Noontime, the sun was high up and the temperature was at its highest. The monster kids of Leighton High were still oblivious of my existence as they were too busy befriending their Jacksonville counterparts. I hadn’t run into Hunter yet and the chances of him showing up were getting slimmer by the hour.
I checked on the place where the AV systems were going to be setup at the beach side. I was walking back to one of the cottages where Denise was when a group of kids scurried off from behind me, literally running me over, causing me to almost trip.
Good thing, I was able to hold on to the rail beside me and broke my fall. I resisted the urge to shout a curse at them. I looked down, and saw that my slippers did not survive the incident. I reached down to see if I could still fix it enough to at least wear it until I reached the cottage. Hopefully, Denise would have a spare.
As I tried to fix my slipper, I stood on one foot, alternating my feet as the cement was too hot for my soles.
“You should get a new pair,” I heard somebody say behind me. I turned around and found Hunter looking at my damaged slipper.
“You think?” I asked sarcastically. I took a deep breath. A minute ago, I was positive, the day was getting better. Now, it seemed menace after menace was happening to me in batches.
“Come, let’s go to the gift shop. I’m sure they would have plenty there,” he said.
“No. I’m sure Denise would have a spare.”
“The gift shop is over there,” he said pointing at the small shop in the corner. It’s about a hundred steps away, a short, easy walk—if you have footwear. Long and painful—if you are barefoot.
“Not necessary,” I said, switching foot again. “The cottage is not that far.”
“The gift shop is nearer,” he insisted.
I looked up at him sternly. “I’m fine! Can you just… go… attend to your girlfriend? See if she needs help with anything!” I shouldn’t have said that, but at that moment, I couldn’t help it.
He raised a brow at me and then, with a wicked smile, he said, “Okay. As you wish.”
I thought he would go, but without warning, he bent down and scooped me up into his arms.
I shrieked. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Hunter Vaughn?”
He started carrying me towards the gift shop. “You need to get a new pair of slippers, otherwise, you will burn the soles of your feet. I’m taking you to the shop, whether you like it or not.”
“Put me down!” I protested and started struggling in his arms.
“Sssshhhh!” He tightened his grip on me. “Hush, Allison! I don’t want to drop you.”
“Just put me down!”
“I will. When we reach the shop—where the floor is cold.”
Hopeless, I crossed my arms over my bare tummy and allowed him to carry me. The blood beneath my skin began to heat up and I’m sure that it wasn’t from the sun. I felt particularly self-conscious because of what I was wearing. I looked away from him, afraid that he might see the violent blush on my face.
I thought the gift shop was near but it felt like we were taking forever to get there. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that Hunter was walking especially slow to prolong this awkward moment.
“Can’t you walk faster?” I asked him.
“Why? Are you scared that people would see you with me?” he asked, raising a challenging brow at me.
“No. But you might be embarrassed to be seen with me.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Now, why would I be embarrassed to be seen with you?”
“You’re joking, right?”
He raised a brow at me. “Do you think I am?”
“Yeah, I do!”
“Then you do not know me at all,” he said. And I thought the annoyance in his voice was laced with a bit of sadness.
We were a few feet away from the gift shop, much to my relief. But instead of going inside, Hunter took a turn and continued walking.
“Wait! What are you doing?”
“The next gift shop is bigger and has better choices.”
“What? No!” I wailed. “Hunter Vaughn, put me down!”
He shook his head. “Nope. I want to prove to you that I’m not embarrassed to be seen with you at all.”
We passed by a group of kids who stayed out of our way as soon as they saw us coming. Some of them were from our school and some were from Jacksonville. They were all looking at us with shock and curiosity.
I stared back at Hunter and he looked like he wanted to laugh or smile like he was enjoying spiting me.
I felt his arms around me tighten, pulling me closer to his body.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked in a low, sober voice.
“Because you told me to,” he replied curtly.
“What? When?”
He raised a brow at me for a moment but didn’t answer.
