the window.
I loved Gaige; I just didn't love him the way I loved Hunter. I loved Gaige in an easy, comfortable way. I loved Hunter with a soul-consuming passion, even if I refused to give into it.
“It's the truth, Addy. You can't escape the fact the guy is totally whipped for you.” His knuckles whitened as he grasped the steering wheel.
“Didn't we just have this conversation, oh, yesterday?” I snapped. “I don't want to talk about this, Carlo. I already told you how I feel about you both, and quite frankly, I don't care if you have your balls in a twist because you don't believe me. I care that we make it to Colorado and stop for the night safely.”
He relaxed his grip on the wheel. He didn't respond to what I'd said, and honestly, if he weren't driving and didn't have the power to ram us into a lamppost or something, I'd goad him into responding, because that was the kind of person I was. I wanted the final word on everything, but I needed someone to fight me for it.
That was why Hunter would always have one over on Gaige. He wasn't afraid to fight with me—Gaige, for the most part, shrugged and let me get on with it.
“You call me Carlo when you're mad at me. Have you noticed that?” he said a few minutes later.
“Not particularly.”
“You do. Rosso if you're feeling particularly put out.”
“I'm sorry, would you rather I call you 'babe' or something?”
“No. I'm not a 'babe' kinda guy.” He cut his eyes to me. “It was an observation.”
“You have a penchant for useless conversation,” I muttered. “Always have to talk. You're worse than a woman.”
“I swear to God, Adriana, if you keep up with your sass I will pull this fucking car over, bend you over the hood and smack your ass until you can't feel it anymore.”
I shivered at the hard tone he used. “You started it.”
“Are we five now?”
“Hunter? Shut up, or I'll bend you over the hood and smack your ass.”
He coughed to hide his laugh. “Yeah, sure you will, Principessa. I'm tempted to carry on just to see you try.”
I glared at him, kicking off my shoes. “I'm going to sleep so I can take over in a few hours. Don't bug me.”
“Yes, Boss.”
I turned onto my side as much as I could and rested my feet on the dashboard. I knew he was being a cocky piece of shit, but honestly... It was too funny, and if I was honest with myself, I quite liked the way it rolled off of his tongue.
Who knew? With any luck, I really would be his boss in a few days.
Chapter Twenty – Hunter
“If you'd just listened to me in the first place, we'd have been here twenty minutes ago,” Adriana huffed, slamming the room door open.
“I asked if you if I had to go left, and you said, 'right,' so I went right.” I followed her in, carrying all the bags like the good fake husband I was.
“I said 'right' as in 'yes, go left,' not 'no, go right.'“
“You should have chosen your wording better.”
“Oh, please. You're male. I could have given you the directions in neon freakin' lights and you'd still have gotten it wrong!”
I opened my mouth but quickly changed my mind. She was going to push this until I gave in, and honestly, I was too fucking tired to listen to her preaching her female excellence.
She was still shit at giving directions, no matter what she said. Who says 'right' when someone asks if you're going left?
A woman. That's fucking who. Like it makes some crazy ass sense in their minds.
I dumped the bags on the tiny table in the corner, catching the small bag Gemma handed me before it fell to the floor. I set it on the chair and took the key from Adriana. She tugged at the ring on her finger as I locked it.
“Great. I can't get it off,” she said after thirty seconds of trying. “It's too small.”
“Run your hand under the cold tap,” I suggested, grabbing the remote from the nightstand and turning on the tiny TV. It was late, approaching midnight, but there had been too much silence on the way here. I'd only slept on and off when she took over driving.
I didn't want to have another nightmare with her around. I'd scared her last night even if she denied it. It made me worried to fall asleep again tonight