chapter 27

Hunter picked me at around midday the next day, I had worn a pretty sunshine dress with floral patterns and white sneakers, Dylan and Sierra would be so happy with this improvement. 

"You look nice," Hunter  said as I settled into the passenger's seat and I gave him a small smile "you don't look so bad yourself," 

What is this, why are we speaking like we're dating, God help me, these lines keep blurring every day. 

"Did you have a good night?" No I didn't but I smiled and said " yeah, slept like a baby," I looked out the window feeling a little uncomfortable about lying to him. 

I barely caught a smidgen of sleep last night. I went to bed at 10 and woke up at two covered in my own sweat and tears, I took my pills and instead of going back to sleep, I ended up working on all my assignments till 8, then I called JJ to make sure he was okay and didn't need anything. I laid down for a bit but I couldn't get myself to relax, I was scared the dreams would resurface and after an hour of trying and failing, I ran myself a cold bath and got ready for this. 

Hunter and I walked quietly down the footpath that leads to the meadow, we hadn't really said anything to each other, but it wasn't uncomfortable at all, we shared a preference for quiet drives. 

He pushed the branches out of our way and the meadow came into view again and it felt just like the first time, even better honestly. 

We sat in the same spot we had sat the last time and he started unpacking his bag, laying soft boards and drawing papers on the grass along with a box of crayons and different pencils, I smiled finally realising what he's going to teach me. 

He's going to teach me how to draw. 

"So you couldn't tell me that I was coming for an art lesson over the phone," I commented and he laughed.

"Where's the fun in that?" 

"So what are we doing exactly?" I asked, picking up one of the soft boards. 

"Draw what you see, let me know if you need help at any point," he said, already starting on his drawing. I rolled my eyes at him but smiled. He calls that teaching. 

We were quiet for a while and I was getting tired of sitting in the same crunched up position for so long. My eyes looked over at the pretty sunflower growing in a group of purple coneflowers and then down to my drawing. 

I had found the entire scene quite captivating, the way the sunflower stood proud and beautiful in a place it didn't really belong was beyond enthralling, it was motivating, encouraging. Like that pat on the back after a long day when someone reminds you how unique and beautiful you are in your efforts. 

It was the strongest quote ever and it wasn't even made of words, my drawing was shitty and unappealing in comparison to the aesthetic it created because I am  a shitty artist but whatever. It is the feeling that matters. 

I looked up at Hunter who was immersed in whatever he was doing, eyes slightly narrowed in deep concentration, his eyebrows furrowed and bottom lip caught between his teeth. 

He looked...Enchanting. The sexiest person I've ever laid eyes on and I found myself wishing he was mine. I wonder what his lips taste like, I wonder what it feels like to be locked in his arms, protected from the perils of this world. I wish I was brave enough to make a move, I wish I deserved him. 

Deep green pools suddenly averted to me and he gave me a sweet smile knocking the air right out of me, how? How is he so perfect? 

"You done?" He asked and I looked down at my poorly drawn picture.

"Yeah, murdering the beauty in nature," I frowned at it and he laughed

"Let me see that," I stretched my hand and gave him my drawing. 

"It's not Terrible, did you have fun?" He asked and I rolled my eyes. His probably laughing at my inability to hold a pencil. 

"Shut it up, it's ugly, but yeah I had fun," I replied.

"Then that's all that matters, drawing is therapeutic, my mom used to say, one of the marvels of art is its ability to express feelings that you can't put in words, and the intensity of what you feel," I blinked, that made a lot of sense. 

"She used to bring me here all the time with my little brother, and we would draw and just be here, she liked that there was no rush to this place, you could barely tell that time was moving when you were here," I didn't know what to say, he was opening up to me and I really didn't know what to tell him, I couldn't tell if he was hurting or happy, the smile on his face was a mix of the two and I didn't know what to say. 

"Thank you, for bringing me here, am even more honoured now that I know how much it means to you," I finally said back and he smiled at me, going back to his drawing, I tried to bend forward to see what he was drawing but the position he was sitting in made it hard for me to see anything.

"What are you drawing?" His head shot up and he covered his drawing, 

"Just the trees," he spoke and something about his tone made me sure he was lying. 

"Let me see," 

"No," his answer was fast and a dead give away, he was obviously not drawing trees but I went with it just so I could trick him.

"Whatever, be like that," I rolled my eyes and acted like I was sitting back before I let out a small yell, he put the drawing down and pushed closer to me to check if am okay, using that to my advantage I pulled his board and the drawing and got up sprinting in the opposite direction, he was running behind me and if I stopped I'd never get to see it, so I had to look while running but what I saw made me stop. 

Long hair dancing in the wind covering half her face, she looked focused on what she was doing, her eyes looked tired, she was looking down at something he hadn't yet drawn… my heart beat sped up, tears welled in my eyes and he spun me around.

"You weren't supposed to see that," he said, taking the drawing from my hands and scratching the back of his head. I didn't know  what to say, what am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to think?

"You drew me," my voice was barely a whisper but he was close enough to hear me. 

"I really don't know how, I was going to draw the damn trees but somehow with every stroke, you came out and I didn't want to stop…" he looked frustrated and he got closer to me, he was looking down at me.

"I don't want to stop." He whispered and the next thing I knew his soft lips had crushed into mine. At first I felt nothing but his lips,there was no sound. It's like the taste of him had messed up my ability to hear anything or even comprehend where I was. And then his lips moved on mine and that's when it happened. My fucking undoing. 

Bolts of electricity coursed through me, my heart had taken up a whole new pace I'd never heard, fireworks were going off I'm my head and the whole experience was giving me a new definition to word intoxicated....because right now I was beyond intoxicated by Hunter, I could feel every part of him, I could smell him, every part of me opened up to simply feel Hunter, every part of me aroused by the way his tongue danced and explored my mouth.

My hands gripped the hair at the back of his head roughly wanting to give him every part of me, I wanted to give him my pain, my joy, my trauma but most important I wanted to give him the pleasure he was giving me, 

My hands ran through his dark locks, pulling and massaging, making him groan with want,his hands came down to my butt and I whimpered in his mouth. This was too intense, this was more than I expected and I loved every single minute of it. 

I pushed on his chest gently stopping our heated session, the want alone that was vivid in his eyes was enough to bring me to my knees, every part of me was shaking, my breathing as heavy as his, he brought his forehead down to mine and shut his eyes  as if engraving this moment in his head. 

"God I've wanted to do that for a long time," he said, pulling me into a hug. I wanted to say I felt the same, that I wanted to kiss him since the day I saw him but I couldn't, I was frozen in place, I was overjoyed yet terrified. I was perplexed and excited at the same time, I didn't know what to say.