My Favorite Mistake

  “So, we have an announcement to make,” Hunter said, grabbing my hand and holding it up for the world to see. “We are together. Aren’t we, baby?”

  “As long as you stop calling me baby.”

  “You know you love it.”

  “Not really.”

  “Okay, okay, enough with the cute, we get it,” Renee said.

  “Aw, come on, Ne. Be nice,” Paul said.

  “I think it’s great. Welcome to the family, Tay.” Mase gave me a huge hug. “Not that you weren’t already a part of it, but I know Hope will be thrilled and Harper will be over the moon.”

  “Thanks.”

  Hunter pulled me to his chest, rocking me back and forth and giving me another kiss. It was like we couldn’t get enough of each other.

  “Okay, dinner. I’ve got rice and veggies and teriyaki sauce. So it looks like stir fry. Anyone have objections?” Hunter said.

  We all shook our heads.

  “Stir fry it is.”

  Hunter divvied up the tasks, giving me the task of chopping peppers. I was really good at it, apparently. We all bustled around the kitchen, knocking into one another and laughing and generally making a mess.

  When we finally sat down, it was pretty late for dinner. Hunter claimed the recliner, and I claimed his lap. Hey, it was the best seat in the house.

  My phone buzzed with a text from Tawny. I read it, but it wasn’t anything major.

  “You okay?” Hunter hadn’t seen the text.

  “Yeah, fine. I just have to call her later.”

  “What are you whispering about over there?” Renee said, pointing her fork at us.

  “Your mom,” I said.

  “Hey, don’t you dare insult my mother.”

  “Oh, but it’s fine for you to?” I said.

  “You didn’t have to spend eighteen years of your life with her.”

  “True story,” I said.

  I missed Hunter in the shower, but I just didn’t feel comfortable doing that when Renee and Paul were in the living room studying. Hunter also had a lot of work for econ that he’d been putting off. We had another of our study sessions after my shower.

  “You know, if I copied my notes onto your skin, I bet I would learn them a whole lot better,” he said.

  “You’d have to write really, really small. There’s not a lot of me to write on.”

  “Oh, I’m sure I’d find room.”

  “I’m going to go back to studying now.”

  “Me too.”

  Somehow, we both went back and got some more work done. Darah ducked her head in, saying hello and that she was happy for us. She was exhausted and Mase decided to stay the night with her, and Paul was taking Renee back to his place.

  “We need to get our own place,” Hunter said.

  “What?”

  “Well, I did lose the bet, so I should have moved out. I just want to take you with me. I have plenty of money for one.”

  I slammed my book shut. “No way. First of all, I’m not letting you pay for an apartment for me. Second, I’m not letting you pay for an apartment for me. Third, you’re giving that money to someone who needs it.”

  “It would be our apartment. Big difference.”

  “I already paid to live here. And what happened to the guy who didn’t want the money?”

  He shrugged.

  “You made me realize that it was just money. It doesn’t represent that night and what happened. My dad worked hard for that money, and he left it to me. I should do something with it.”

  “Well, you should. Give it to a domestic violence shelter.”

  He snapped his fingers.

  “That’s a good idea. But I still have plenty to pay for a crappy apartment for the two of us.”

  “It’s not happening.”

  “We’ll see when I meet your mom this weekend.”

  “Don’t you dare mention this to her. Or Tawny.”

  “No promises, baby.”

  “Stop calling me that.”

  “No promises, Missy.”

  I sighed heavily and shut the rest of my books. I guessed I was done with work. That made me think of other things we could do with our time.

  “I have something for you,” he said, getting up and grabbing his car keys. “I was waiting until no one else was around. Just stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  A few minutes later he came in with a brand new comforter and set of sheets.

  “They didn’t have the peacock one, but I found it online, so I ordered one. Until it comes, I got this. I figured the colors were close.” The comforter was turquoise and the sheets were in green and dark blue.

  “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I was responsible for ruining the last set, so I figured it was the least I could do.”

  “You have to stop buying me things.”

  “No, I won’t. Come on, I’ll help you put them on.”

  My bed was already bare, so it only took us a little bit of effort to get the bed made up again.

  “Thank you,” I said, giving him a hug.

  “Anything for you.”

  “I should probably call Tawny.”

  “Do you want some privacy? I need to take a shower anyway.”

  “Thanks.”

  I sat on my newly made bed to call Tawny.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Nothing except I’ve been calling and calling you and you didn’t call me back.”

  “I texted you.”

  “I know, but I needed to hear your voice, Kid.”

  “I’m sorry, Tawn.”

  She sighed.

  “It’s okay. I just wanted to tell you that I talked with Mr. Woodward today. The hearing is in two weeks, and we’re both going to be able to make a statement to the parole board. We’re only allowed to have immediate family, so it will be just us and Mom and Mr. Woodward.”

  “Okay. Travis will be there, though, right?”

  “Yeah, he’ll be there.”

  “I don’t know if I can do it.”

