No Rules To Love

Chapter Seventeen:

The door scraped open, breaking me out of my philosophical reverie. I whipped my head around and saw Hunter's head popping through the door. He searched around and when he saw me, a relieved smile came across his face.

I didn't know how I felt about seeing Hunter standing there. My feelings towards him still very much confused me. But I couldn't help but feel annoyed at him because he was so friendly towards Tia. Which I knew was stupid, but these feelings somehow crept up on me. I also couldn't help my heart soaring and my legs turning into jelly when I saw him standing there.

"There you are!" Hunter said, stepping out onto the balcony and sliding the door shut behind him. "I've been looking everywhere for you. I thought you'd left." He then walked over to where I was standing and placed his arms on the railings.

"What? Without saying goodbye?" I laughed, sounding calmer than I felt. "What type of in-courteous person do you think I am?"

"See, that was why I was looking for you. I didn't think you'd skulk away without letting me know what an awesome time you had." Hunter joked, nudging me.

"I thought you'd be too distracted to come looking for little old me."

"Distracted?" Hunter asked, confused. "Why would I be distracted?"

"Because I saw you talking to Tia. A little birdie told me she was planning on asking you out tonight." I winked, though my heart clenched at the thought of Hunter and Tia alone on a date.

"Oh yes. Tia." Hunter chuckled, looking awkward. He became interested in his hands all of a sudden. "She certainly is something."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, curious.

Hunter seemed to struggle to find the correct words. "I don't know really, she's just very... Forward. She marched right up to me and straight-away started flirting with me. She mentioned the feeling of having an instant spark with me. And that we should get to know each other better over a romantic dinner." He placed bunny ears over the words romantic dinner, showing me they were Tia's words, not his. He also grimaced.

I couldn't help but chuckle and I played with him a little. "So, judging from your reaction, I can only presume you jumped at the chance to accompany Tia on a date."

"Oh, heck no!" Hunter laughed, shuddering at the thought. He then seemed to think that his words were too harsh because he tried to make up for them. "I mean, she's a nice enough girl, but she's too forward for me and not really my type at all."

I couldn't help but feel a little relieved when I found out that Hunter wasn't going on a date with Tia. I tried not to let it show on my face, so I settled for raising my eyebrows at him.

"You look shocked," Hunter commented when he saw my expression. "Why?"

Feigning nonchalance, I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I painted a picture of you in my mind. You seem like a bit of a womaniser, so I'm a little confused about why you turned down the date with Tia." I would not mention that I felt comforted.

"As I said, she's not my type." He then chuckled and nudged me with his hip. "And if you think I'm a womaniser, then you need to get to know me better, yourself."

I laughed with him, but then sobered. "But — and I mean this in the nicest possible way — you act like you're God's gift to women."

"That's all it is, though. An act. I was never that confident when I was younger, so I guess I made up for it as I grew into an adult. But I may have over-compensated a little."

I then placed my forefinger and thumb together. "Just a little." I joked as I thought about the first time I met him. He was such an arrogant jerk to me, but that first meeting was all but forgotten. Because, in the short amount of time I had known him for, he seemed like a changed man. It was strange how people's perception of things could change.