California's Calling (Hunt Family Book 3) (4 page)

BOOK: California's Calling (Hunt Family Book 3)
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Chapter 5

 

 

I sat on the floor snuggled up with Tess for the next hour or so while Mia and Evan took their showers. We all sat around the living room talking about life and laughing at each other's stories.

Cub fit in like he was our long-lost cousin. I thought I remembered Rachel saying the boys in our family reminded her of her brother, but it didn't sink in until we were all hanging out together and it seemed like we'd known each other our whole lives. Or maybe Cub was just so down to earth that he could fit in with any family. Either way, we were totally comfortable from the moment we met him.

The only problem was that Mia had me all messed up with the idea of having a summer camp fling with him. I knew it wasn't going to happen, but her implications made it hard for me to ignore how handsome he was. I was almost mad at her for suggesting it in the first place.

Thankfully, Cub had no fashion sense at all. I didn't think of myself as a materialistic person, but when you live in Los Angeles and your brother is a movie star, you're exposed to the latest trends and fashions all the time. Cub's clothes weren't last season's; they were more like fifteen years ago, and not in a charming, vintage sort of way. He was fit and devastatingly handsome, but he was overdue for a haircut and his clothes were not flattering at all.

Please don't judge me for saying that.

It was the truth, and a truth for which I was grateful. If he had a good haircut and some fitted clothing to go with his beautiful heart and flawless face, I might have fallen in love at first sight.

"I'll go last if you want to go ahead and take your shower," Cub said to me when Mia came into the living room after hers.

"How am I supposed to take a shower and love on you at the same time?" I asked, looking down at Tess, who was laying across my lap in a ridiculously relaxed manner.

"She said hurry," Cub said.

I laughed as I started unfolding my legs so I could stand. Cub stood from his place on the couch and offered a hand to help me up. I gave him my hand and let him pull me to a standing position.

"My legs might be asleep," I said, kicking them in front of me a couple of times to stretch them out.

"You need a piggy-back ride to your room?" Cub asked. He leaned over slightly like he'd be willing to really do it, but I just laughed.

"Naa, I think I got it."

"It's a small place. You can't really get lost, but I'll show you which room is yours."

I followed him down the small hallway, and he put an arm out, saying I should walk into the door on the right. I took a step inside and looked around for a second before turning to face him. He was still standing in the doorway, watching me.

"I can't take your bedroom," I insisted. "I'll just sleep out there with Evan. I really don't mind."

"Don't be silly," he said. "I want you to stay in here."

He, of course, meant it in a loving, giving, family-member sort of way, but some teeny tiny piece of me liked hearing him say that. It was almost as if he was protective of me.

"I only have one bathroom, so you'll have to come out here if you need to use it during the night." He gestured into the hallway at what I assumed was the bathroom.

I nodded. "Thank you for this," I said. "Thanks for having us."

"I'm excited about it," he said, smiling. "Rachel's already told me I'm gonna miss you when you're gone." He cleared his throat. "You guys, I mean. You, as a group. She said I'd miss all of you." Cub had been eloquent up until that point, and hearing him stutter like that made me giggle.

"I know what you meant," I said. "I don't expect to get preferential treatment with your missing-ness."

"I'm not saying I won't miss you specifically," he said, backpedaling in a tongue in cheek way.

"You'll just miss everyone else in the group equally as much or perhaps more than you'll miss me," I said, finishing his sentence.

Cub tilted his head at me with an easy half smile. I could tell he enjoyed messing around with me.

"Truth is, I'm not gonna miss any of you," he said, shaking his head with a straight face. "I'm not really into forming lasting relationships with people. I'm just gonna use you for some heavy lifting and building supplies and forget all about you as soon as you leave." His face was still straight as he added, "I don't even see you as real people, actually. More like tools—sweepers, and painters, and nail-gun holders."

I held my palm toward him and wore a completely straight face when I said, "Good, because I don't want you getting attached."

He finally cracked a smile. His face slowly morphed into a huge grin as he shook his head at me. "It's too late," he said. "I'm already in love."

