Hunting the Fairy Tale

Chapter 29 - Gossiping

Willow

Paisley stops me when having dried my hands, I'm about to leave the restroom. "Did you enjoy playing with Dex?" she smiles, making me blush.

"I was playing with Frankie," I defend myself, but she's grinning like an idiot, so I decide to be honest. "He's really nice. Declan, I mean."

"He is. He really is. One of the best. And isn't he hooooooooooot?" Well, I can only nod my head in agreement. No arguments from me. 

"Just... uhm... be careful of his brother."

I give Paisley a startled, confused look. "Why?"

She turns to the mirrors and starts adjusting her clothing, turning this way and that way, admiring her new look. When Ronan, Kyle, and the twins joined us earlier, I saw all four of them doing double-takes, seeing Paisley. They were obviously not used to seeing her wearing light make-up and a pretty dress. They're probably not even used to her brushing her hair, either. 

She told me that she always dresses for comfort rather than style and that if she's not wearing her ballet training gear, she likes to just lounge around in sweats. She also likes wearing jeans and Hunter's sweaters. Hunter's specifically because Aunt Beth buys them, and she has great taste. 

The main reason, though, is that they usually smell a little like him. We've already established that for her, Hunter smells like home and safety. To me, he smells like forbidden fruit. Slightly dangerous.

Paisley owns a couple of dresses, but she said she never felt she could pull off the look, and she'd never cared before. She always felt uncomfortable wearing them. She obviously loves what she's seeing now, and she doesn't seem to be feeling uncomfortable at all. I watch her admiring herself, a smile touching my lips.

"You really look lovely."

She smiles too, and her smile is a little self-conscious. She suddenly turns away from the mirror to look at me quite earnestly. "If Galen starts coming onto you, just run."

"Why?" I'm not sure that I want anybody coming 'onto' me. "What do you mean?"

"He's a bit messed up. Even if he likes you, he'll just end up hurting you. There's also a big chance that he'll just go after you to piss off Hunny."

"Why... would that p... make Hunter angry?"

"Well, you're his mother's god-daughter; he's feeling all... uhm... protective... and stuff..."

I didn't feel very protected last night when he was sliding the tip of his tongue between my lips. I swallow, shaking my head to clear the unwanted memory that's warming my cheeks and making my stomach cramp.

"Just don't get involved with Galen. Romantically, I mean." She narrows her eyes at me and tilts her head, giving me a speculative look. "Or are you safe from falling for him because you're already interested in someone else? Dex... oooor Hunter, maybe?"

I'm just standing here blinking at Paisley as if she's shining a flashlight into my eyes. How am I supposed to answer that? 

Am I interested in Declan? 

I'm certain that she's not talking about friendship. I wonder for the umpteenth time if I should just blurt out my hormonal confusion regarding Hunter and ask her for advice. I'm not sure how she would feel about that. I'd hate to mess up our budding friendship by confessing that I'm having hot flushes over a boy she is obviously very close to.

Would she be flirting with Asher if she's actually more in love with Hunter than she's admitting? But then she only seemed to be flirting with Asher because it freaked him out, and she likes freaking people out almost as much as Tanner does.