Hunter's Rose (First Draft)

Chapter Twelve

I chewed nervously on my nails as I listened to the phone ring. Hunter sat beside me, the rest of the guys had moved into the living room to give us privacy.

"Hello?" Lisa's voice chimed as the ringing stopped, my heart thudded in my chest. What do I even say to her? 

"Lisa?" I croaked out, before clearing my throat. I felt Hunter's hand pull mine from my mouth, giving me a soft smile when my gaze met his.

"This is her." She responded, I could hear papers shuffling in the background. Hunter gave me an encouraging nod, his thumb rubbing across my knuckles. 

"Um, it's Rose." I whispered, closing my eyes when the other side of the phone went silent. 

"Rose?" She breathed in disbelief. "As in Rose Brooks?" I nodded my head, before realizing she couldn't see me.

"Yeah." I said quietly, glancing at Hunter's reassuring smile again. "It's me." 

"Rose!" She shrieked, making me pull the phone away from my ear. "You've been gone for months, I've been so worried!" She added, her voice full of hurt.

"I know." I said guiltily, feeling my shoulders drop slightly. 

"Are you ok?" She asked softly, the hurt in her voice turned to worry. I felt a small smile pull on my lips as my gaze moved to Hunter's. 

"I am now." I told her, feeling my face heat slightly at the smile he sent me. 

"What happened Rose?" I took a deep breath, before telling her all of the basics of what had happened in the past eight months. 

"Those good for nothing, swamp looking, inbred assholes." She breathed out angrily, making a small smile pull on my lips.

"Swamp looking?" I couldn't help but giggle out.

"Well, that's what they look like in my mind." She defended. 

"You're so rude." I teased, sending Hunter a small smile when my gaze met his slightly amused one.

"I feel no guilt for what I say." She stated. "Plus, they deserve much worse. Just wait, I'll have much better names the longer I think about it."

"I'm sure." I murmured out, feeling my thoughts move back to them.

"So.....is the guy you're with cute?" She questioned in a teasing voice. I let out a small huff, feeling my cheeks warm slightly. I took a quick glance at Hunter, quickly looking away as my gaze met his. "I'm taking your silence as a yes." Her voice became excited.

"Stop." I groaned, dropping my head into my free hand.

"Oh, he must be more than cute." She mused out. "Come on now, give me the details. How big is his-" 

"No." I stated sternly. "We are not talking about this." 

"So you have seen it?" She asked as she let out a cackle. "Come on, Rose. I'm not getting any lately, let me live through you." She begged.

"You're crazy." I laughed. "To answer your question. No, I have not." 

"But you want to." She said with confidence. "Don't even bother lying, I can tell from your voice." I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe." I admitted, taking another glance at Hunter and smiling at his confused face.

"Ah ha! I knew it." She exclaimed cheerfully. "Have you kissed yet?" 

"I was wondering if you still lived in our old apartment?" I asked quickly, trying to get back on topic.

"Nice subject change. Of course I do Rose, I couldn't bring myself to move in case you came back." She said sincerely, making my throat burn as relief flooded through me. "I told everyone you didn't run away, but no one would believe me." She scoffed.

"I have some cash stored away in my room. Do you think you could send it to me so I can buy a bus ticket?" I asked, frowning when she let out a bark of laughter.

"Rose, you're crazy if you think I'm gonna let you travel by yourself after water happened." She said in a stern voice. I let out a sigh.

"Lisa-." I started before she interrupted.

"No Rose. I'm coming to get you." She stated, leaving no room for argument. "Now, give the phone to your future husband." She teased.

"He's not-" I started, before letting out a groan. "I don't know why I try."

"I can hear the church bells ringing." Lisa sang before her laugh rang through the phone. 

"Oh, whatever." I mumbled, glaring at the phone as I handed it to Hunter. He looked at me in confusion before placing it to his ear. 

He talked to her for a few minutes, glancing at me with small smirks throughout their conversation that had my cheeks heating from embarrassment.  

"She seems nice." He said once he hung up the phone, sending me a secretive smile as he started typing on his phone.

"Sure, that's the word we'll go with." I mumbled as I removed my hands from my cheek. "What did she say?" I asked, almost too nervous to know. He sent me a soft smile. 

"Not much darlin, she's going to call before she heads this way to get the address." He said reassuringly, his smile dropping as his gaze moved over my heated cheeks.

"Alright shortcake, time to start training." I jumped, sighing in relief at Ace's voice, before hopping from my seat and following him into the hallway. 

Ace opened the door opposite of the kitchen and flicked on a light, stairs led down to what I assumed to be a basement. I gave him a wary look.

"Is this the part where you decide to murder me?" I couldn't help but question. He chuckled before letting out a sigh. 

"Damn, you caught onto my plan." He said before pointing to the bottom. "Come on, shortcake, murder waits for no one." He softly grabbed my elbow, which I quickly pulled back.

"Yeah, no. I've seen enough movies to know if I go first you'll push me." I said in a teasing voice as I shook my head. He threw his head back laughing before he began descending the stairs. 

I took a deep breath and followed him. Once we made it to the bottom I noticed it was a basement that had been set up as a gym, the walls were covered in floor-to-ceiling mirrors. In the middle of the room was a boxing ring, against the surrounding walls were multiple workout machines, and in the far corner there was a punching bag and a weight rack. Behind us was the stairs that led back to the main house, as well as another door hidden away behind the staircase and a couple of leather couches.

"Ok!" Ace said, clapping his hands together. "We're going to start with stretches, then we'll move onto the murder." I let out a laugh as I followed him to the mats.