Stay For Me - Megan Smith Page 0,79
with his foot.
“Dude, what are you doing?” I had heard Hunter’s voice before I had even seen him.
I opened the door and crossed my arms. “I’m trying to shut my door, but jackass here won’t move.”
Cooper glared at me. “Give me the makeup, Kenz, and I’ll leave.”
“No.” I yelled. “Get out.”
“Why the hell is everyone yelling?” Mason asked, standing behind Cooper and Hunter.
“She thinks she’s going out with Hailey dressed like that and wearing that shit on her face.” Cooper answered.
I threw my hands up in the air, walked over to my closet and grabbed my sandals. I wasn’t dressed any differently than I was any other day. I had on a tight fitting tank top and skinny jeans, my normal every day clothes.
Hunter put his hand on Cooper’s shoulder, “Just leave her alone. Come on. Let’s go down to the baseball field.”
“Nah, not until she gives me that shit.”
“Oh my God, would you guys knock it off? We’re only going to the movies. What’s the freaking deal?” Hailey asked.
Mason eyed Hailey then me and said, “Fine, but we are going with you.” Then he walked away and Cooper followed him.
Hunter looked at the bag of makeup and then eyed me. “You don’t need that shit. You’re beautiful just the way you are.”
My breath caught; I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. Hunter tipped his head and followed Cooper and Mason. He had never called me that before. I didn’t think I was beautiful, average, sure. I was shorter than a lot of the kids in my school, and even at fifteen, I was curvier than most of the girls. I had long, dark chocolate hair that cascaded down my back, eyes the color of the blue sky and pale skin dotted with freckles due to my Irish blood.
“Not on his radar, my ass.” Hailey said, laughing at me. I’m sure I was bright red.
At the end of that summer, Hunter left for Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The day he left was awful; all I did was cry all day long. Hunter stopped over and said goodbye to me after packing up, which only made me cry more. I was going to miss seeing him every day, and secretly, I think he was going to miss me too.
When Hunter came back from school that year, I realized how enamored of him I had become. The day he came home for summer break, I was standing in the kitchen at my parents’ shore house, making a sandwich. Hunter walked through the door, and I nearly cut my fingers off when I caught sight of him. He was…so sexy. He seemed to have grown taller, and obviously, he worked out more. His shirt stretched tight across his broad shoulders, his sleeves pulled tight around his biceps. His hair was slightly longer than normal, and it had that sexy just rolled out of bed look.
He walked in and reached over my head, grabbing a glass out of the cabinet. I glanced over just as his shirt rode up slightly, revealing some kind of script tattoo. There was a star on his right elbow and skulls with flames covered his left arm.
After he grabbed the glass and filled it with water from the fridge, he came over and kissed the side of my head. “Hey, CC.”
“Those tats look good on you.” I said, trying to keep my voice mild and even.
He grabbed a few chips from the bag I had left open on the counter. “I have more.” He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the counter. I almost fainted. His tan, muscular abs begged me to reach out and touch them. On his left side, starting under his arm, down his ribs and ending on his hip, in script read Live Today As If You’ll Die Tomorrow. On his lower stomach, stretching from hip to hip, in the same script read No Regrets. I lifted my eyebrows and smirked at him; he smiled, shrugged his shoulders and turned around to show me a Celtic cross that took up most of his back.
“A friend of mine is working as an apprentice at a tattoo shop down by my house at school.” Hunter explained.
“I like them.” I padded over and grabbed the towel folded over the back of the kitchen chair. “I’ll see you later; I’m going down to the beach.” It was getting hot in here; I needed to stay away before I started