TRAPPED (Breaking Free Book 2) (17 page)

CONNIE:

I
t’
s been an hour since I fell asleep, and was awoken by breakfast in bed from Hunter. I have since, showered, dressed, and tidied the bedrooms, much to Hunte
r’
s dismay. Apparently he has a cleaner for that. There is nothing wrong with my arms though, why should I sit around and let the place gather dust when I can do something about it.

Alex and Lily are racing one another on the console in the front room, My Mum and dad left shortly after dropping them off, and Hunter is in his office making a few calls.

I stand in the kitchen, hands on my hips and foot tapping against the floor, wondering what on earth I can do. The apartment is spotless, and everyone is busy. Thankfully the decision is made for me, in the way of Alex screaming my name in temper.

“
Yes
?
” I answer, throwing him a sweet smile.

His lip twitches in response, but soon drops before his rant starts
.“
Lily keeps pressing the pause button and making me lose. Tell her to go to her bedroom
.
” His hands move to his hips and he cocks his head at me.

I giggle, throwing my hand across my mouth and coughing in an attempt to cover it up
.“
Alex she does
n’
t understand what she is meant to be doing, and you getting so worked up is spurring her on. Ignore her and you know she gets bored
.
” I tell him in an attempt to placate him.

“
Fine, but
I’
m not playing Mummies and Daddies with you later
.
” He is in full on sulk mode.

Lily cries out, loudly
.“I’
ll smack you in the face
.
” She shouts back at Alex.

I could smack my head against the bloody wall.

“
No, nobody is smacking anybody, and nobody is being nasty to anybody. If you ca
n’
t play nice I will take all of your new toys away until you can both behave
.
” I pause to look at both of them
.“
Do I make myself clear
?
”

“
Yes Mummy
.
” They both grumble in response.

“
That was
n’
t so hard now was it? Give me a kiss
.
” They both dive on me, kissing me all over my face with wet soggy kisses. Lily goes one step further and licks my cheek, rolling  off of me and flopping to the corner of the sofa, giggling away with the most infectious laugh, setting me and Alex off too.

“
What are you lot laughing at
?
” We all jump from the sound of Hunte
r’
s amused voice coming from behind us.

“
I lickdedMumm
y’
s face
.
” Lily tells Hunter amongst her giggling.

He laughs with her, coming around the sofa to sit with us
.“
Ah, you lickdedit did you? It is a very tasty face
.
”

He turns his attention to the paused game on the screen
.“
So wh
o’
s winning then
?
”

“
Me
,
” they both scream in unison
,“
no me
,
” Lily shouts
,“
No it
s
’ me, is
n’
t it Mummy
?
” Alex retaliates.

“
You are both winning
.
” I offer Alex a wink when he gives me a devastated look, and he seems to grasp immediately that I am only saying it to keep Lily happy.

Hunter picks up a controller
.“
Can I give you a go
?
” He asks Alex
,“
and then can I give you a race after
?
” he directs at Lily.

They both giggle, and nod, bouncing on the sofa in excitement.

I very nearly wet myself from laughing so hard when Ale
x‘
s competitive streak emerges
,“I’
m going to kick your butt, you are going down town, sucker
.
” Even Hunter struggles to stop laughing at hearing Ale
x’
s words.

“
Bring it little man! The loser has to cook dinner
.
” He looks to Alex with mock horror written on his face.

Alex becomes serious suddenly, clearly panicking
.“
But I ca
n’
t cook. Mummy I ca
n’
t cook, and I will burn myself wo
n’
t I
?
” He appears smug as he looks to me, realising I will not even let him remotely near the oven.

“
Okay, okay. The winner chooses the takeout, the loser gets tickled
.
”

Alex agrees and picks up his controller eagerly.

Lily and I spend the next half an hour in absolute fits of giggles as Hunter and Alex try to outdo one another, but in the end, Alex well and truly kicks his butt, as he said he would.

“
Oh my god, you little cheat. Nobody has ever beaten me on that game, are you sure you are five, and not some thirty year old gamer dressed in disguise
?
” He crouches down before Alex, checking him over with squinted eyes whilst Alex laughs at him
.“
Hm, maybe he has a mask and wig on
.
”

Hunter begins to tug gently on Ale
x’
s hair and cheeks
,“
Well, I must say you stuck it on really well.
.
” Lily dives from the sofa on to Hunte
r’
s back as Alex begins thrashing and squealing between giggles.

“
Leave my brother alone
.
” A shriek leaves her lips as she is flipped over Hunte
r’
s shoulder and lands in a heap beside Alex.