  “Yes, you can. You faced him that night, and you can again. He can’t hurt you anymore. He can’t hurt either of us anymore. You know I’ve got a gun just in case. I was going to get you those shooting lessons for Christmas, but you might need them sooner. Maybe Hunter can take you.”

  “What a romantic date.”

  “Hey, the couple that shoots together, stays together.”

  “Until one of them shoots the other one.”

  “Well, not on purpose.”

  “Sometimes I want to shoot him.”

  “That’s men for you. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.”

  “You found anybody that meets your standards yet?”

  “Well, there is this new guy at the firm. He’s another paralegal, so it’s completely against the rules for me to even entertain the idea of dating him, but he’s cute.”

  “How old?”

  “He’s younger than me, but he doesn’t act it. He bought me lunch the other day out of the blue.”

  “Must be love.”

  “Must be.” There was a pause as I heard the shower turn off. “Hey, it will be okay. I wasn’t there for you on that night, but I’m not going to do that ever again.”

  “You were there for me. If you hadn’t hit him with the bat, he would have —” I couldn’t say the rest.

  “I shouldn’t have had him over.”

  “Look, Tawn, I don’t want to argue with you now. It’s useless. What’s done is done and all we can do is move forward.”

  “Wow, who are you and what have you done with my sister?”

  “I just have a new perspective on life.”

  “You totally got laid.”

  “Why does everyone think everything is about sex?”

  “Sometimes, Kid, it is.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Listen, we have to meet with Mr. Woodward next week. Do you think you can come down?”

  “I’ll have to miss cl
ass.”

  “You don’t really have a choice. I can get him to excuse you.”

  “Okay. Let me know what time.”

  “Will do.”

  We hung up just as Hunter came back. I had to stop myself from grabbing his wet and sexy body.

  “You look like you want me,” he said.

  “I do.”

  “I thought you were still sore.”

  “I am, but you said there were other things. Maybe we could try some other things?”

  “If you want to. I didn’t think you’d be ready for that yet, but if you want to, I’m not going to say no.”

  “Unless you think we should go to bed, because we could do that.”

  “Are you kidding?” He dived forward and grabbed me, throwing me on his bed and kissing the daylights out of me.

  “It could be like this all the time, you know? Just you and me.”

  “You’re not getting us an apartment.”

  “What if I make you orgasm five times a day, every day?”

  “I wouldn’t be able to walk, that’s for sure.”

  “But would you let me rent us an apartment?”

  “No.”

  “Fine. Enough talking. I want more loving.”

  “Me too,” I said against his lips.

  We went slower this time, kissing more and taking our time.

  “What do you want?” he said as he peeled my shirt off.

  “You.”

  “I’m all yours. Tell me what you want.”

  I kissed him hard, nearly biting his lip.

  “Easy girl,” he said, undoing my bra. I’d decided to wear a sexier one in black lace that hadn’t been through the wash too many times.

  “How about this?” He slid his hand down my stomach and under my shorts.

  “That’s good,” I said and my body responded.

  “Good? Okay, I want to try something else. Something I think you’re really, really going to like.”

  He worked his way down my body, kissing and sucking until I was a quivering mess. He went lower and started to pull off my shorts.

  “You changed,” he said, staring down at the matching black lace panties I’d put on earlier.

  “Surprise,” I said. I wasn’t up to speaking more than one word at a time. Not enough blood in my brain.

  He kissed me there, and I started freaking out a little, grabbing onto his ears.

  “Hey, it’s okay. I promise,” he said, looking up.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  A few moments later when he removed my underwear, I was pretty damn sure.

  “Christ.” He laughed, which made it even better. All I could do was hold on and hope I didn’t break apart into a million pieces. I certainly felt like I had. Several times.

  “Satisfied?” he said a little while later.

  “Where the hell did you learn how to do that?”

  “Camp.”

  “Shut up.” My body was still quaking with aftershocks. If the apartment caught fire right then, I wouldn’t have been able to move.

  “Practice. You like?”

  “Too much.”

  He crawled back up my body and tried to kiss me, but I was a little weirded out by that.

  “One step at a time.” He kissed my forehead instead. He moved to my cheeks and then down my neck and my ears and finally, my lips got lonely, so I moved my head so he could kiss me.

  Not as weird as I’d thought.

  “You never know until you try,” he said against my mouth, smiling. Despite the fact that kissing Hunter was explosive, my eyelids started getting heavy.

  “Did I wear you out?”

  “A little. I feel like I should reciprocate.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Okay.”

  “Sleep now.” He kissed my eyelids and pulled his comforter over us. I’d never seen the advantages of sleeping naked, but I did now.

  “Goodnight, baby.”

  “Goodnight, Hunter. I owe you a blow job,” I said through a yawn.

  “Then I hope I live until the morning.”

  I snuggled into his chest and thought about how quickly life could change, and how good it could be.

