Devastated (Anger Management, #1)(60)

“That, and you’re spoiled,” Kylie said with a solemn nod and since he couldn’t argue that one, he didn’t.

He was beyond fucking spoiled.

For as long as he could remember, he’d always taken care of himself. He’d never really had much of a choice with parents who barely remembered that he existed on a good day. They’d made sure there was food in the house and that he had clothes on his back, but that was it. They hadn’t given a damn about him and considering what Kylie’s parents had done to her, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d been the lucky one.

He couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like for her in that house and every time he tried…

“Are you okay?” the woman who was too fucking kind for her own good asked, as she grabbed a wet facecloth and gently ran it across his jaw in a soothing caress.

“I’m fine,” Hunter promised her as he reached up and pushed a damp strand of hair behind her ear.

“Ryan will fix this,” Kylie promised him with a soft smile as she gently cupped his face in her hand and leaned in so that she could brush her lips against his.

“I know he will,” he said, brushing his lips against hers, trying not to think about what would happen if Ryan couldn’t work something out to keep him out of jail.

“What did you want to ask me?” she asked, not wanting to talk about this any more than he did as she tossed the facecloth in the sink.

“If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?” he asked, as he leaned in to brush his lips against hers.

“I’m not sure,” she said, frowning as she placed his shaving gel back with the rest of his things that he’d moved in here last week after he got sick of having to leave Kylie to finish getting ready in the morning.

“Why do you have to make things so damn difficult, Miss Moore?” Hunter asked, sighing heavily as he placed his hands on the counter so that he could lean down and kiss the side of her neck.

“Why do you want to know?” she asked, wrapping her arms around him as he continued kissing a path along her neck.

“Just answer the question, brat,” he said, smiling against her skin.

“Anywhere in the world?” she asked, absently running her fingers through his hair.

“Anywhere,” he said, placing his hands on her thighs so that he could run his hands over her hips and pull her closer to the edge of the counter.

“The Maldives,” she answered, taking him by surprise.

“You hate swimming,” Hunter said, raising his head so that he could look at her.

“I really do,” she admitted with a heartfelt sigh.

“Then why do you want to go there?” he asked, not that he really cared where they went, but he was curious.

“It’s beautiful.”

“And…”

She sighed as she admitted, “They have private huts over the water where you can relax and not have to worry about…anything,” she finished off weakly, as he stood there, realizing that she wanted to go there because she’d be able to enjoy herself without worrying about someone seeing her back.

She hated anyone seeing her back, even him.

From the first touch to the last, she was always painfully aware of every glance, caress, and kiss that he pressed against her back. He felt it in the way that her breath caught and the way that her hands trembled. She never said anything, but then again, she didn’t need to. It was the reason why she never wore a sleeveless shirt and always stole one of his black tee shirts so that she could wear it over her bathing suit when they went swimming. Even then, it wasn’t enough. He’d seen the way she retreated into herself whenever Ryan stopped by during one of their swimming lessons. She’d go pale, mumble an excuse and quickly make her way inside, making sure that Ryan didn’t see her back.

“Then that’s where we’ll go when this is all over,” he promised her as he leaned in and kissed her because he’d buy her a hundred houses on the ocean if that’s what she needed.

“As much as I’d love to go there one day, I can’t afford that, Hunter.”

Sighing, because she was just so fucking difficult sometimes, he pulled back so that he could look her in the eye as he said, “We’re going.”

“Hunter, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that,” she said, making him sigh.

“Why is it okay for you to take care of me, but I can’t take care of you?” he asked, wondering why she was so damn stubborn.

“I don’t need you to take care of me, Hunter,” she said, as she reached up and cupped his face.

“Yes, you do,” Hunter said, leaning in and kissed her before she could argue, and he knew that she would argue.

She was so fucking stubborn, he thought as he deepened the kiss, praying like hell that Ryan was able to save his ass because he didn’t think he’d be able to handle leaving her. Not when her family was determined to destroy her and not now when he’d realized that he couldn’t live without her.





Chapter 33

November 1st

“I’m really glad that I could be here so that you could take your pissy mood out on me,” Ryan said with a glare as he helped himself to more bacon.

“I’m not in a pissy mood,” Hunter bit out as he continued to glare at the man that had figured out a way to keep him out of jail.