"Soph, come on. Your gonna be late." I hear, as I feel a hand shaking my arm. I turn over to lay on my back, rubbing my eyes and see Cassie leaving my room.

Shit, what time is it.

8.02am.

My shift starts soon, why do I keep doing this to myself. I can't even remember what happened last night.

All week I've been in a daze of confusion as to what happened with Hunter, I didn't bother to reply when I saw his last text and I thought maybe when he had sorted whatever shit he had going on, that he would reach out. But no, I never heard anything else from him.

So Cassie and Ivy dragged me out last night to bring me out of my funk, telling me I was right, that I didn't need anything to change in my life.

After much protest, we ended up going to Hunter's club, The Velvet Room. By this point I was 3 vodkas cranberries deep plus about 5 shots we had on arrival. I hadn't seen Hunter all night so I assumed he wasn't at the club.

Probably had a date night with some gorgeous woman, and I'm there getting fucking drunk out of my mind, again something that I would have never have done before Hunter came into my life, but I needed to not feel the disappointment and confusion that had been the cause of a huge headache that I couldn't shift all week.

I look down, noticing the tablet and water on my bed side table. Swallowing it and downing the glass of water, I head out to the kitchen so grab some more.

"Thanks for the paracetamol Cass."

"Oh, that wasn't me Soph, must have been Hunter." She shrugs, sipping her freshly brewed coffee.

I stare at her. Hunter? He was here?

What the hell. She chuckles under my intense gaze.

"Okay look, I would love to fill you in on last night, but you need to go to work and I need to hit the gym, so let's go get you ready and I'll talk at you really fast and catch you up to speed alright?"

I nod. I have no words.

I head to the shower first, as soon as I step out Cassie starts rolling off the drama of last night.

"Okay, so after your fifth drink, I think, we hit the dancefloor, lots of guys were flirting with us, it gets a little blurred after that, then next thing I know we are in Hunter's car getting driven home, you passed out in the front seat and I left you in the car as I needed to pee."

I remain silent, embarassment flooding my body as I quickly get dressed, Cassie continues, "So that's what happened. But here's what I assumed happened next, so Hunter must have carried you to your bedroom, left you the tablet and water beside your bed, taken off your shoes and set your alarm so you would wake up this morning for work."

I'm just about ready when Cassie finishes up the story of last night.

"There's no way Cass, Hunter hasn't even spoken to me all week, why would he help me and be that thoughtful?"

"Maybe he was having a stressful week? Maybe he realised he made a mistake? Look I don't know, but he went up in my estimations for doing that for us last night." Cassie smiles.

He did do a kind thing by bringing us home last night, but I'm more confused than ever right now.

〰️〰️〰️

As I clear away the last few tables in my corner, I look up at the clock. I've been counting down the minutes until my break so I can sit down and rest my poor, achy feet.

I get to the back area and grab my phone, seeing a text from Hunter that came through a couple of hours ago.

I start typing in a rage, now because he did a good thing for me last night, he thinks he can play Mr Nice Guy again with me. I do want to talk to him, to tell him I'm happy with my life and that I don't need him changing that, getting me to agree to dating and then just ghosting me for four days isn't something I was expecting to deal with. I hit send and toss my phone into my bag.

Me

〰️〰️〰️

Finishing up my lunch at the kitchen table, I stand to clear my plate away as a knock on the front door echoes through my apartment. I take a deep breath in, and wipe my palms down the front of my jeans.

This is it. I'm finally going to have this conversation with Hunter. I make my way to the door, opening it to find 2 piercing green eyes staring back at me.

"Come in." I say, opening the door wide, gesturing for him to enter.

He nods and steps into the hallway, hands shoved in his front jean pockets.

"You wanna head into the kitchen? I was just clearing some dishes away." I question.

Shit, this is awkward. I hope this isn't going to last long.

Hunter clears his throat, "Do you wanna start or shall I?"

"I will." I say confidently.

He nods and sits at my table, arms crossed over his broad chest.

"So firstly I would like to say thank you for last night, Cassie told me you brought us home so thanks for that, I don't know why you would do that but- Why have you been ignoring me all week?"

I jump straight in with that question, I'm not here to play around.

"I was angry and I was busy with the club." He says with no emotion, he clearly doesn't want to be here.

"And what made you angry?" I fire straight back.

He unfolds his arms and runs his fingers through is hair. Looking directly in my eyes her answers, "Because the woman I'm dating isn't being honest with me."

What?!

"I'm not being honest? What the hell does that mean?"

"What I said." He shrugs, "I've made it clear that I like you and when you told me you weren't dating anyone else, I fucking believed you."

This is turning into heated argument pretty quickly, plus I have no idea what he is talking about.

"I'm not dating anyone else, that is the truth. I never normally date, but you came along and changed that."

He shoots up off the chair, and starts pacing around my kitchen, hands gripping his roots.

"Sophia, I saw you Monday night, with your date so please don't lie to me."

My face scrunches in confusion, my date? Monday night?

Oh, fuck! He thinks Lucas was a date!

I'm silent as I process this new information, he thinks I was on a date and I told him I don't date, so that obviously pissed him off, that's why he hasn't been himself the entire week. This is just one huge misunderstanding, maybe we can fix this, even though that wasn't the plan for this conversation.

Hunter suddenly stops pacing up and down my kitchen and starts heading into the hallway.

