I'll Reach For You, page 11
"Why should I believe you, I’ve seen you with him so many times." I’m getting pissed off now.
"BECAUSE I LOVE SOMEONE ELSE!" She yells, making everyone jump, except me. I’m as frozen as a statue. Her words shoot right through my heart. My eyes are on Hunter's back and I can't breathe. It's like I haven't learned how. I hear my heart beating in my ears again. Everything around me is gone, no sound. The only thing I can see is Hunter turning around to look at me. She takes a step closer and cups my face. I stare at her with widened eyes, still frozen. I can't move anything, not even blink.
"Sky, you need to breathe." I open my mouth, breathing in and out. Still, I can't move.
"I'm sorry; I was supposed to say that to you. Not yell it like that."
"What the hell?" I hear Amy say, but I don't care. Hunter just admitted she loves me! Tears start to flow from my eyes, run down my cheeks and onto her hands.
"Can I try again?" She asks with her soft voice that makes me so vulnerable.
"Y-yes." I manage to say weakly. She smiles and kisses the tears away from my cheeks.
"I love you so much, Skylar. I love you so much it drives me insane." I can't help but cry and laugh at the same time. I’m so happy.
"Oh, my God" I hear Amy say. This is the most amazing day of my life and Amy just has to ruin it. I take Hunter's hands in mine and step to the side looking at Amy, who looks guilty.
"I'm sorry, Skylar. I didn't know." She says regretfully.
"Well, now you know, and so do I." I kiss Hunter's cheek and she shrinks, making me smile against her skin.
"I love you too," I tell her. She wraps me in her arms tightly almost knocking the air out of me. I put my arms around her and kiss her temple. Then I look at Amy and her friends who have smiles on their faces.
"I’m truly sorry." She says again, and her friends nod in agreement.
"I hope you see now there’s no way she’s into Ryan." Amy rolls her eyes at me with a smile.
"Yeah, I see that. She took your breath away for a minute." I chuckle.
"Yeah, she did." I kiss her again.
"That’s one of the million reasons I love her, she keeps surprising me." Hunter looks at me with that beautiful smile.
"I’ll see you later," Amy says and walks away with her friends back inside.
"I love you so much Hunter, but you really scare me sometimes," I tell her.
"I'm sorry"
"No, don't apologize. It's also one of the many reasons I love you."
Chapter 33
I have lost you Again
We get into the car waiting for Taylor to arrive. She finally appears with Lauren at her side. Taylor gets into the car. I turn to look at her and she looks at me strangely.
"What happen to you?" Ty asks. She must have noticed my red eyes or something. I look at Hunter, she smiles at me. Then I turn back to Taylor.
"Hunter just told me she loves me," I admit. Taylor's eyes widen.
"Holy shit, Hunter." Hunter shrinks and hides in her sweater. I kiss her on the head, she’s so adorable. I look out the window and see Lauren walking down the road.
"Uh, Taylor, is Lauren going home?" I ask. Taylor sighs.
"Yeah, she doesn't have anyone to drive her." I roll my eyes at her.
"TAYLOR!" I yell, making her wake up.
"YES." She steps out the door to go get Lauren. They both come back after a little while. Now I know about them, something I never expected, like at all. I didn’t even know Taylor liked girls; she’s good at keeping secrets I guess. They both step into the car.
"Hi, Lauren," Hunter says.
"Hi." She answers back. I look at Hunter confused.
"Oh yeah, we had classes and usually work together when we need to group up."
"Oh, I’m glad you have someone to partner with." I kiss her cheek. Lauren looks at us with a shy smile.
"How long have you two been together?" I ask them. Since I told Ty about us, I want to know about them. Taylor glances at Lauren seeking an answer and she nods.
"They already know, so it doesn't matter," Lauren says shyly, making Ty smile, then she kisses her cheek. So adorable.
"Um, it's been almost five months." My mouth drops open.
"How in the name of God did I not know?" They all burst out in laughter. Am I really that blind sometimes?
"Why-why didn't you tell me?" I ask. Ty looks at Lauren and takes her hand.
