I looked up at him more intently. Studying his face now, I saw that his eyes were bloodshot and he just looked tired, “How come? I thought we wore each other out.” I smiled a devious smile. He did things to me last night I hadn’t known were possible, and I had the soreness as a friendly reminder.

He shrugged his shoulders, “I was just watching you sleep, you looked so peaceful.” He kissed my forehead and I sighed.

I glanced over his shoulder towards the window; it was still dark but the pinks of the sun were just starting to show. I threw the covers off us, “Come on. I want to go watch the sunrise.”

Hunter got up off the bed. I tried not to look at his perfectly sculpted back and ass, but I couldn’t help myself. He turned, sensing my eyes I assumed, and smiled sadly at me. I’m not sure what was going on with him but I needed to figure it out. We were at the place where we were finally able to be together and now he was sad.

I slipped on my yoga pants and layered them under a pair of Hunter’s sweat pants for warmth, then I pulled on my tank top followed by a T-shirt. I dug two pairs of socks out of the duffle bags, grabbed my Nike Shox and went to sit on the bed to put them on.

I eyed Hunter in the bathroom brushing his teeth. After my sneakers were on I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his core. “Tell me what’s wrong? Did something happen last night? Did I do something wrong?” I honestly didn’t think I had, but maybe I did without knowing.

He spit the toothpaste in the sink and rinsed his mouth, then he turned and wrapped me up in his brawny arms but still didn’t answer the question. I moved my arms from under his and reached up to cup his cheeks. That’s when I saw it, the storm in his eyes; something was definitely wrong. Yet another reason I loved his eyes, they were my answer for everything, even the stuff he was shutting me out of. I’ll give him time and he’ll tell me. He always does at some point.

I reached up on my tip toes, placed a soft kiss on his lips and then backed up so I could brush my teeth. Hunter sighed loudly behind me before he walked out and got dressed. When my teeth were clean, my face washed and hair thrown up in a ponytail, I walked over to the chair that was in the corner of the room where Hunter’s old couch used to be. Draped over it was the last piece of clothing I needed to put on, my pink and black Roxy hoodie.

I looked over my shoulder at Hunter, “You ready?”

He nodded.

I walked over and grabbed his hand; he led me downstairs, through the kitchen and out on the deck. He closed the sliding glass doors behind me and we made our way down to the beach, just in time to watch the sunrise over the ocean.

The wind was whipping my face and I shivered from the chill that crept through my layers of clothing. Hunter tucked me in to his side while keeping his eyes cast out over the ocean. He was a million miles away. I did the only thing I knew to bring him back to me. I slid my hand from the middle of his back slowly down and over to the left. I hesitated for a second, not sure if I should because my hands were freezing but I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sure, if anything, it would help with the slight sting from it being freshly done. I reached under his sweatshirt and T-shirt and gently placed my hand over his tattoo. He tensed for a second but soon relaxed, taking a deep breath and then letting it out.

He still wasn’t looking at me, but he followed my lead, reaching under my layers and covering my tattoo with his hand. This was the reason I’d wanted the tattoos inked in these spots. I felt like I could do exactly what the tattoo said. I could conquer the world with one hand as long as he was holding the other.

Even after the sun had been up for a little while I was still shaking from the freezing temperature. Reluctantly, we walked back into the house, hand in hand.

We were greeted by Nikki cooking breakfast in the kitchen, “Good morning.”

“Good morning, need some help?” I asked as I pulled my hoodie over my head and kicked off my shoes, not wanting to track sand all over the house.

“Um, sure if you want to, you can start working on the eggs,” she said as she took the lid off a pan to flip the bacon.

Hunter reached out for my hoodie, and I handed it over. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to him, kissed me, then said, “I’m going to run this upstairs and jump in the shower to warm up.”

I placed another kiss on his lips, “Okay, love you.”

He gave me a half smile, “Love you too.”

He walked away and I shuffled off to the kitchen to get started. I’d pulled out the eggs, bowl and whisk and placed it on the counter when Nikki turned towards me abruptly.

“I hope this isn’t weird. I’m not sure what you heard about that night but I want you to know that Hunter is…” she paused for a moment before she continued, “I’m not even sure what to call him. He saved me from getting raped that night. He could have walked away, turned his head and acted like nothing happened, but he didn’t. If it wasn’t for him, I’m not sure how I would have fared. You’re lucky to have him.”

Wow, I knew something had happened to her but I wasn’t exactly sure what. It wasn’t in Hunter’s nature to just act like he didn’t see anything. He was a protector, my fierce protector.

I glanced over at her. She appeared shy, but deep down I think she was stronger than she gave herself credit for. I honestly don’t know how I would’ve ever dealt with that. “I’m sorry for what you went through.” I grinned, thinking about my man upstairs, “I think I’m pretty lucky too.”

“Just remember that some of us are still looking for what you have.” She stirred the bacon again while I cracked the eggs into the bowl. “Ok, enough deep stuff; tell me about this wedding you’re planning.”

And so I told her all my visions of how I wanted my wedding planned. We laughed, got teary eyed and laughed some more. She promised me that no matter where she was, she would come to our wedding. I really liked Nikki; she was pretty awesome once she let her guard down.

Breakfast was all set on the table so I went to go round up the troops. I banged on Bentley’s door first, then Mason and Hailey, which was a mistake because I heard shit that I really didn’t want to. Last, I slipped into my room in search of Hunter. I thought he would’ve been out of the shower by now but he wasn’t.

I opened the bathroom door and the steam from the bathroom engulfed me. “Hunter?” I called in, blindly.

He didn’t answer right away. I walked closer to the shower and reached for the curtain with a shaky hand. Pulling it back, slow panic swept through me. Hunter had his arms folded up against the wall with his head resting on them. “Hunter?” I said again, gently this time.