“Yes, but it’s going to be okay.” I wrapped my arms around him from behind and kissed the back of his thick shoulder. “Let me get you something to eat. You haven’t had anything today.”
He looked pale as he turned toward me. “No thanks, Kylie. I’ve lost my appetite.”
My heart sunk. Seeing him hurting was too much for me. We didn’t have a simple fling, though it might look like it from the outside looking in. I was falling in love, or perhaps I was already there.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Hunter. Vince needs you right now. You should take care of yourself.” I followed Hunter into the living room and paused.
He hid his face in the palms of his hands and took a shaky breath. “I feel so helpless. I usually don’t feel like this, but I’m all out of options. I don’t know what to do about my son. I seldom go to the gun shop since Vince got sick. I don’t know what I should do. My head’s all messed up. It’s all my fault. I got my son sick. I’m useless.”
“I know what you’re going through. It’s tough that things got worse even though you tried hard to hope for the best. But there’s one thing I can assure you, Hunter. I will always have your back, no matter what.” I walked over and wrapped my arms around him. “Look at me.”
He ran his hands down his handsome face, his expression solemn. “I hoped I could be a good father to Vince, but I suck at this. I’ve broken a million promises, and the little guy deserves so fucking much better than what I’m giving him.”
“You are a good father, and you love him. That is huge. Don’t discount it.” I ran my hands up his throat and cupped his jaw as I leaned in, kissing him softly. He relaxed a little in my arms. “Don’t worry, as soon as things get better, I’ll help you out by fulfilling all those promises with you. I’m always here to help.”
“I appreciate that.” He searched my face and pulled me in for a longer kiss, the passion there but dampened a little by all he was going through.
I would have taken every bit of it away from him if I could have.
“Also, if you needed someone to look out for Vince, I can do that. I can keep him at the convenience store if you need to finish some work. Mom would be excited to see his precious face anyway.”
“He would love that. You just have to watch him around the candy and chips.” His expression saddened. “I know the doc said it wasn’t my fault, but I still can’t help thinking I played some part in it. You know?”
“Any good parent would think that.” I brushed my lips by his and ran my fingers through his hair as my heart skipped a beat. He was so intense looking that close up. So breathtaking. All I wanted was to make him feel like he wasn’t alone, that I was right there beside him and would continue to be.
I felt our lips touch once more, exploring each other’s taste. I had missed him. It felt like I’d waited forever to be close to him again.
He quenched my thirst, giving me the kiss I had been thinking for days. It was perfect and passionate and deep, filled with emotions and thoughts too complex for words.
Our sweet moment was destroyed by the ringing of my phone. I wasted no time and entangled from his lips, answering the call as quickly as I could.
“Kylie! Where are you? Why did you leave the convenience store? I need a lot of help today; we’ve got plenty of customers to serve!” my mother was screaming, her voice deafening my ears. Damn. I was on the schedule and forgot all about it because of Hunter.
He moved closer and ran his hands down my shoulders, guilt drawn all over his face. “I’ve taken so much of your time. Sorry.”
“All right, Mom. I’m on my way. I’ll explain later.” I turned to him and smiled. “She’s crazy. Did I mention that part?”
He laughed and pulled me in for another kiss. “Get out of here and call me later. I want to see you again. I want more of these.” He leaned in and kissed me softly, leaving my body warm for what was hopefully to come sooner than later.
“Okay. I’d like that.” I kissed him again and turned to walk to the door. “Hey, if you need me to babysit Vince, I’m just a call away.”
“Yeah. He would love that. He likes you a lot.”
“See you later, handsome.” I walked out of the house and glanced back to find him watching me closely. “Call if you need me.”
“I need you.” He smiled, and my heart swelled in my chest.
Man, how I wished his words were true.
Chapter Fifteen
One Week Later
Hunter
“She is the most amazing person I know.” I kept my eyes on the guns I was cleaning, but my head was somewhere up in the clouds. It had been a week since I took Vince to the ER and he was completely back to being himself. I’d seen Kylie a little, but not nearly enough. We’d yet to make love again, and I was going nuts trying to figure out a way to get a little bit of free time and not neglect Vince in the slightest.
Garren punched my arm, waking me up from my faint day dreaming.