  Twenty-Six

  Hunter got his promised reward, which I somehow muddled my way through to his satisfaction. We continued our lovemaking education every night for the next week until all he had to do was breathe on me and I’d be thinking of ripping his clothes off and having my way with him.

  Every day he mentioned the apartment, and every day I said no. He tried every which way to convince me, but I refused. He always asked at the most inopportune times, usually when my mind and body were busy with something else that I had the feeling he was doing it on purpose. Ambush me in a moment when I was otherwise occupied and spring it on me, hoping I’d be too distracted to say no. Nice try, dude.

  Mom kept calling me with little questions, asking what Hunter would like to eat, if we wanted to stay over, etc. I took her up on her offer to have us stay over because it would be kind of fun to show him around Waterville and my old haunts, especially the library.

  Saturday morning we got up late, both of us a little sore after we’d tried something slightly ridiculous in the bedroom department that had led to more giggling than anything else.

  “I think we can cross that off our list,” Hunter said, getting slowly out of bed.

  “You have a list?”

  “Well, there is a Periodic Table of Sex. And there’s always the Kama Sutra.”

  “You’d have to have no spine to do most of those things,” I said, stretching my arms up as he ticked my stomach.

  “You never know until you try.”

  “True.”

  “Breakfast?”

  “I heard Paul out there rustling around. Maybe he made something?”

  “I hope so.”

  Paul had made French toast, and luckily, he’d made enough for all of us.

  “Morning,” he said, wearing just a set of pj pants and a rumpled hairdo. I grinned at Renee, knowing what caused it. She winked and gave me a huge smile. I gave it back to her.

  “So you’re meeting the parents today. You ready?” Paul asked Hunter.

  “I’m hoping the apple didn’t fall far from the tree in this case,” Hunter said, passing me the syrup.

  “My mom isn’t as angry as I am. She’s much nicer.”

  “How could anyone be nicer than you?”

  “I’m thinking of two words to describe you, and they are ass and kisser.”

  “I love kissing your ass.” This was true. He’d done it the night before.

  “Ugh, I’m eating here,” Renee said. I wrinkled my nose at her. “I think I liked you two better when you weren’t having sex.”

  “But we weren’t as much fun,” I said.

  “You mean you weren’t having as much fun.”

  “What do you think? More fun now?” Hunter asked me, putting his arms around me and rocking side to side.

  “Definitely.”

  We finished breakfast and it was Renee’s turn for the dishes, so Paul did most of them.

  “Okay, what to wear?” Hunter said as we were getting dressed.

  “You never have a wardrobe crisis. That’s all me.”

  “It’s not every day that you meet the mother of the girl you adore.”

  “True. What are your options?”

  He had a dark blue shirt and khaki combo, a black t-shirt and jeans combo and a white button-up with brown pants.

  “This one says, ‘I’m a nice boy who would never hurt your daughter,’” I said, pointing to the first. “This says, ‘I’m casual and probably own a motorcycle that I drive too fast.’” I pointed to the second. “And this says, ‘Hey, I look amazing in this shirt and I’m reliable.’ So it all depends on what you want to go for.”

  “Reliable it is,” he said, taking the white shirt and putting it on over his white tank.

  “Let me,” I said, reaching for his
buttons. Dressing him wasn’t nearly as fun as undressing, but I still liked treating him like a human Ken doll every now and then.

  “What are you wearing?”

  “That,” I said, pointing to my bed. I’d chosen a plum sweater and dark brown skirt along with black boots.

  “It says, ‘I’m a nice girl who would never, ever do anything bad.’”

  “It does?”

  “I hope it does. Your mom doesn’t own a gun, does she?”

  “Ah, no. That would be a negative.”

  “Good.”

  “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll protect you,” I said.

  “I’m not scared.”

  “Liar.”

  “Sex goddess.”

  “Wuss.”

  “Beautiful.”

  I sighed. “You’re going to make my head gigantic.”

  “I’d love you even with a giant head.” He kissed the top of my head as I pulled my skirt on.

  “So sweet.”

  “Don’t tell anyone. I didn’t get these tattoos for people to think I was sweet. Speaking of that, your mom isn’t one of those people who thinks guys with tattoos are thugs, is she? I can cover up most of them and just keep my hand on this side of my head,” he said, putting his hand over his ear to cover the tattoo behind it.

  “I don’t really know. This is going to be another first.”

  “Did he have tattoos?”

  I knew who he was. Travis. Hunter was sensitive about saying his name.

  “Nope.”

  “Good. The more different I am from him, the better.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that. She’s really excited to meet you. I think her hope for grandchildren has been rekindled. She’ll probably try to talk you into proposing.”

  “I wouldn’t need much convincing.”

  “Yeah, right.” I went to the mirror and started brushing my hair. He put his hands on my shoulders.

  “I’m serious,” he said.

  “I thought you weren’t the marrying kind.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve never told a girl I loved them either.”

  My eyes met his in the mirror. “Never?”

  “No. I never loved anyone before you.”

  “Ditto.”

  “I can’t imagine not wanting to marry you.”