Hera was nervous and held her breath as Hunter didn’t answer her right away. She felt as though her poor heart was going to explode, awaiting his reply because he was taking forever to respond. As the seconds tick by, Hera started regretting asking the question. She realised she didn’t want him to answer that anymore. 

‘What if, God forbid, he takes Bianca’s name?’ 

Hera thought she would die if he did take Bianca’s name. With the close bonding and unconditional support they held for each other, Hera wouldn’t be surprised if they did it together. They would do anything for each other after all. 

“You were my first kiss, Goddess. Attraction or affection, desire or love, call it by whatever name you want. It was always you. I never wanted to kiss anyone other than you,” he paused, looking at her. “It was my first time when I kissed you on your fifth birthday.. You said I was anything but innocent, believe it or not, I never kissed anyone before or after that, except you,” Hunter confessed, while Hera silently listened. 

“Do you remember what you said after our first kiss?” He asked before shooting a quick glance at her as if he was searching for something in her eyes. Frowning as though she didn’t remember anything, Hera shrugged nonchalantly. A smile graced his handsome face as he recalled their wedding kiss. “You said I touched your lips with my tongue and my spit entered your mouth,” he said, and then his lips broke into a silent laugh. 

Hera turned away in embarrassment and smiled, looking out of the window. It was already getting dark, and if not for the streetlights, she would hardly see anything. “Five years old wife of mine said I don’t have manners because I spit on people,” Hunter said, voice filled with amusement. Hera watched as his eyes crinkled, and his upper body began to shake while he continued to laugh. 

Ten years later, he still remembered their conversation, and that memory lane engulfed her with overwhelming emotions. At that moment she saw her Prince charming that he used to be, who made her fall in love with him, her Mr Hunter. Caring, loving, and innocent too. She was staring at him with misty eyes as her lips stretched into a warm smile subconsciously. 

“You were right about the spitting part, though,” he said, bringing her back to earth from her fantasy world. “The very thought itself is gross. Kissing someone else and sucking their saliva always felt disgusting,” he said while his hand changed the gear and the car started moving faster. Hera’s smile disappeared, and she looked at him with disbelief. 

“You’ve kissed other girls many times, Hunter. Stop pretending to be a bloody loyal virgin lover,” Hera said with a tone filled with disappointment and smiled mockingly. His grip on the steering wheel tightened. Hera saw him swallowing before he clucked his tongue in disapproval. “At least not until you kissed someone else first,” he spat in anger, and his words, as well as eyes, were accusing. “I was angry and hurt, filled with spite, and I wanted to return the favour,” he said. 

Hera looked away from him as she felt mad at herself because of the guilt she felt. Someone else got hurt in the past because of their stupid revenge game. 

“Such a hypocrite you are! It was just a kiss, and it was nothing compared to what you did,” Hera said bitingly, without looking at him. The silence that engulfed the air surrounding them didn’t feel comfortable and adding more to the unwelcome awkwardness, Hera brought up the one subject that Hunter never wished to converse with her. 

“Who was your first?” She asked and paused for a second or two. “You know what I mean,” she said, expecting him to answer her question, but Hunter kept driving in silence. Her nostrils flared as she breathed in anger while trying not to snap at him. “I know for sure that the girl I caught you with wasn’t your first. Who took your virginity, Hunter?” She finally dared to ask the one question she was dying to ask for years. 

When Hunter glanced at her, she tried to keep her face blank, void of any emotions, but her voice dropped to a whisper at the end. 

Hunter could read her eyes, he saw the hurt she’s trying to hide, and a knot formed in the pit of his stomach. “You said you forgave me,” he whispered almost inaudibly, desperately wanting her to say yes. Hera snorted, “But I never said that I won’t ever talk about it and sometimes, it feels good to rub it in your face.” Hera stated shrugging and pretended to look ahead. But she viewed through her peripheral vision, how his jaw muscles tightened. She could tell that he was grinding his teeth in anger. 

Licking his lips, Hunter glanced at the rear-view mirror once, and a sigh escaped through his lips. His side profile turned from beautiful to a troubled frown. “Can we not talk about it, please?” He asked, his tone was pleading. 

“No,” said Hera, as she was determined to get answers. 

“You know, Hunter, I thought getting intimate with someone for the first time would be a special moment, and one would remember it for life. So it has to be with someone special, but I guess I wasn’t that person for you. You gifted the privilege of taking your virginity to someone else which was supposed to be my right. At least, I deserve to know who stole that right from me,” Hera said. Her tone was aggressive, and her words filled with so much bitterness. Hunter winced at the menacing look she shot him. 

Cursing under his breath, Hunter pursed his lips into a thin line. 

“I don’t remember her name,” Hunter said, sounding weak. Hera detected nervousness in his tone as he continued to reveal the identity of the girl who ruined Hera’s idea of a fairytale romance. “She was a high school senior then. She’d red hair and was a cheerleader,” said Hunter. 

Hera’s brain ran through memory files, and then she remembered the only red-haired cheerleader of their school. 

‘How could I not remember her? That gorgeous, redhead bitch!’ 

“Of course, it had to be Georgia out of all the girls in the school,” Hera said, her voice cynical. The girl was so hot and popular in school that every boy had a crush on her. Not like they wanted to date her, but they all wanted to sleep with her. She was a perfect beauty, but also a slutty bitch who practically poured herself into every boy’s lap. 

Discovering the truth that her Hunter was one among those boys made Hera angry and disappointed at the same time. She tried to control the rise of bile in her throat but failed badly. 

“So, was she any good? Did you enjoy doing it with her?” Hera asked, and this time she sounded hurt and broken, making him curse again. Hera looked away from him as one of his hands on the steering wheel tightened, and his other hand hit the steering wheel with the heel of his palm in anger. “We were having such a good time, but of course you’ve to ruin it,” he stated disparagingly. Hera folded her hands across her chest, blew out the air in frustration, and then looked ahead. 

She looked no more than an innocent toddler throwing tantrums, and Hunter sighed, looking at her. “Please don’t do this, Goddess. If we don’t let go of the past, then how’ll we make new memories? You said I’ve to make you fall in love with me again. How am I supposed to do that when you’re so stubbornly holding on to that bitter past?” Hunter asked, pleading her with his eyes. 

“Well, you should have thought about every other scenario before cheating on me,” she snapped defiantly at him. “And we are back to square one!” Hunter muttered under his breath. “I’m sorry, Goddess. I truly am sorry, and you know it,” he confessed apologetically. “I bet you are,” she replied sarcastically. Clenching his jaw in anger, Hunter increased the speed of the car, totally ignoring her. 

“Tell me, Hunter, did you enjoy screwing half of the female population of our school? Do you have any particular favourite one? Who was the best among them? Was Georgia a one-time thing, or you liked it so much that you did it more than once with her?” She shot question after question adding more to his already frustrated mood. 

He hit the breaks suddenly, startling her as her body rushed forward by the sudden impact, but the seat belt pulled her back, holding her securely in the seat. He removed his seat belt with lightning speed and bent towards her, hovering over her form. Hera’s breathing accelerated in alarm as the look in his eyes, and the anger radiating through his intimidating posture scared her.