Leliel – an angel protector of the night.
Friday night, Denise insisted that I sleep over. She said we’d been best friends for more than a year but I had never even met her family. I didn’t want to go but she was begging, almost crying even. She even spoke to Meredith about it. And since I didn’t want Meredith to further inquire what the big deal was, why I could not sleep over Denise’s house, I decided to be brave about it. After all, Denise and Hunter weren’t really close. And she had a big house. If I stayed in Denise’s bedroom, I should be okay.
When Chaise picked me up that night, he asked me about it.
“So you’re going to spend the night under one roof with Mr. Short Temper?”
“Huh?” I stared at him blankly.
“Hunter Vaughn. He lives with Denise, right?”
“Oh,” was all I could say. I didn’t want to talk about Hunter, I didn’t even want to remember him. Because if I did… I would only remember the last time he looked at me… with contempt and disgust. I wanted to preserve Hunter’s memory in my mind. The one that was gentle, sweet… wonderful.
“If he so much as insults you, you would tell me, right?”
No.
But I nodded slightly.
“Mr. Smarty Pants thought he was above everybody else,” he murmured as he started driving. We drove all the way in silence.
Chaise took me to Denise’s place. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow.” He stared at me for a moment and then he looked down at my pendant again. He frowned slightly. “He’s still in, huh.”
I bit my lip but did not respond. Right now… if the choice was up to me, I’d get Hunter out of my heart and try to move on. But sometimes, you can’t make decisions in love. Your heart makes all those stupid decisions for you. And I still loved Hunter no matter if he didn’t love me anymore… no matter if he didn’t want anything to do with me anymore.
I stared up at Chaise. “I need to go.”
He nodded slightly, and I went down from the car. I walked towards Denise’s front door. Before I reached the front steps, I stared up and saw Hunter. He was standing in the balcony two floors above me. He was wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, his abs were exposed to my view. He was holding a bottle of what looked like beer in one hand. He was looking down, watching me. His brow was raised, and I thought he didn’t look too pleased. But I was used to that by now. It was his constant reaction to me since he came back.
Hunter Vaughn was slowly entering my “Ignore List”. I wished I could also ignore this throbbing pain inside my chest every time I saw him, or even thought about him.
I took a deep breath and rang the bell. I looked back and saw that Chaise had not yet gone away. He was waiting for me to go inside the house. Of course, like a true guardian angel, he was waiting for me to be safely inside.
Denise’s house was massive. The living room alone was twice the size of my entire house. The ceilings were high and they were adorned with beautiful crystal chandeliers.
“We already had dinner,” she said. “But I had something prepared for you.”
She led me to the dining room. I saw a beautiful blonde woman standing there, giving instructions to the maid.
“Mom! Alice is here,” she said to the woman.
Mrs. Wesley smiled at me. “Hello, dear. I have heard so much about you. It’s good to finally meet you.” Denise’s mother extended her hand to me. I shook it shyly. “Your dinner is ready. I’m sorry, we already ate without you.”
“It’s okay. It’s quite late, I know. But my shift does not finish until ten,” I said.
“Yes, Denise mentioned you work for Alibri.”
I nodded.
“I know Agnes Bailey. Nice woman. The shop is doing well, I suppose.”
I nodded again. “It is, Ma’am.”
“Call me Susan,” she said.
“Okay… Susan.”
Susan smiled at me and I could see that the warmth on her smile was genuine. Then she turned to Denise, “Join Alice while she eats.”
We approached a ten-seater porcelain table with luxurious green and cream cushioned chairs. The table was set for two.
“I’m not going to eat dinner again, Mom,” Denise said. “But I will have some dessert.”
“I know. The other plate was for Hunter. He didn’t eat yet.”
My heart pounded in my chest at the mere mention of his name. My knees already felt weak and I was sure that my cheeks were turning pinkish. I was quite certain that I wouldn’t be able to eat dinner properly if Hunter was sitting a few feet away from me.
