Trying Not to Love You
Page 9

"I know. That's why I'm not worried about it." He did not sound very sure of himself. Dominic knew I had feelings for Hunter. He knew what happened between us last summer.
"Good. Look, I have to go help Hailey pack, and then we are going to lunch with my brothers. I wish you had told me you were going to come home. Let me see if they would mind you coming to lunch too. Or, if you want, I can hang out with you when I'm done."
"No, don't worry about it. It's my fault. I'm just going to head back. I'll see you tomorrow at school." He leaned out of the window again to kiss me, "Love you."
After he left, I went inside to help Hailey pack the things that she was taking with her. After convincing her she did not need to pack her whole room, we headed to the restaurant for lunch with my brothers.
It was neat to get together with them one last time before not seeing them for the next few months. Mason and Cooper could not wait for baseball to start up again. They were looking forward to the parties that would start back up too. Jackson and Chloe were having a tough time coming up with a baby's name; they kept tossing ideas back and forth but could not both agree on any one name.
After we finished lunch, I dropped Hailey off at her house. I needed to get home to pack the last minute things I had thought of during lunch. Once I was finished, I still had a few hours until dinner with Hunter, so I decided to finish the book I was reading to kill some time.
Around six, Hunter picked me up, and we went for pizza at my favorite place. It was just a little hole in the wall, but I loved it.
I put my pizza down and wiped my face with my napkin, "I'm going to miss this pizza. Thanks for bringing me here."
"You're welcome. So, Dominic is home, huh?" He asked, watching me take a bite of my pizza.
"Christ! How did you know?" How did everyone know this, and I didn't?
"I saw him and Alexis together, walking into her house last night?"
What! I snapped my head up to look at him, hoping he was joking. "What? He didn't come home until this morning." At least that is what he told me.
Glaring down at his pizza, he said, "No, he was home last night, and he was with her."
"You must have seen wrong. He wasn't home then." My cheeks were beginning to burn from embarrassment.
He looked at me for a minute before he asked, "CC, can I ask you something?" I nodded at him. "Why are you with him?"
"Why does it matter to you?" I wish I was with you is what I honestly wanted to tell him.
He let out a sigh. "He doesn't treat you right. Why would he not tell you he was home? Why is he even talking to Alexis after all that shit that went down last year?"
I need this conversation to end; I don't want to talk to him about this. "I asked him about that. He said that she told him you and I fooled around with each other at the party last week. I guess he wanted to see what she had to say."
"And what did she say?"
"Hunter." I said with a warning tone. "I can't do this. I can't have everyone questioning my relationship with Dominic. It's my relationship, not anyone else's. I'm finished eating, so can you take me home now?" I stood up from the booth, and headed towards the bathroom. I needed a few minutes to calm down.
When I walked out of the bathroom, Hunter was at the counter paying for our food. I kept right on walking out of the restaurant, and waited by his street bike.
He came walking over to me, but did not say anything at first. He put his helmet on, and then gently put mine on. He lifted my chin to snap the strap, and looked into my eyes. "I'm not sorry for caring about you, CC."
I did not respond. I did not think he wanted me to. He threw his leg on the bike, kicked the kickstand up and then steadied the bike so I could get on. As we took off back to my house, with the wind in my face and hair, I started to feel bad for blowing up on him the way I did, but I am tired of everyone worrying about my relationship. I was not worried about it, why should they be.
We pulled up in front of my house, and I got off the bike. I reached for the snap on the helmet, but Hunter grabbed my hand and did it himself. I took it off, and started running my fingers through my hair to get the knots out. I looked over at him and was about to apologize when he grabbed the front pocket of my jeans and pulled me to him, "Don't apologize."
I rested my hand on his toned chest, and nodded, "I'll be here around noon to pack up all your shit, then we will grab Hailey, and get the hell out of here."
"Okay, see you then." I turn to head inside as he started his bike and left.
I strolled into the house and went straight to my room. I tossed and turned all night long. Was it just me or did he have a hard time fighting his feelings for me? He tells me nothing can happen between us, but he flirts and acts as if he wants something to happen. Was it because I was with Dominic? Hunter knew he kept pushing me away by trying to keep his distance from me.
The next morning, when I finally got my ass out of bed, I went downstairs to eat breakfast with mom and dad.
I walked over to the kitchen table to sit down. Mom started in on me first thing. "Are you sure you want to go to the ODU, Kenzie? There are plenty of schools here in New Jersey."
Rolling my eyes behind her back, I patiently answered, "Yes Mom, I'm more than sure." She must have asked me this same question at least 100 times this week.
I looked over at Mom, and she had tears in her eyes, "It's not going to be the same without you here; we're all going to miss you." My mom had a lot of time on her hands. With my leaving, she was going to have even more. She became a stay-at-home mom after she had the twins. Dad, being a stockbroker for the New York Stock Exchange, made more than enough money for her to stay home.
Dad came sauntering in with his coffee cup, and added his two cents. "We are baby girl, and it's going be different without you around."
"Don't worry mom and dad; I'll make sure she is taken care of." My eyebrows shot up when Hailey walked into the kitchen, with Mason right behind her. What in the hell is she doing here?
"That's what I'm worried about," my mom said under her breath. Looking at Hailey, I wondered if she had heard mom. If she did, she wasn't letting on about it. I know my mom and dad love Hailey, but my mom always thought she was a little wild. This is what I loved about Hailey.
"I'll come home whenever I can. I need to do this, and we've talked about this." We did talk about this for almost a year, as I was trying to convince my parents to let me go to ODU for school. I think it helped that Hailey and Hunter were going to be there with me; well mostly that Hunter would be there.