Page 9 of Lovestruck
I watch her walk up to her front door, open it, and close it behind her without ever looking back at my car. Only then do I drop my head to my steering wheel with a loud thunk.
“You are a fucking coward, Hunter Callaghan.”
And I have been ever since I was seventeen.
The last time I let myself get involved romantically with anyone.
The first time I realized my struggles might not have been myfault,but they would forever make me less than anyone who didn’t have them.
Chapter 5
Kat
“Is this stupid? Maybe this is stupid. How ridiculously corny is it to drop off Christmas cookies as a thank you.”
“Be honest, Kat, those cookies are more than just a thank you,” Lily waggles her eyebrows at me through the phone screen.
“Remind me again why I called you?” I ask drily.
“Because you were getting cold feet, and as your best friend I’m the perfect person to tell you to woman up and give the man your cookies. And I’m not just talking about the ones you’re baking.”
“Good grief, Lil.” I can feel the heat flushing my cheeks. I’m no prude, but Lily takes her brazenness to a whole other level.
“You love me and you know it. Now, tell me again about how he was your knight in shining police uniform. I swear, you two are living my secret crush fantasy.”
“I’mliving your fantasy? Having feelings for someone but knowing it could never go anywhere? Girl, you’ve got issues.” I place the last ball of cookie dough on the sheet and put it in the oven. “Besides, since when do you have a secret from me? Who’s keeping you up at night and why have you not told me?”
Lily’s eyes shift away from her screen. That’s odd. I was only joking, but it seems like I’ve landed on something.
“Lil?”
“I was just teasing you. There’s nobody. As if I could keep a secret from you.” Her laughter sounds way too forced, but I don’t push the issue. Not when I’m starting to panic that in twenty short minutes, the cookies will be done, and I’ll have nothing left to do that will delay this harebrained idea I had to take Hunter some home baked goodies as a thank you for helping me the other day.
“We’ll revisit that later. Right now, what the heck do I wear?”
“A trench coat with nothing underneath?”
“Seriously, Lily,” I groan. “Enough already. I’m not going there for sex. I’m going there to say thank you.”
“And I’m just saying the perfect thank youissex. Besides, it’s Christmas. Consider it your Christmas present to him as well.”
“I’m going to hang up now.”
Lily’s hand goes up in surrender. “Fine, fine, I’ll stop. As long as you promise to wear something just alittlebit sexy. Can’t hurt, can it?”
“Sometimes I wonder how we became best friends,” I say teasingly as I carry my phone down the hall to my bedroom.
“Easy. You tame my crazy side and I encourage your sassy side.”
An hour later, I’m out front of the low-rise apartment building that Hunter lives in, chewing on my thumb as I stare at the message I’ve typed out.
KAT: Hey, Hunter, it’s Kat. If you’re home, I wanted to drop off some Christmas cookies I baked as a thank you for helping me when my car broke down.
I’ve deleted and retyped the message at least three times, trying to figure out how to not sound like a clingy, needy weirdo who happens to know he’s home because I’ve kinda, maybe, sorta memorized his schedule.
Yeah. Stalker mode engaged.
Taking a deep breath, I remember Hollie Berry. This might be a tiny nugget of coal, but I’m claiming it in her honour. I press send.
