Page 152 of My Treasured Obsession

“Yeah?” God, I loved it when he blushed.

I stole a kiss. “Yeah.”

His smile morphed into a grin. He tucked a wayward red strand behind my ear and his thumb and forefinger rubbed my lobe in a manner that practically made me purr like a kitten.

“What are you thinking of?” he mumbled after another quiet moment of me counting his lashes and wondering why it took me so long to notice this beautiful human.

“How I wish I’d met you before,” I said. “Before Franco. Before all the others…” I could have avoided all that unnecessary heartache. But then again, without all those trials and tribulations from my past, I wouldn’t be who I was today. And I did like what I saw in the mirror every day. The human experience was all about learning from our mistakes and evolving into the best versions of ourselves, right? “It’s unfair that our story began less than a handful of months ago.”

“We needed to grow apart into who we were meant to be before we could be where we are today.” Hunter smoothed away my frown with his thumb. “I’m not bitter that I laid eyes on you more than a year ago, but only got my chance with you now. Everything happens for a reason. All that matters is that we found our way to each other. We’re young, Gabby, so don’t worry. We have our entire lives to continue writing our story.”

When he put it like that, the gloomy sky clouding my thoughts cleared away and gave leeway to a rainbow that brought forth lots of hope.

We did have all the time in the world to write our story and though I had read hundreds of romance novels in my two decades on Earth, I knew without a doubt that ours would always be my favourite love story.

“Just so you know, you’re all my favourite book boyfriends wrapped into one.”

“Coming from you, that is the highest of compliments.” He smiled. “Do I eclipse your vampire lord book boyfriend?”

I smiled as well, all too happy to declare, “By a million percent.”

“Well, that’s good to know. Felt like I was fighting for my life trying to impress you at times,” he jested and kissed me.

I giggled against his lips. “Consider me impressed.”

We barely watched the movie. I yapped about anything and everything under the sun—random subjects and things that were important to me—and Hunter listened patiently, inserting a comment here and there to encourage me and validate my feelings.

When I let out a yawn, he grabbed the remote, turned off the TV, and kissed my forehead. “My bed or yours tonight?”

He stood up with me clinging to his front like a baby koala. I didn’t want to let go of him. Not even for us to cross back to my apartment. Moreover, he had a king-sized bed that was bigger and much comfier than my queen.

“Yours.” I planted sleepy kisses all over his face as he trod down the hallway.

Hunter entered his room and climbed into the bed. “In we go.”

I landed on my back with him on top of me. Immediately, I noticed the glow-in-the-dark stars taped to his ceiling.

In the shape of the constellation Pegasus.

“Hunter, what are these doing here?”

“You said you didn’t like to sleep in the dark,” he explained, getting us under the covers. “I installed them last week. But I can turn on a nightlight for you as well, if you’d like?”

My expression softened. “No, this is perfect.”

Lying on our sides facing each other, we kissed until we grew lethargic and eventually fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.

My love for him continued to grow every hour that we spent together. He wormed his way into my heart and now I was never letting him leave. He was stuck with me. Forever.

Sooner than later, I’d be introducing him to the Bellafiore bunch as my boyfriend. Nonna was the first one to hear about Hunter. I called her when I went over to my childhood home, while my parents bickered and set the table for dinner.

“Nonna, I miss you,” I told her as a greeting when she picked up.

Her smoky laugh welcomed me. “Ciao, piccola. I miss you, too. I’m sorry I can’t be there tonight. I already had plans with the book club ladies and Arlene’s on her way to pick me up.”

I perched against the half-moon table in the hallway, twirling the antique rotary phone’s cord around my finger. “That’s okay. The only thing you’re missing is Mamma and Papà’s argument.” But she could probably hear it in the background. They were noisy as hell. “Anyways, what book are you currently reading?”

“Another monster romance.” She pretended to sigh like she was annoyed. In truth, she was growing fonder of the genre, thanks to Arlene. “About an alien and his marriage of convenience bride.”