My eyes widened when the words left his mouth. "With your family," he amended. "I love you guys already. I'm seriously glad you're here."

I smiled at him and pushed playfully at his shoulder. "I knew you were just kidding around. I was just playing about not wanting you to get attached, too. I totally want you to get attached. I'd love knowing someone in Kenya misses me."

"Consider yourself missed," he said.

"Not yet, though. I'm still here."

He gave me a nod as he gestured toward me. "That you are."

Maybe it was on account of me being exhausted, but instead of rushing to the bathroom like I would have normally done during a break in conversation such as this, I stood there and smiled at him. We locked eyes and he smiled back at me. Neither of us knew what the other one was thinking, but both of us seemed content to stand there and stare for a few seconds. Tess stood between us. She was closer to him, but she had her back paw on my foot.

"She's stepping on my foot," I said, finally.

His smile broadened. "She's on mine, too."

I glanced down to find that her front paw was indeed on his foot. "Why's she this ridiculous?" I asked in a way that let him know I loved it.

He shrugged. "In her ideal world, we'd all have our hands on her at the same time. I think she's trying to hold us here so we'll reach down and pet her."

"I'm strong enough to pull my foot out from under her paw," I whispered with my hand to my mouth as if trying not to let Tess hear.

"I think I could do it, too," he said, nodding with a deadpan expression. "Don't tell her, though."

I shook my head as if I wouldn't dare before bending down to scratch Tess. "Your dad and me can get our feet out from under yours any time we want," I said, rubbing her behind her ears as she stretched her head toward me.

"I told her not to tell you," Cub said.

I looked at him to find that he was shaking his head disappointedly.

I couldn’t help but smile.

"I'm totally stuck here, Tess," he said, "I could not move even if I tried."

"I'm not," I said in that sweet-cooing tone I always used with her. "I can slip out of this at the drop of a hat."

"Totally stuck," Cub said.

I giggled and bent to scratch her one last time before pulling my foot out from under hers. "You're funny," I said to Cub, crossing the room with the intention to dig in my luggage for my pajamas.

"You're funny, too," he said. I glanced at him and he gestured to the bathroom. "It should be self explanatory, but I'll be in here if you need anything."

I nodded at him as he took off in the direction of the living room.

***

I showered and changed, and went back into the living room to tell them goodnight.

"That was quick," Evan said.

"I didn't want to use all the hot water since Cub hasn't taken a shower yet." I glanced at Cub. "I assume it's okay if I used your toothbrush."

He nodded. "As long as you didn't clean the toilet with it or anything." I smiled as I bent to pet Tess.

"I cleaned the toilet with it while I was in there," Evan said. "I thought that was customary in Kenya."

"I'm glad you told me," Cub said. "Because I already used it for a toilet brush a few times, and I don't like to go back and forth from toilet to tooth brush too many times before I switch out."

"You guys are so gross!" Mia said.

"She's the one who said it," Evan said, pointing at me.

I stared innocently at Tess. "I don't remember a single thing about saying that," I said. "Do you?" she just stared at me with her tail wagging. "Nope," I said, after a few seconds of silently waiting for her response. "She doesn’t remember me saying anything like that."

"I always dreaded the day when I'd bring a woman into this house and they'd gang up on me," Cub said.

"Yeah, it's three against two," Evan said. "We better stay on our toes."

We talked for a few more minutes before Mia and I said goodnight and excused ourselves. Tess tried to come with me to the bedroom, but Cub stopped her, making a point of showing her the doggy bed, which was positioned near the couch where he was sleeping.

Even still, she tried to follow me.

"Tess!" Cub said. "Your bed's right here, girl."

Despite his persistence, she wouldn't leave my side. "I'm sorry," he said, crossing the room to retrieve her manually. "She's used to her bed being in there."

"She can come with me if she wants," I said.

"It's okay," he said, taking her by the collar. "I've got her bed in here."

I told them all goodnight and walked down the hall, closing the bedroom door behind me. About three minutes later, I started hearing a faint whining noise. I ignored it for about ten minutes before finally opening the door. I expected to find Tess at the door, but when I opened it, I almost walked right into Cub. His presence surprised me, and I put a hand over my mouth to keep from letting out a yelp.