"I promised her I wouldn’t." Ty answers. I can't help but smile, I would’ve done the same for Hunter. Lauren leans in to kiss her cheek and Ty blushes. I laugh and start to drive.
"Well, I’m glad I know," I tell them.
"Yeah, I feel better now that you know. We don’t need to hide when we’re around you two."
"I'm glad, we can do more things together." I burst out.
"Yeah we can, but not in public though."
"Yeah." I agree. If we meet some family or friends of the family, dad will find out and I may lose Hunter. I turn to look at her, she’s already watching me, and I can't help but smile.
"You’re staring," I tell her, and she takes my hand.
"I know." She answers, and I squeeze her hand. I hear Ty and Lauren whispering in the back. I’m so happy for them and glad they don’t need to hide around Hunter and me. Lauren’s as shy as Hunter. Ty and I play football with her at school and she’s the quiet one. She doesn't yell like the others on the field. She’s good at long passes, the thing Hunter sucks at. I stop the car outside of Lauren's house, they say goodbye and I begin to drive again.
"I'm really sorry I didn’t tell you, Skylar. Lauren's parents are very overprotective, and she’s afraid to tell them about us. I met them and they’re nice, but afraid something bad will happen to her. It's a little frightening." She admits.
"It's okay Taylor, I understand." I look at Hunter.
"I’m afraid of losing her too," I say, and Hunter smiles so brightly her cheeks engulf her eyes. She’s so beautiful, looking away from her is hard. It's like watching a car crash, you know you shouldn't look, but you can't turn away.
"Lauren means the world to me," Ty admits. I know what she means. I stop the car in Ty's driveway.
"See you two later." She opens the door but stops halfway out.
"Thank you, both of you." Then she gets out of the car. I turn to Hunter.
"Do you always look at me?" I ask, and she nods.
"I don't want to miss a thing." I narrow my eyes.
"Did you listen to Aerosmith today?" Hunter looks confused but bursts out into a laugh.
"Yes, I did. But I didn't think about it when I said that." She itches her neck and laughs with embarrassment. I lean over and kiss her on the lips.
"You’re so adorable," I mumble against her.
"And you’re so beautiful." She whispers back. I sneak another kiss and start to drive home.
"So, five months?" Hunter says, and I nod.
"I can't believe I didn't see that. Ty’s really good at keeping secrets, apparently," I say and Hunter snorts.
"Yeah, five months is long. Do we have to keep our secret for that long?" I look confused and worried at Hunter.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Your parents." She shrugs.
"Your grandma found out, sooner or later your mom and dad will too. I’m not sure if I want to be kicked out of our house or bed early in the morning.” I understand it’s hard to sleep worrying my parents may come in and find us.
I can't even hold Hunter's hand around them or look at her without the fear of being caught. If I tell dad, he might get angry, having a relationship with someone like Hunter is hard. He knows Hunter's past more than I do, and there might be some things he doesn't want me to know. Hunter may not want me to know either.
She still hasn't explained the scar on her back, I don’t even know if there are more. There could be so many reasons for her scar, maybe a car accident or she got it as a kid. But since she’s been in the foster system, it could be something to do with her parents and they hurt her or something. I remember she said she can't make the yelling and screaming go away, I wonder what she meant. Was it her parents or herself she can hear yelling? It’s scary to not know, I only hope she’ll tell me someday, so I stop wondering.
"Sky, I’ve lost you again." I hear Hunter say. I shake my head to come back to reality.
"I'm sorry," I say and take her hand in mine.
"Where’d you go?" She asks, and I stop the car behind dad's car. This time we told my parents we were going for a drive. I didn't want to be yelled at again. I turn to look at Hunter.
"Just thinking about you," I answer honestly, and she smiles.
"Sky, you need to worry about other things besides me." It’s like she can read my mind.
"Of course, I worry, I love you." Her face changes in the way that makes my heart tingle. I lean over and grab her sweater by the collar. Then put my lips on hers and breathe her in. Her smell, taste and softness make everything in me fade. All the worries on my mind, gone. How can someone make it all go away at once? I start to nibble on her bottom lip and she smiles so brightly I need to break away.