“Can we eat first and you call him later?” Denise asked, rolling her eyes.
“Denise…” her mother sighed. “You know… Hunter’s having a difficult time coping up with everything. He constantly needs warm company, right Alice?”
Susan looked at me, expecting me to agree with her. “I… I guess.” I tried to smile.
“Have dinner now. I will call Hunter,” Susan said, not giving any of us time to argue.
Denise groaned when her mother was gone. She pulled me to sit on one of the chairs. “Come, eat quickly so we can go to my room!”
I couldn’t agree with her more. I was hungry too and I knew that the minute Hunter came to the dining room, I wouldn’t even be able to chew my food.
There was salmon carbonara and garden salad. I started eating while Denise talked about a trip to their lake house that she was planning soon.
I only half-listened to her, I was concentrating on chewing fast without losing my table etiquette or choking on my food.
I was already finished but Hunter made no appearance. I thought he also did not have the appetite to eat with me in the dinner table. And I didn’t know whether I should be relieved or even more heartbroken about that.
I was eating Susan’s famous carrot cake when Denise stopped talking. I realized that Hunter went into the dining room. I looked at him from the corner of my eyes. He was topless and barefoot. He went to the fridge to get something and while he had his back on us, I took the opportunity to look at his well-sculpted back. He was lean and his muscles were very well-toned. They weren’t wrestle-mania-bulging but damn! Hunter knew how to take care of his body.
Then I was looking at his torso. His muscles were even more toned there. He had a perfect six-pack, a proof that he spent several hours a week working out. I remembered that Hunter was a black-belt in Karate. But I doubt he was able to spend time sparring lately. That would be very bad for his transplant. As I stared at his perfect muscles, I bit my lower lip involuntarily to keep my mouth from gaping.
My eyes darted up towards his chest and shoulders. They were broad and I remembered how it felt like to lean on them, rest my cheeks on them while his well-toned arms were around me, keeping me safe… keeping me warm.
Finally, my eyes went up to his face. They locked with his and I realized in horror that he was watching me stare at his body. I felt the heat rise up from my neck to my face.
“Can you put something on?” Denise asked him in an irritated tone.
Hunter raised his beer to his mouth and took a gulp, his eyes never leaving me. He didn’t say anything, but before he left, his lips curved into an arrogant smirk that I knew was meant for me.
I was sure that I was turning crimson. I stared down at my cake. That was embarrassing! He caught me staring at him. Maybe he even thought I was gawking… or worse, ogling!
Oh my word! Earth! Open up and swallow me quickly!
“I’m sorry. He could be a brute sometimes. He knows he looks good,” Denise said, rolling her eyes again.
I didn’t say anything. Instead, I just continued eating the cake.
That smirk!
I was embarrassed to be caught staring but at least, it was the first time since he came back that he didn’t look at me with disgust or contempt.
After I finished my cake, Denise led me up her room.
“Where is your dad?” I asked her.
“He’s on a business trip.”
We reached the second floor and walked down the carpeted hall. There were at least five bedrooms on this floor.
“How many bedrooms is your house?” I asked.
“Oh, seven,” she said. “There are two more guestrooms upstairs and then the library and the game room. I would like to take you there, but lately the game room has been Hunter’s territory.”
“Why? What’s in there?”
“A snooker and pool table. Big LCD screens where you can play video games. Hunter spends more than two hours a day there… playing pool and… I think chess. No one in this house could match him in a game of chess anyway so no one bothers to play with him. I think he plays with the computer or he joins online tournaments.”
Hunter Vaughn, chess master at age fifteen.
I remembered him saying that during our first date. Even when he couldn’t see, Hunter was unbeatable. I wonder how I would fare against him now that he didn’t have to just imagine our chess pieces in his head.
Sadly, I think I would no longer get a chance to play with him again. He seemed to have gone somewhere I couldn’t reach him.
And because of that, I felt my heart breaking all over again.