"Wait, that was Lucas!" I shout, scurrying after him.

He turns around and glares at me, his eyes almost black, I need to explain and get him to calm down.

"I don't care what his fucking name is!" Hunter yells, I back away from him as his voice booms through my quiet apartment. Thank God Cassie is at work all night.

"No wait- Hunter let me explain."

"This was a mistake, we clearly aren't gonna resolve anything here-"

He turns his back on me and strides to leave my apartment.

My heart is pounding in my chest, I can't let him leave this way.

"Lucas is Ivy's boyfriend!" I blurt out. Hunter stops in his tracks as he reaches the door handle and turns slowly to face me.

"Your dating Ivy's boyfriend?" His voice deep, and brows scrunched with even more confusion.

"No! Ivy and Lucas have been together since college, I was at their place Monday night and Lucas kindly offered to drop me home. Ivy was the friend I was seeing that night, her and Lucas are very much in love and happy together. You really think I'm that girl?" I fold my arms infront of me and take a breath. Hunter is just staring straight at me.

"So you didn't lie to me?" He asks.

"No. Never."

"Fuck, Sophia. I'm so fucking sorry." He paces forward to where I'm stood.

"When I saw you get out of that car I just was so angry at another guy touching you, thinking you lied to me and I knew I couldn't share you with anyone else, I've been driving myself crazy thinking you weren't actually into me and I was just another guy you were seeing." Hunter explains, his hands finding mine as we stand in the middle of my hallway.

"I'm so sorry Sophia, I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you and I should have asked you directly." He apologises. His thumbs gently rubbing my knuckles.

"I get it Hunter, I would have probably thought the same thing." I softly speak.

"So, can I ask you, do you still want to date me Sophia? Or have I lost my chance with you from this?"

His eyes flick between mine, I can see sincerity in them, I know now that this was just a misunderstanding, but I honestly don't know what to do.

"Hunter, I- uh, I"

His grip tightens on my hands, almost like he's begging for me to say the words he wants to hear.

"Can I have some time to process everything and give you a call later on?" I suggest, hoping to confide in the girls about this.

His hands leave mine as I speak. Disappointment apparent in his features.

"Yeah, sure." He nods, retreating his hands back to his pockets.

"It's just been a lot to process and I want to make sure I'm looking out for myself." I explain. I really hope he respects my decision.

"Yeah, so give me a call or something then?" Hunter mumbles.

"Yeah. I'll walk you out."

As the door closes, I bring my hands up to my face, pushing them up through my hair.

I pull out my phone and dial Ivy's number.

"Hey Soph." She picks up after a couple of rings.

"Hey, you free after work? I need you to come over, Hunter was just here and I just need you and Cass to help me figure things out." My voice sounding rushed and out of breath by the end.

"Yeah sure, please calm down, I'll be there soon."

〰️〰️〰️

After discussing with the girls my situation for the last 3 hours, I think I've made my decision. They both sat and listened, Ivy histerically laughing when I mentioned the dating Lucas part, but they gave good advice on how I should move this situation forward.

"I think it should be a face to face conversation though Soph." Ivy tells me, pouring herself another glass of wine.

She's right. I grab my phone from the table and start typing.

I hit send. Now to wait for his reply, which apparently isn't long hearing the ping that's just sounded on my phone.

Me: That's fine. See you about 11pm

〰️〰️〰️

Getting to the club, it's a busy Saturday night so I didn't expect Hunter to want to meet me here.

I scan the club not really knowing where he will be or what to do now I'm here. I pull my phone out and see the time 11.23pm.

I'm a little later than I said, but living in a busy city isn't the easiest at times, especially when I make last minute plans.

I head up to the bar area and I wave over one of the bartenders. A young guy, covered head to toe in tattoos comes over.

"Hey, I'm wondering if you know where Hunter is? The owner of this place." I shout over the bar so he can hear me.

"Sorry, he's busy, no one bother's the boss."

"But he knows I'm coming."

"Sorry, I don't know what to tell you, I can't let you back there-"

"Hey Pete, how about you take orders over there and I'll sort this out." A guy comes over and points this guy, Pete, in the other direction where the bar is busier.

The guy who just took over the conversation looks at me and leans over to my ear so I can hear him speak.

"Hey, Sophia right?" I nod.

"I'm Jack, manager and best friend of Hunter. Nice to officially meet you." He smiles at me.

"Hi, is he here? I told him I was coming to see him and he said it was alright?" Feeling the need to explain my presence.

"Yeah he told me to keep an eye out for you, he's in his office, behind the bar on the left follow it down a little then first door on your right."

"Amazing, thank you. And it was nice to meet you Jack." I nod and wave him off as I follow the directions he just told me.

I knock twice on the door before turning the handle and stepping into Hunter's office.

There he is. His head snaps up as soon as I enter and he stands, his eyes roaming over my body, he clears his throat before he speaks.

"Hi Sophia, please come in, take a seat." He walks and points in the direction of a leather sofa.

I take a seat and place my bag down beside me. Hunter stands infront of my for a second, silently gazing at me.

"Let me get us some drinks, I'll be right back." He says nervously, scratching his finger on the side of his neck. He looks so hot tonight, wearing slim fitted trousers, a pale blue shirt with both sleeves rolled up to his elbows showing off his muscular tattoed arms.

I nod as he exits the room, my heart is racing. I try breathing slowly to calm my nerves as I don't really know how this will go.

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