He grabbed my shoulder to steady me and looked at me regretfully. It was mostly dark aside from my lamp and a small light coming from the living room, but I could still read his regretful expression.

"I don't know why she's doing this," he said, taking a hold of her collar." She'll lay by me for a minute, but then she'll get up and come back over here. She knows I want her over there, and she's usually really obedient, I'm sorry. I've had people stay with me before, and she's never done this."

"Would you miss her too much if we put her bed in here with me?" I whispered. "I could leave the door open in case she wants to get out and come to you, but I really wouldn't mind having her in my room if you're okay with it."

"I'm fine with it. But you should know there's a possibility that she'll stealthfully crawl up in bed with you sometime in the morning."

"I want her in there with me," I said, feeling comforted by the idea of cuddling up with a dog in the morning. I scratched her head as I stared at Cub with puppy-dog eyes.

"You're going to spoil her," he said.

"She's the one who's spoiling me."

He sighed and shook his head. I could just imagine him saying, "
Women,
" in that way men do when they don't know what to do with us. "I'll get her bed," he said, handing her collar to me.

I let it go as soon as I took it from him, bending down to rub behind her ears for a second before making a kissing sound for her to follow me into the bedroom. She came without hesitation, which made me smile.

She was lying at the foot of Cub's bed when he returned with her doggy bed. "Tess," he said, in a disappointed tone.

She jumped down instantly. He tossed the bed to the floor right next to me, and she went right to it, circling around to find the right spot.

"You're not spoiling her
that
much," he said, smirking at me.

I held up my hands in surrender. "She just jumped up here like she knew what she was doing," I said.

"Just don't get too attached," he said, throwing my words back at me.

"I wouldn't think of it," I said.

 

Chapter 6

 

 

"Cub?" I said, just before he left the room. I was sitting up in the bed with the covers over my legs, and he answered by stopping in his tracks to wait for me to continue. "I forgot to ask… How'd you get your name?" Before he could answer, I added, "Rachel told us about the lioness your friend, Martin, had, but I wasn't sure if—she said there were other stories."

"She told you Martin had a lion?" he asked. "Like for a
pet
?" His disbelieving expression made it obvious that he couldn't believe she'd say such a thing.

I smiled and nodded, knowing I was about to get a different story. He sighed as he came to sit on the side of my bed, near my feet. He shifted to look at me once he was sitting down.

"It's really not a big deal," he said. "It's just that when I was a little boy, I entered this contest that no one else would enter. They went all through the land searching for men brave enough to face a family of hungry lions. It was arena style, you know, like gladiators in a coliseum. Anyway, the prize was a million dollars if you survived an hour with the lions on the arena floor."

"Wouldn't the lions just get full after like the first ten competitors and leave guy number eleven alone?"

He shook his head. "No man was willing to do it. They scoured all of Africa, but no one took the challenge. Everyone knew it was certain death."

"But you did it?"

He nodded with a serious expression.

I stared at him, waiting for him to continue, but he just sat there like the story was over.

"So what happened?"

"I survived," he said, sighing seriously and looking down at his own lap as if that were evidence that he was still alive.

"Obviously, you survived," I said. "But what happened after you took the challenge? What happened in the arena? Who gave you the nickname? And where were your parents? I'm missing the best parts of this story, here."

"One question at a time," he said with a hand out urging me to be patient. "I was the only man to show up at the arena."

"I thought you said you were a little kid."

"I was. But if you're willing to take this type of challenge, the storyteller must always refer to you as a man, no matter what your age."

I giggled at the solemn face he was making as if this were all so serious. Tess glanced at me when I giggled, but decided everything was fine and put her head back down.

"So I was the only man who showed up that day," he continued. "They didn't want to let me do it at first. They never dreamed someone as young as me would volunteer for the challenge."

"Why'd you do it?" I asked. "For the kids," he said. The subtle movements of his facial expression made it seem like he was touched, like he was about to cry. My brother was an actor, so I was used to these types of shenanigans. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. Cub took a breath in through his nose as if he was trying to hold back tears so he could finish his story. "I had to do it for the kids," he said dramatically. "My parents had just started the center, and they didn't have the provisions they needed to care for the children of Kenya."

