Protecting Her - Alexis Noelle Page 0,28

out of breath.

Hunter stands up and returns with a towel, gently cleaning me as I’m still floating in my euphoric state. When he comes back, he pulls me against him, our bodies flush with each other. “After that, I don’t know that I won’t want to have you every second of the day.”

“After that, I don’t know that I won’t want you to.”

We both laugh and just enjoy the peacefulness of being in bed with each other. I wake up tucked under the covers, realizing I must have fallen asleep after we had sex. Hunter isn’t in bed anymore so I get up, wrapping a sheet around me and go look for him. I find him at the window again. When I come up beside him, I see a picture of a girl in his hand.

“Is that Amy?” He jumps at the sound of my voice. He stuffs the picture back into his wallet but still doesn’t respond. “If you aren’t ready to tell me I understand, just know that I’m here.” I start to walk away when I hear his voice.

“She was my sister and she was beautiful. I don’t know how we all missed what was going on with her. We just didn’t see it. She collapsed one day at school during my senior year. She was a freshman and a bunch of my friends ran to get me. The five minutes it took the paramedics to get there were the longest of my life. She was anorexic. She was fifteen pounds underweight. Amy had always been skinny and I guess none of us had ever thought twice about it. She went through rehab and seemed to be doing great when it was time for me to leave for college. I promised we would talk every day and that I would come home whenever I could.”

He pushes off of the window and goes to sit down on the couch. I follow him, sitting down next to him but trying to give him his space.

“My mom called me about two months later. I had gotten busy with school and hadn’t talked to them as much as I had planned. She was hysterical. She went to wake Amy up for school and couldn’t. The doctors said had a heart attack and she passed away in her sleep. My mom had thought she had been eating but she was hiding the food under her bed. My mom blamed herself but she was working two jobs just to be able to provide for both of us. I promised Amy I would be there for her. It was my job to protect her, to be there for her and I failed her. I could have saved her but I was selfish.” I look over at his face to see a tear rolling down his cheek.

“That was when I decided not to let anyone in. Being alone was better than letting someone down.” His head hangs and his eyes focus on the floor.

Seeing him like this is breaking my heart. I stand up and sit down on his lap, facing him. He leans back against the couch, his hands resting at my sides. “You were not to blame, Hunter. She was sick. Whether you were there or not, it wouldn’t have made a difference. You can’t beat yourself up for living your life. Amy wouldn’t have wanted you to do that. She definitely wouldn’t want you closing yourself off from everyone.” That’s when the realization hits me. “This is why you seemed so mad at me in the hospital.”

“Yeah, I can’t go through that again, Sam. I can’t let you get hurt. I can’t lose you.”

I wrap Hunter in my arms, placing a small kiss on his cheek and laying my head on his chest.

Now it all makes sense.

He isn’t the asshole he pretended to be.

He’s damaged.

Just like me.

Chapter Fifteen

Samantha

It’s been almost a month since Hunter opened up to me, since we decided that we wanted to try to make something out of this, and it’s been amazing. I have never had someone like Hunter in my life. He is always by my side, he’s my rock. I know that if everything is going shitty, that he will still be there. I used to laugh at the people that would fool themselves into thinking they could fall in love with someone in an instant, now I’m one of them. I love Hunter Stone.

I wouldn’t dare tell him this because I’m pretty sure he would