Hunter pauses his assault, both hands hovering menacingly over their tummies
.“
Okay, so you both want to be tickled then. That can be easily arranged
.
” His hands come down, one hand to each of them, and begins tickling them vigorously. They both thrash and laugh, but are unable to remove themselves from his firing line.

“
Sto
p
… sto
p
” Lily shouts out between her giggles.

“
Okay,
I’
ll stop
.
” Hunter calls her bluff and moves his hand away slightly from both of their midsections.

“
No, no. We want more, tickle us more.Again
!
” Lily orders him.

As the three of them play on the sofa, I move around the back of Hunter, sticking my hands up his t-shirt and to his ribs, digging them in and moving them up and down. He laughs and shakes his back, attempting to remove me, but still able to continue his assault on the kids.

I slowly raise one hand to the base of his neck, my fingers find his collar bone and dig in slightly. He raises his shoulders in response, and makes dolphin like noises as he tries to dislodge my fingers.

Finally he removes his hands from the kids and brings one hand to each of my mine, stopping my movements. I wink at the pair of them, and whisper the word
s“
now
.
”

They both follow my command and jump up, throwing their bodies at Hunter and knocking him to the ground as he is distracted, I just manage to dodge being pinned beneath him.

The three of us tickle him anywhere and everywhere, before he finally gets the upper hand, and we somehow all end up on our back, side by side as his hands move rapidly between the three of us, tickling relentlessly. No amount of thrashing or screaming frees us.

“
Do we give up
?
” he asks, somewhat breathlessly.

“
Yes
!
” We all scream in unison.
I’
m knackered after all of that.

“
Good
.
” He jumps to his feet
,“
Who fancies a game of bowling then
?
”

Hunter is almost knocked over as Alex and Lily jump up and begin hopping around the room.

“
I take it tha
t’
s a yes then
,
” he directs at me on a chuckle.

My heart swells with love for him. I did
n’
t know men like him existed, Dan would much rather be up the pub than spend any time with me or the children. Let alone play and make as much noise as we have been.

Leaving him was the best decision I could have ever made, and every day that passes is just cementing that fact. Not only are they both happy, but they have taken to Hunter in a way I could never even have imagined.

They are happy, I am happy, and I will do whatever it takes to ensure we stay that way. I will never take Hunter or what he does for us for granted, he has changed our life for the better, and I just hope we make him just as happy as he is us.

An hour and a half later, we have reached the bowling alley, and are programming our names in to the game board on the overhead television. After much persuasion, Alex finally agreed to allow Lily to bowl first and him second, only if he could go on the arcades after. My boy certainly knows how to drive a hard bargain.

Lily steps up first, asking me to pick the pink ball up for her and places it on the bowling ramp. She stands before it, hands behind the ball and pushes hard. It rolls down and after what feels like an eternity manages to knock eight pins down. She screeches in excitement and throws herself at my legs, wrapping her arms around me
.“
Did you see that Mummy, I knocked lots and lots of them down
.
”

“
I sure did princess, well done
.
” I kiss her on her head before she runs off to taunt her brother, and chooses her next colour ball. The next roll does
n’
t go too well and she ends up missing the remaining pins, much to Lil
y’
s dismay. She pouts and plops her bum on the bench, grumbling under her breath.

Alex steps up, refusing any assistance. I still stand to the side of him, ready to help should he need it.
I’
m about to ask why he is sat on the floor with a bowling between his legs, when it becomes abundantly clear this is his way of bowling. And it works too, he sits at the end of the alley, legs spread with a bowling ball between them, he then places the ball where he wants it and pushes, hard. The ball travels all the way to the end, hitting the centre pin to the left very slightly, and effectively knocking every pin down.

“
Strike
.
” He screams, running and jumping up and down.

He offers me a quick hug as he passes me, running straight to Hunte
r’
s open arms and jumping in to them. I stand, awestruck at the effect he has had on my kids. Watching him run to Hunter like that is one of the best feelings I have and will ever feel, I do
n’
t think I have once seen Alex behave like that with Dan. I am giddy with excitement, my boy has missed out on so much that a Dad should have done with him, and five minutes with Hunter and you would believe they were father and son. Several other people playing have thrown smiles at the pair of them.

I take out my phone and snap a few photos, a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth as I repeatedly hit the snap shot button. I want to look back at this moment time and time again.
I’
m beyond elated, to see my baby so happy is the best bloody feeling in existence. Even Lily is sat on the side giggling away, when normally she would moan that Alex did better than her.

I take a few steps back and get the three of them in the same shot, Hunter swinging Alex around, and Lily looking on and giggling. I
t’
s a sight I never thought I would see, but one I hope is never taken away from us.

With every passing moment I hate Dan more and more. I did
n’
t think it was possible, but seeing what he neglected our children of makes the hatred more intense than ever.