When have I ever asked him to help me? For the life of me, I couldn’t remember.
I noticed the white gold chain necklace on his neck, which he’d been wearing since he came back. It was only now that I saw the two rings, which served as the pendant. The bigger ring had a thicker band that had a pattern on it that looked like a handle and a diamond in the end of the design. I couldn’t make out the rest of its design. The smaller one looked feminine. It had a diamond on the center and intricate carvings and smaller diamonds on both sides of the bigger stone. The design of the carvings looked familiar and I resisted the urge to reach out for it and inspect it further. I couldn’t make out the designs fully, but I knew that it was a matching his and hers pair.
It took me a moment to realize that we were already inside the gift shop. Hunter still hadn’t put me down. He was watching me as I stared at the rings on his necklace.
Shit!
“Umm… you can put me down now,” I said, peeling my eyes away from him.
He walked over to the couch and gently settled me there.
“What’s your size?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll manage. You can go now.” Although I did wonder how I was gonna manage that. I only had about ten bucks in my back pocket. And this gift shop looked posher than the thrift shop I originally intended to go to.
But Hunter refused to give up. “What’s your size?”
I sighed. “Seven.”
He went over to the counter to speak to the saleslady and after a minute, he came back with a pair of yellow flip-flop sandals.
He bent down, holding a sandal in his hands and reached out for my foot with his other hand.
“W-wait!” I protested. “I can do that myself.”
I tried to yank my foot away, but he was already holding my ankle.
“Stop complaining, Allison,” he scolded me.
He gently placed the slipper on my foot. It fit perfectly. He took my other foot and slipped on the other slipper.
The wedge flip-flop was made of soft rubber, with an ambigram logo of two T’s on the center of the straps. It was comfortable and my feet looked very nice on them.
Hunter was looking down at them too. Then his glance crept from my feet, to my legs and up to my body until he locked eyes with mine. When he realized that I was watching him, he turned away, looking embarrassed that I caught him checking me out. I thought of a similar time when he caught me checking him out.
Now, we’re even!
He went to the counter and handed the saleslady a plastic card.
“Hey, wait!” I walked over to him. “You cannot pay for these!”
“I just did,” he said when the saleslady handed back his card.
“I’ll pay you back,” I said. “I left my wallet in the locker room. I have some cash here…”
I reached for my back pocket for some money.
“Leave it, Allison. Consider it a gift.”
“Why would you give me a gift?” I asked, raising a brow at him. He didn’t acknowledge me before and half the time, he looked angry at me. And now, he was buying me a present. “How much was this anyway?”
I took the receipt from the saleslady so I could look at the price. I gasped. It was more than a hundred bucks. “For a beach sandal?” I asked the saleslady in disbelief.
“Umm… it’s Tory Burch, Ma’am,” the saleslady politely said.
Hunter snatched the receipt from me. He crumpled it in his hand and tossed it on the waste bin behind the counter with perfect precision.
“It looks good on you,” he complimented. “You don’t have to pay me back.”
“Yes, I do,” I said firmly. “I’m not gonna be a charity case. I’ve had more than my fair share of people pitying me and giving me free stuff because they felt bad for me.”
He raised a brow at me. “And you think I’m doing this because I feel bad for you?”
“Why else would you bother?”
“Because you’re m…” he started saying but then he stopped short. “Never mind.” He sighed heavily. “If you wanna pay me, it’s up to you. But I will only accept payment in kind.”
“What do you want?”
He shrugged. “I will let you know when I thought of something.”
I nodded. “But please don’t take too long. I don’t like owing people.”
“Fine.”
“Anyway, thank you,” I said. “I need to get back to Denise.”
He nodded again, not saying anything.
“Bye,” I said and turned to leave and look for Denise. I could only hope that she didn’t notice my new designer sandals.
I left, without a backward glance, trying my best to walk a straight line and breathe evenly.
Hunter Vaughn could well be the death of me!