Trying Not to Love You (16 page)

"You ok?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now. I just want to go to sleep and forget this shit ever happened." I turned on my side and faced away from him.

I heard the chair as it scrapped against the floor. He sat down and started running his fingers up and down my back. I slowly drifted off to sleep.

My sleep did not last, and I woke up crying. I wiped the tears away and turned to see if anyone was still here. Hunter sat in the chair, gazing over at me.

He reached over to the nightstand and handed me some pain reliever and water. "Here take these." He knew me so well. He knew after a night like I was having, I would wake up with a pounding headache.

"Thanks. You don't have to sit there all night. I will be fine." I tell him.

"Yeah I do. Just try and get some more sleep." He was pissed. I could sense it. What was I supposed to do? This was not in my control.

I laid there for a while and eventually fell back asleep, but again, it was not for very long. At least this time when I woke up, I was not crying.

I looked over at Hunter and he still sat in the same place he had been since he walked in but now, his head rested on his hand and he was asleep.

I sat up and looked over at Hailey's empty bed; I got up and pulled her covers down. I walked over to Hunter and woke him.

"Hey, wake up." He stirred slightly and opened his eyes. "Come on. If you are going to stay here, sleep in Hailey's bed."

He got up, crawled into Hailey's bed and faced the direction of my bed. I got back into my bed and faced him. I knew he was not going to fall back asleep until I did, so I closed my eyes and pretended to fall back asleep. I laid there for what seemed like forever but then I heard Hunter's heavy breathing. I concentrated on breathing in and out and I eventually fell back asleep too.

When I woke up again, the sun was shining in my room. I got up and took another shower; my brothers did not come here to help nurse my broken heart. I had to pull myself together because we had plans to go to Busch Gardens today and I was going. I would have felt guilty for backing out on them. I knew they would understand, but I needed to get out of here anyway.

When I got out of the shower and got myself ready to go I opened the door and saw that Hunter was still asleep. I did not want to wake him but we had to get going.

I ran my fingers through his hair and ruffled it. "Hunter, come on get up; we have to go."

He stretched and yawned then looked at me and said, "We don't have to go; they'll understand."

Just the thought of sitting here and rehashing everything that had happened makes me want to cry again. "And what are we going to do? Sit here and stare at the walls? I can't do that; I can't sit here and cry."

We need to go.

"You sure you're up for it?" He asked still skeptical.

"I'm fine." I will be, at least for a little while. "Plus dad gave me money for an emergency and today is an emergency, so I'm using it."

"Alright, let's go back to my house so I can grab a quick shower."

When we got there, Mason, Hailey and Cooper were all upstairs still getting ready. It actually shocked me that party last night had not left the place trashed. There were still a few people asleep on the couch and a couple of pizza boxes and cups all over the kitchen, but nothing like the last party.

"That was a shitty thing that happened to you." Bentley said from the kitchen table.

"Yeah." Don't people understand that you normally don't want to talk about a break up? I did not want to be rude to him but I did not want to get into the details of what happened either, so I got up and walked out on the deck to get some fresh air.

I heard the sliding glass door open a few minutes after I walked out. "You ok?" Hunter asked, coming up next to me to lean on the banister.

"I'm fine."

"So I assume you told Dom no last night?"

Really? Did he think for a second I would tell him yes? "Definitely no."

Hunter reached out and tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. He moved closer so that we were shoulder to shoulder. He grabbed my hand and we stayed like that until Mason came out and said, "What the fuck Hunter?"

I quickly swung around, wondering what I missed.

"What?" Hunter asked, looking around, trying to figure out what was going on.

"You know what. Stay the fuck away from her; she doesn't need to deal with anymore bullshit."

What the hell?

"Mase, what the hell is going on?"

"Nothing, come on let's go." He turned around and stormed off into the house.

I looked over at Hunter and he just shook his head and walked in behind Mason. What the hell was going on? I did not feel like dealing with anything else, so if this was how today was going to be, I would just go home.

"Hey, you ready?" Hailey asked me, peaking out the door.

"I guess, but what the hell happened last night? Mase damn near bit off Hunter's head."

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing they can't work out themselves."

I shook my head and followed Hailey out to Mason's car. During most of the drive to the park, Hunter and Cooper talked about the upcoming baseball season, but Mason and Hunter said nothing to each other. There was so much tension that I could not stand it; it was doing nothing to help my mood. I only felt slightly calmer when Hunter would brush my knee when he saw me glaring at the back of Mason's head, or when Cooper would make stupid jokes and we would all laugh. The only person Mason was talking to was Hailey.

We finally made it to the park, but when I tried to pay for the tickets using my emergency money, Hunter stopped me. "I got it." He took my card and put it in his back pocket.

"No, I got it. Give me my card back." I held my hand out.

"Just let him pay Kenzie." Cooper said from behind us.

I gave Cooper a dirty look but followed behind Hunter and walked into the park. I will find a way to get the money back to him whether he likes it or not.

