade, this is Max and Trevor.”
I nod, “Nice to meet you.”
Trevor rises from his spot, picks up a glass, and walks over to me, “Here.”
I smirk, “More alcohol?”
He laughs, “Yes. This one is sweet.”
“Thank you,” I murmur as he retreats to his seat.
I take a sip and it’s so good, like candy.
“What is this?”