"So you won the million dollars?" I asked, still biting my cheek a little in an effort to school my expression. I was nowhere near as good at this as my brother or (apparently) Cub.

He nodded. "The arena full of people watched in awe as I walked among the lions for a full hour with no harm coming to me. I wrestled around with them some, just, you know, for showmanship or whatever. The crowd gasped and cried out, but we were just playing around."

"You and the lions?"

"Yeah."

"You guys were just playing around?"

"Yeah. You know, to entertain the crowd or whatever. The biggest one, one of the males with a full mane, wrestled me to the ground, pinning me on my back with his paws right here." Cub paused and indicated the places on his chest near his shoulders where the lion's paws had been. "He held me there, staring down at me for what must have been a full minute. Children were crying. Women were covering their eyes. Finally, the male, whose name was Toca, bent down and licked my face with his huge, sand paper tongue." A nostalgic smile crossed Cubs face as he shook his head. "Anyway, I survived the hour and got the million dollars. The rescue center basically wouldn't have survived without my sacrifice. It was the least I could do. It's no big deal."

I giggled as I leaned over and pushed at his shoulder. "So your friend, Martin, had an injured lioness named Lisa, and you made friends with her?"

He smiled. "Yes."

"That's still a pretty cool story."

He nodded. "She was a cool lion. We were best buds." He winked at me. "Don't tell Tess."

"Oh, that's okay, you can get another lion if you want. Tess is coming home with me."

He laughed and then pointed at me with narrowed eyes. "I told you not to get attached."

"I can't help it if we love each other."

"It's just because you're here, and you're caught up in the moment," he said. "Before we know it, the week will be over, and you'll go back to America. You'll forget all about her once you're home."

"Did you hear what he said?" I asked, directing my question toward Tess. "He said I'd forget all about you, which is obviously not true!"

I glanced at him to see that he was smiling as he watched me talk to her. He reached back and gave my leg a squeeze. "I should let you get some sleep," he said.

"I thought you wanted to keep us company until my eyes get heavy," I said, scooting into my place in the bed and pulling the covers up to my chin. He stood up a little just to let me adjust the covers before sitting down again.

"Tell me something about poetry," he said.

"Most of the time I feel inadequate to arrange words in such a way that I can get across what I want to say. Most of the time, I can't settle on the correct order of words,
or
the words I want to put in order. Sometimes, though, I write things down that aren't too terrible. I'll probably never do anything with them, though."

"And you've decided to get a job as a decorator?"

"I don't know if I'll do it for a job, necessarily, but yes, I changed my major."

"Why are you going to school for something you don't want to do for a job?"

I shrugged, which resulted in my pillow scrunching up on each side of my head. "My brother had a trust set up for me. I'm his only sibling, and he wanted to make sure I was taken care of. I'm paying for my college out of it, and investing some of it. I didn't really have to go to college, I guess. Logan didn't go. I just sort of wanted to—you know, to say I have a degree or whatever. I was studying writing because I loved it."

"Why would you waste your time studying something else if you don't like it as much?"

I shrugged. "Like I said, I guess I just wanted a degree. I thought it'd be something I'd be proud of."

"And it will. You should. I just think it's a shame that you switched from doing something you enjoyed so much. I wish you would have thought about transferring."

I smiled. "Maybe I thought my parents would find out about Lance if I told them I wanted to transfer. At the time, I wasn't thinking straight."

"Heartbreak will do that to you."

"What do you know about heartbreak?" I asked.

"Plenty," he said.

I stared at him, and he stared back. I was on the verge of asking him what he meant, but I just couldn't.

"He who says it's better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all must have never lost," he said.

"Amen to that," I said, making him laugh. "Evan said you built your whole house," I added, since I didn't want him to leave quite yet.

"I did," he said. "But I've gotten better since then, so don't judge me too harshly."

I had been looking around since Evan told me he built it. It was charming and seemed extremely well built. "Are you kidding? I’m impressed. I love the bathroom."

