When I finally managed to compose my drunk ass, and clean the mascara stains off my cheeks, I slipped out of the restroom.

My head was still slightly spinning when I returned to the bar, and I was starting to really regret the damned wine. I thought about how I would feel in the morning and I groaned in pained anticipation.

Wine hangovers were the fucking worst.

I walked back to our table, but frowned when my eyes landed on half a dozen unfamiliar faces. Confused, I searched the room for my friends, and spotted Noah and Teagan on the dancefloor.

The sight of them sickeningly in love as they danced together almost caused the wine in my stomach to make a reappearance.

Thankfully, I won the battle and managed to keep it inside.

Depressed and not wanting to interrupt the lovebirds, I slid my cell out of my purse and called a cab before heading for the exit.

I needed water and lots of it. And a burger. And maybe some fries.

Yeah, grease was a really good idea right now!

I was contemplating the likeliness of the cab driver making a pit stop at the drive-thru for me when I walked outside and my drunken gaze landed on Hunter.

He wasn’t alone.

The blonde I'd seen him talking to at the bar earlier was standing under the awning with him. They were both smoking. She was talking animatedly, while he listened and laughed at whatever she was saying.

Rage burned inside of me at the sight. I had no idea why or where the horrible feeling had come from, but suddenly I wanted to walk right up to them both and throw a fit.

She was flirting shamelessly with him and I was jealous.

No, scratch that, I was beyond jealous.

I didn’t want any woman looking at him, touching him, attempting to take him home.

The thought of her putting her hands on him made me feel physically sick.

Without thinking about the repercussions of my drunken actions, I stalked right over to where they were standing.

Hunter's glazed over eyes landed on mine and he smiled warmly. "I thought you left," he said, sounding genuinely happy to see me.

Reaching up, I grabbed the cigarette dangling from his lips and tossed it away. "Are you going to fuck her?"

"Excuse me?" I heard the skinny blonde hiss from behind me, but I didn’t give a shit. Keeping my back to her, I glared up at Hunter.

"Well?" I demanded, chest heaving. "Are you?"

Hunter's brows rose in surprise, but he didn’t make any reply.

Instead, he just stared down at me, jaw slightly clenched.

"Answer me, dammit!" I hissed, pushing his chest. "Are you?"

"You're making a scene, HC," Hunter replied, voice soft, eyes dark and dangerous. "Go home."

"I can't," I managed to bite out while my body shook all over. I was making a scene. I could feel several pairs of eyes on us, but I didn’t care. Not one bit. "Do you want to fuck her?"

When he didn’t answer me, I lost it.

"Hunter, you better tell me now, dammit."

"What do you want me to say, Hope?" he demanded then, tone irritated. "How the fuck do you want me to answer that question?"

"I want you to say no," I screamed – yes, screamed – as I pushed him hard again. "Dammit, Hunter!"

"What does it matter?" His voice was resigned, his face weary. "We're not together, Hope."

It shouldn’t.

God, it shouldn’t matter.

"It matters," I countered shakily. "It matters to me."

"You need to stop," he warned, blue eyes narrowed on mine. "Now."

"Don't go home with her," I blurted out, stepping closer to him. Shaking his head, Hunter attempted to move away from me, but I didn’t let him. "Don’t do it," I begged, reclaiming the space he'd tried to put between us. "Don’t."

"Relax, honey, we were only talking," the woman behind me sneered. "You really need you get a grip."

"And you really need to fuck off," I snarled, swinging around to face her. "He's not for you, honey!"

Hunter threw his head back and made a strangled noise, almost like a laugh, but it was pained. "Jesus fucking Christ, Hope."

"He's mine," I snapped, losing every ounce of my-self-control. Like the unhinged woman I was, I fisted his shirt in my hand. "Mine," I growled, glowering at the blonde. "You got that?"

The blonde glowered at me before turning her attention to Hunter. "You know, you really ought to buy a muzzle for your girlfriend," she spat before stubbing out her cigarette and stalking off. "Possessive bitch."

As soon as she was gone and the threat was eliminated, the reality of what I'd just done crashed down on me.

Oh god, what was happening to me.

I was losing my freaking mind.

Reeling, I turned back to face Hunter.