We all had a great time at the park; that was exactly what I needed. I did not think about anything but the next roller coaster or the person who was going to jump out and scare me since we went on Halloween weekend.

There was still tension between Mason and Hunter but I just ignored it. I did not want our time here to end, I did not want to go back to the dorms to remember Dominic and I definitely did not want to run into him either.

Hailey must have read my mind, because she suggested we go back to Hunter's house, sleep over and watch movies until we pass out like we used to at home.

"Sounds good, Hailey, your bed is like sleeping on a cinder block. My shoulders are stiff as hell." Hunter complained.

"My bed is not. I love it. I sleep like a princess." Hailey said beaming.

"Maybe it had to do with the fact that you slept half the night in the chair." I added.

"Dude, I told you I would have stayed with her." Cooper commented.

"And I told you that it wasn't a good idea to stay with her Hunter." Mason said, walking up to us from the bathroom.

No one said anything after that; Hailey pulled Mason in front of us to make our way back to the car. I followed behind with Cooper and Hunter.

"Will someone please tell me what happened between you two?" I asked Hunter and Cooper.

Cooper looked down at the ground, but spoke up first. "Mason doesn't want you with Hunter."

I stopped walking but Cooper kept walking until he realized I had stopped. Hunter just kept on walking. Either he did not realize I had stopped, or he did not want to hear anymore.

"Wait a second, what are you even talking about? Hunter doesn't want me." I really must have missed something last night.

Cooper nodded his head. "Yeah he does. He told us last night." Coop glanced over to see my reaction.

Taken back by this, I said, "It doesn't matter if he does or not. There will never be a Hunter and me. He would not do that to you guys."

He told them he wanted me after he told me last summer there could not ever be an us? Why now, after Dominic broke my heart?

"You're right, it doesn't if he does or not. Mason still hates the idea. I don't have a problem with it as much as he does, but I still don't like it. I know he has always been there for you when we couldn't but you are our sister and it's just not right."

"Yeah well, you guys have nothing to worry about." I said as I stormed past Cooper.

When I caught up to Mason I nudged his shoulder and whispered, "You don't have anything to worry about," then glanced in Hunter's direction. Mason just nodded. I don't even want to think about being in a relationship with anyone at this point, even if the one person I wanted the most finally wanted me.

Arriving back at Hunter's house, Bentley was there with a few of his friends. They were going out for the night so he told us to make ourselves at home. Hailey pulled out the vodka that she had the last time we were here and poured me a shot. I looked over at her and gave her a small smile. She knew I was still a little upset and when I needed her, she was always there.

I went into the freezer and much to my surprise; Hunter had replenished my ice cream supply. I shut the freezer door and Hunter was standing there.

"Damn it, you scared me."

He smirked at me; they all loved it when they snuck up on me.

"You hanging in there?" He asked.

"Yeah. No tears today right?" I was trying my damnedest all day not to think of what I would have to deal with when I got back home.

He grabbed the ice cream from me and scooped some out for us. Cooper came in and wanted popcorn, so Hunter threw him the box to make while I went into the living room.

After everyone settled, we started the movie, but I didn't last long. I was exhausted from not getting much sleep and being at the park all day. I was awakened by someone running a finger from my temple down my neck and back again.

When I opened my eyes, Hunter was looking at me. I glanced around the room. Everyone was gone except Cooper who was asleep on the couch across from us.

I snuggled into his touch and asked, "Can you tell me what happened with you and Mason?"

He stared at me for a few minutes; it was as if he had to decide if he wanted to tell me or not. Then he finally said, "I told him I loved you and that I have for a long time."

My eyes went wide with surprise. "Why did you do that?"

"It just came out." He stared off into the other direction and then back at me. "I was pissed at Dominic for proposing to you. I lost it when I left your room."

I sat up; I could not believe this was happening now. God, I wanted him, but why now? This was too much, too soon. "You shouldn't have told them that."

"I know, I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that. Mason was pissed." He looked down to the ground. "I know you don't need to deal with any more shit right now."

"You're right. I don't, not now." I laid back down but turned away from him.

He sat on the floor next to where I was sleeping for a while, before I heard him say, "I'm sorry CC," then he got up to go back to his room.

The next morning when everyone got up, things seemed to be less intense between everyone. Mason seemed to be in a much better mood, and I am sure Hailey was to thank for that. We all hung around Hunter's until lunchtime when Mason and Cooper had to leave to go back to school.

We were all saying our goodbyes when Mason pulled me aside. I knew this was coming. "I don't like it, Kenz." He ran his hand through his hair. "I know you don't understand. You might be pissed off but I'm just protecting you. You just had your heartbroken; I don't want to see you go through that again."

"Mase…" he cut me off before I could finish telling him I agreed.

"I know what happened last summer. I heard all of it. I was there that night you thought everyone was gone."

Shit.
How embarrassing that he heard me tell Hunter that I wanted him.

"I told Hunter to stay away from you. I know he broke your heart that night because he didn't have the balls to tell you back then that he loved you. I'm just protecting you."