Hunter's Rose (First Draft)

Chapter Eight

"Psh, I ain't scared of Hunter." Jackson scoffed, squeezing my shoulders before motioning for me to eat. 

"Right, that's why you hid that day one of your explosions scratched up his bike?" Jai teased as he got up to go get his own food. "Oh, hey Hunt."

The room burst into laughter as Jackson's arm dropped from my shoulder quickly, he jumped out of his seat and quickly made his way towards the stove. My head whipped towards the kitchen entry, only to notice it empty. 

"That wasn't funny." Jackson grumbled as he began making his plate. 

"Yes it was." Ace chuckled out. "Almost as funny as watching shortcake's reaction." He teased, making me narrow my eyes at him. He raised his hands in surrender, shooting me a grin before moving to sit at the table with Arthur. 

Jackson talked everyone into playing cards and watching a movie after we finished eating. We all sat on the couches around the coffee table as Jackson started dealing out cards for Rummy. 

"So, I think I may have found your friend." Arthur said as he sat down beside me. My body perked up as I glanced at him. "From what I can tell, she still lives in the same place. I should hopefully have her number by tomorrow." 

"Thank you, Arthur. I really appreciate you doing this for me." I said, sending him a grateful smile.

"It's no problem." He said glancing away and rubbing the back of his neck. My heart softened as the tips of his ears turned pink.

"Don't worry giggles, he always has that reaction around pretty girls." Jackson teased. I let out a laugh when he winced as Arthur punched him in the arm.

"I was just kidding." Jackson whined. I watched in concern as he tackled Arthur over the couch and they started rolling around.

"They do this a lot." Ace said, sending me with a reassuring smile. "He has a hard time with people thanking him. That asshole knows it and likes to pick at him any chance he gets."

"It's the appreciation." Arthur admitted as he got up from the ground. "The job I used to work at would just demand and take, so when I quit and started doing it on my own it was weird when people would acknowledge it." I nodded my head in understanding before turning back to the game as they sat back down. 

We all looked up as the front door opened, my head tilted slightly as I heard two sets of footsteps make their way towards the living room. I watched as Hunter stepped inside, his hands full of shopping bags. His eyes gazed around the room until they landed on me, the grin that grew on his face caused my own to heat up. I dropped my gaze, the set of cards in my hand becoming very interesting. 

"Hey darlin." He murmured as he came and sat beside me, making me peek up at him.

"Hi." I whispered back, my heart skipping a beat as his grin melted into a warm smile.

"I got you a few things today." He said, motioning to the bags he had sat in front of us. I glanced at him curiously. "Just a few small things to make you more comfortable while you're here, you can go through them in the bedroom." He explained with a soft smile.

"Thank you. I'll pay you back once I get in touch with Lisa." I said softly, giving him a small smile in return. His hand reached out for my own, his thumb rubbing over my knuckles softly.

"It's no problem darlin, I ain't worried about you paying me back either." He said sternly, narrowing his eyes when I opened my mouth to argue. I felt my own eyes narrow.

"Dan the man!" Jackson exclaimed, breaking my attention away from Hunter. I glanced up to see Jackson doing a small handshake with a man I had never met before. He had brown hair that was styled into a fauxhawk and a five o'clock shadow, but what really caught my attention was the uniform he had on. He was a police officer. I felt my body tense and my gaze swing back to Hunter, who was watching me carefully.

"Darlin, this is Dan. He's a friend of mine." Hunter's voice came out cautious as he explained. "He's also the deputy. He's here to talk to you about the guys from the other night." My eyes narrowed as I stared at him, feeling slightly betrayed.

It wasn't that I was against policemen, but I also wasn't a huge fan of talking to them. I had originally considered going to the police after what happened, but I wasn't a fan of feeling like I was forced into doing it. 

"What if I don't want to?" I challenged. Hunter stared at me for a moment, his eyes narrowing and then softening.

"Then you don't have to darlin." He said softly. "I brought him here because I thought you may be more comfortable here rather than the precinct. I was also hoping you might talk to him so we could get them taken care of. You told me you were worried they were going to look for you, Dan can keep that from happening." He explained, his other hand coming up to move a strand of hair behind my ear. 

I moved my gaze to Dan, he shot me a soft smile before taking slow steps towards us. My gaze dropped down to the clipboard in his hand.

"I'm just here to help ma'am." His deep voice came out soft. "You just tell me what you're comfortable with, and we can stop whenever you say." I glanced at him for a moment, trying to detect anything but sincerity before glancing back at Hunter's hopeful expression. 

"It's completely your choice darlin." Hunter said, my heart fluttering again as he gave me another one of his soft smiles. I guess it wouldn't hurt, plus if the police took care of them then I wouldn't have to worry about them coming after me anymore.

I took a deep breath and slowly nodded.