Every ounce of blood drained from my face when I looked up at Hunter's murderous expression. His jaw was clenched tight as he glared down at me, blue eyes dark and locked on mine.

"I'm sorry," I choked out. "I don’t know what came over me."

"You can't do that to me, Hope," he bit out as a vein ticked in his neck. His voice was calm, but he looked like he was close to exploding. "Fuck," he growled. Shaking his head, he exhaled a harsh breath. "Fuck!"

"Please don’t be mad at me," I begged, words slurring a little, as I took a tentative step towards him. "Don’t hate me."

"I'm not mad at you." He exhaled a ragged breath and looked up to the sky. I could see his chest heaving as he took several sharp breaths. Finally, he swung his gaze back to me, he hissed, "Tell me what you want from me, Hope?"

"Nothing," I whispered.

"Nothing," he repeated, tone laced with disbelief.

"No, not nothing! I want…you can't…I just…" I shook my head and tried to make sense of my crazed thoughts. "I didn’t want you to leave with her," I choked out.

"Why not?" he demanded.

"I don’t know."

"Why not, Hope?"

"I told you, I don’t know!"

"Bullshit," he snarled. "Why the fuck not?"

"Just because."

"Because what?" he demanded, voice torn. "Because you don’t want me to be happy? Because you want me to be alone and fucking miserable? Huh? Which is it, Hope?"

"Because the thought of you with another woman makes me want to die!" I screamed.

"Are you fucking with me right now?" he hissed, face reddening. Jerking closer, he cupped the back of my neck and dragged my face to his. "Are you fucking with me, Hope?"

"No," I choked out, forehead pressed to his. "The thought of you with another woman makes me crazy."

"Then how the fuck do you think I feel?" he snarled. Releasing my face, he shook his head, eyes still locked on mine. "There's only one woman I want," he roared, losing all control now. "One! And she's got a goddamn wedding ring on her finger."

"Hunter," I sobbed. "Don’t –"

"I'm yours," he snarled, chest heaving. He drew me closer, so close I could practically taste his breath on my tongue. "But you don’t fucking want me."

"Because I can't have you," I cried. "You know that."

"But you do want me," he said calmly, his blue eyes heated and locked on mine, gaging my reaction.

"I don’t," I choked out before exhaling shakily. "At least I shouldn’t."

"So, because you can't have me, you don’t want anyone else to have me?" he shot back, glaring, and drunk as I was, I didn’t miss the pain in his eyes or the way his voice cracked. "Is that it?"

"No. Yes. God, maybe!"

"Then what do you want me to do, Hope?" he choked out, shrugging helplessly. "What do you want from me?"

"Hunter…"

The sound of a car horn honking blasted loudly, distracting me. Twisting sideways, I saw the black cab pulled up at the sidewalk. "Hope Carter?" the cab guy called out from the wound down window.

"Yeah, that's me," I called out and held my palm up to him indicating I'd be five minutes.

The cab drive gave me a dirty look and tapped on his wrist.

"Go on, HC," Hunter said in a weary tone. He took one last final look at me before shaking his head and turning back towards the bar. "Go on home to your husband," he called over his shoulder.

He walked away from me, and I wanted to scream stop. I wanted to beg him not to go, but I didn’t have the right.

He wasn’t mine and I didn’t belong to him.

I was a married woman with a husband and a life waiting for me.

I needed to allow him to nip this in the bud.

I needed to allow him to be happy, and I needed to be happy for him that he was able to do it.

I just couldn’t…

"Wait," I called after him. "Don’t go back in there."

"Why? You gonna keep me company, HC?" he shot back, swinging around to face me once again. "You gonna take some time out from playing happy little wife to fuck me?"

When I didn’t respond, he stormed towards me. "You wanna come home with me, HC?" he demanded. Taking my arm, he walked me over to the awaiting cab. "Is that really what you want?" he hissed. Swinging open the door, he shoved me into the backseat then leaned into my face. "Because I've got no problem getting in this cab and giving him directions to my place."

Hunter stared hard at me before shaking his head and saying, "Didn’t think so." He tossed the cab driver a bundle of cash and said, "Make sure she gets inside before you leave."

With that, he banged his fist on the hood of the cab and walked away.