"Well, thank you," he said. "I love it. Carpentry for me is like you were saying poetry is for you. Finding something you love to do is a gift."

"Being able to make a living at it is an even better gift."

He nodded. "I'm not rich, but I have plenty of food and a nice place to lay my head. Plus, I get to help Mom and Dad with the center."

"So you want to stay in Africa your whole life?" I asked.

He shrugged casually as he nodded. "I've been here since I can remember," he said. "It's home to me."

"Did you ever think about coming to the states for college like Rachel?"

"Rachel knew when she left that she wasn't just going for college. She knew she wasn't coming back—not permanently at least."

"And you never wanted to check it out?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not really."

"How'd you get your heart broken?" I asked. It had nothing to do with the U.S., or his intentions not to go there, but my curiosity had been nagging at me since he mentioned having his heart broken, and I had to break down and ask.

"I was just a kid," he said.

"Like the lion-fighting thing?" He let out a little laugh. "No, I was a little older than that—seventeen, I think. She was from New York. She had gotten into some trouble, and her parents sent her here for the summer so she could get away and perhaps learn to appreciate just how good she had it. You know, see how the less-fortunate live."

"And you fell in love?"

He breathed a humorless laugh and stared at the ceiling for a second as if remembering. "Yeah, I was in love. She was too. We were both convinced we'd live happily ever after. For two months, we pretended we'd spend the rest of our lives together. Then August rolled around, and she went home. She begged me to follow her, but I couldn’t leave. She said she'd come back once she finished school, but it didn't work out that way."

"And that's it?" I asked. "She left, and you two never saw each other again?"

"Yep."

"What was her name?"

"Ashley."

"Do you still love her?" I asked, feeling an unwarranted wave of jealousy as the words left my mouth.

He chuckled. "No. It was a long time ago. I was just telling you that I knew what it was like to miss somebody."

"I don't miss Lance," I said, surprising myself. "I just still have that embarrassed, yucky feeling from it."

"You could always move to Africa," he said. "Get a fresh start."

I considered the idea for several seconds before responding. "I couldn't do it," I said, shaking my head.

"No?"

I continued to shake my head thoughtfully. "No. I don't think I'd be okay with my whole family living on the other side of the world. I think I'd feel ungrounded, like I might just float off into the atmosphere or something."

Cub laughed. "I could have Tess step on your foot," he said. I rolled over and peered off of the bed at Tess as if wondering whether or not she'd do an adequate job of tethering me to the ground.

"Or I could hold onto you," he said.

Something in the lower part of my stomach flipped when he said those words. I was hit with a wave of some emotion that translated physically into a stirring that took my breath away. It was all I could do to keep myself from taking a sharp intake of breath. I breathed in and out slowly in an effort not to reveal the chaos that hit my body. I yawned to buy a few more seconds.

"I'm just messing with you," he said, pinching my toes from the outside of the covers. "I know you can't stay. The beautiful ones always leave. You belong in America where people can take pictures of you."

"You're sweet for the compliment, but I'm perfectly fine not being in photos. The reason I can't stay is because I already feel like I'm about to shove off into outer space by being over here. If my family wasn't here with me, I'd be in full-blown panic attack mode."

He smiled. "I'm glad family means so much to you. Rachel needed that. She's thankful to have you guys."

"We love her," I said. I hesitated for a few seconds, but spoke again before I had time to really think about what I was going to say. The words that came out of my mouth were, "You're beautiful and
you
stayed. I mean, handsome or whatever. And you could be in a movie with my brother with those acting skills."

"I don't know what you mean by
acting
. The lion story was true." His expression was serious, like he was almost offended.

I laughed.

"You said I was handsome," he said, pinching my toes as he stood up.

"You are." I said.

Cub crossed to the door and smiled at me as he was leaving.

"Don't get too attached," he said.

"Don't worry," I called quietly as he turned to walk down the hall. I reached out to turn off the lamp, but decided to pet Tess first. "Why's he so cute?" I asked. She didn't answer, so I just turned off the light and went to bed.

BOOK: California's Calling (Hunt Family Book 3)
13.64Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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