"I love you too, Skylar."
Chapter 34
Dammit, Skylar!
"No Skylar, stop!" Hunter yells underneath me, irritated. Today I was the one waking up first and now I take my revenge. The first thing I did was watch her sleep, she looked so beautiful, she always does. Hunter likes to curl up and bury her face in my chest. I love it so much when she does that; she looks so sweet and innocent. There’s nothing I want more than to spend time with Hunter.
I can do anything when she’s with me. Today we’re going to my cousin, Cameron, five-year-old birthday party. It’s a two-hour drive; mom and dad have already left because we’re staying there for the weekend. I’m not really looking forward to it, but Hunter’s coming, and I only need her to make my day. Hunter satisfies all my needs and keeps the bad things away. She makes me so happy, when she is gone, I find myself feeling down. It's like she’s the single source of my happiness I feel around me.
Hunter’s laying under me fighting to get her arms free I have locked with my legs. After a while of watching her sleep, I sat on her and poked her. It took some time before she woke up but now she’s pissed. She looks so cute I almost want to stop torturing her with my tickling.
"Please." She begs with puppy eyes, almost making me give in.
"No," I say and tickle her more.
"Dammit, Skylar!" She tries to get her arms out, but she’s stuck. I bend down, put my hands on each side of her head and lean in to kiss her cheek. She moves her head to the side to avoid me but can't get away.
"Not funny, like at all." She makes me laugh so much it hurts. I poke her once more as she moves underneath me, trying to push me off. I lean down to kiss her, she moves her lips and then bites my lower lip. Oh shit! I move back, but she doesn't let go.
"Hunter." I pled.
"Nope." She mumbles. I put my hands on her cheeks. I’m in deep shit right now.
"Come on," I say impatiently. She shakes her head gently. I thought about tickling her to make her let go, but she’ll probably bite down on my lip if I do.
"Hunter, please," I beg, she mumbles no again.
"I’ll stop," I say. She lets my lip go. I kiss her cheek, her temple, and underneath her ear. She chuckles, and her body moves under me.
"Stop." She giggles, but I can't, she’s so soft and tasty. I kiss further down her neck, throat, and down to her collar.
"Sky." She moans, it pushes me to kiss her more and more. I put my hands on her waist and carefully but slowly move my hands under her shirt. I feel her soft, warm skin under my fingertips and palms. I want her so much.
"Sky, stop." She says as a warning, so I do. I look up to her and take my hand out of her shirt.
"I'm sorry," I say and move my legs, so she can free her arms. She sits up underneath me and cups my face.
"It's not your fault, Sky. I just- I just can't..." She sighs.
"I want to, but there are just some things I’m not ready for you to see." I kiss her, I needed to. I grab her shirt and move away from her lips. It gave me some time to figure out what to say.
"You know I love you, Hunter. I love everything about you and I’m not leaving you, no matter what. Well, maybe your poking will make me run from you..." She chuckles and so do I.
"But, I just want you to know I’m never going to judge you. I’ll never do anything to hurt you, even though I can be good at it sometimes."
"No, you’ve never hurt me, Sky. You just keep trying to help me. I’m glad you keep on trying because every time you do, it makes me want to grow further. So, in the end, I know I’m going to reach that step because I love you and want to do everything with you." I’m speechless right now. I don't know what to say, but I’m so happy she said all that. It took a huge weight off my shoulders and lets me know she wants to share more. Someday she’ll show me what she’s not ready to let me see. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her cheek.
"I love you so much, Hunti."
"I love you too." She chuckles
"But you’re smothering me." I let her go.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay, can you move?" I nod and let her out of the bed. She leans down and kisses my cheek. Then I feel her finger poking my side.
"Dammit, Hunter."
"Sorry," she says running out the door.
"I love you!" She yells. I chuckle and shake my head. She’s unbelievable.
Chapter 35
Do I really have to Beg?
We’re sitting in the car outside my aunt and uncle's house. It's an old, big brick house, and looks so scary it could’ve been in a horror movie. There’s room enough for all of us, but I’m going to tell them Hunter and I can share. It’ll be fewer rooms to clean for my aunt, that's my excuse at least. Hunter can't sleep without me, but it feels more like I’m the one that can't sleep without her now.
I need her, her cuteness, warmth, softness and I want to hear her say she loves me before we fall asleep. The one person I’m looking forward to seeing is my grandma. I’m so excited to tell her, she’s the only one I can tell in my family. Others would just freak out and gossip to dad. But grandma, his mom, she’s amazing. The only one who can keep secrets and is wise enough to do so.
"Skylar," I turn to see her watching me.
"I'm sorry for ruining your daydream, but we’re going to be here for the whole weekend and I’m not sure how much time we can spend alone together when your family’s everywhere." Hunter and I look at all the cars in my aunt's parking lot. I have two aunts and two uncles, then add in their partners and children. My grandma’s here and my parents. So, this is going to be a long weekend. I look at Hunter, maybe not that long.
"Come here," I say. She chuckles and leans over inches away from her tasty lips. She’s teasing me right now.
"A little closer," I whisper. She shakes her head with a grin and says.
"I did my part, now you do yours." She teases, I can't help smiling.
"Do I really have to beg?" I whisper, and she bites her lower lip. Hunter's eyes and smile change in a way that makes me give in.
"Dammit, Hunter," I whisper and lean in those few inches that’s been killing me the last few seconds. Tasting her has finally filled my need, she nibbles on my lower lip, then bites, and moves back.
"Goddammit, Hunter," I say irritated. She let my lip go and snuck a quick kiss. She looks at me and grins. Then a thought hits me, one I’ve been thinking about for a while and I want to ask her to be sure.
"Hunter?" She moves back, noticing the worry in my voice and eyes.
"Yeah?" She looks unsure and skeptical. My heart wants to beat out of my chest and I can't breathe right. I take a deep breath and force myself to ask.
"Are you my girlfriend?" I ask shakily. Hunter snorts.
"Dammit, Skylar." She moves back to me and cups my face.
"Why do you have to scare me like that?" She smiles and shrugs. Then she says.
"If you want me to be yours, then yes. But as for me, you already are." I breathe out relieved and can't help but smile.
"Then you’re mine," I answer, she kisses my cheek.
"I’ll always be yours."
Hunter goes to the car and comes back with our bags.
"Thank you," I say and reach out to take them.
"No, I’ve got it, just lead the way." I nod and start walking to the front door. Before I could even knock, my aunt opens the door and hugs me tightly.
"Jenn, you’re smothering me." I try to breathe.
"Sorry." She lets me go and looks behind me.
"So, this is the famous Hunter." She says. I turn to look at Hunter. She has a shy smile as always when she meets unfamiliar people. She’s so adorable, now I really want to kiss her, dammit Hunter.
"Hi." She says politely.
"It's nice to meet you, Hunter. Now, come in everyone’s waiting for the two of you," She guides us into a big open room that leads to every door and stairs in the house.
"Did you two get lost on the way?" She jokes.
"No, Hunter was a little tied down." I laugh and feel a kick in my leg. I look back at Hunter who looks angry.
"By the way," I say as Jennifer looks at me.
"We thought we could share a room, it’d be easier."
"Yeah, sure," she cuts me off and I’m amazed.
"I’ll show you the way."
Hunter puts our bags on the floor in our room and looks at me upset.
"Did you really have to-" I put my arms around her and kiss her to shut her up; I pull my lips off hers and look at her.
"I'm still angry." She says looking into my eyes.
"I know, and you’re so cute." She rolls her eyes.
"I may be angry, but I still love you."
"You sure?" I tease. She rolls her eyes again and pokes my side, making me shrink and move back from her.
"Yeah, I’m sure." She grins.
"Dammit, Hunter." She jumps onto one of the beds. Our room has two beds, but we both know only one of them will be used. They’re smaller than the ones at home, but the same size as the one at grandmas. It’ll be just fine; Hunter will be sleeping on me just as we did at grandma's house. I miss that, so that'll be nice.
