“I don’t know. I mean, all these years? You think so?”
“I know so. Hunter is the serious one. Demon, well, I’m shocked he’s lived as long as he has given his special personality.”
“Be nice.”
“I am being nice, that’s just the truth.” Tonight we opted for beer instead of mixed drinks and we both peeled the labels off the bottles.
“So what do you propose I do? Hunter can’t seem to get over what happened and I only know some of the details.”
“It was a car accident right, and they died?”
“Yes, but his dad was abusive long before that and kept Hunter and his mom isolated from their family for years.”
“And him exploding at the drive-in was bad because?”
“Kristen, he beat those guys up. I’m not going to say they were innocent. They certainly had it coming, but he was, he was a little scary.”
“Scary bad or scary hero?”
I thought about what Kristen was saying. I loved Hunter, I think I always had and I didn’t want this to be the thing that tore us apart, but it would if he continued to not communicate with me.
“I got over being scared quickly and I was never afraid of him. It was when he pushed me away emotionally and shut down that I couldn’t deal with him.” It felt like he jumped ship and left me there to drown. I needed him and he left me.
“If you were me, and we both know you’re not, I would go after him, demand to know what’s going on, get an answer. Tie his ass down and refuse him the basic necessities until he talked.”
“So you want me to deny him food, water, and shelter. Seems extreme, don’t you think?”
Kristen had the market on being extreme.
“Heck no, deny him sex and a blow job. Works for me.” Kristen winked, and I knew she probably used this tactic before on some poor unsuspecting soul and really, I didn’t want to know the details–ever.
“Great in theory, but since I’m me and you’re you?”
“I’d just go over to his house naked and bang his brains out.”
“Yeah, no.”
“And speaking of the devil…”
I turned expecting Damien to be here, but he wasn’t. It was Hunter and he was walking toward me with a purpose. His face looked tired and I wanted to hug him and hold him close, but we were nowhere near anything like that. His flannel shirt was open over a white button Henley shirt in a waffle print. He wore dark denim jeans and boots. I didn’t think I ever thought a waffle print was sexy before this, but it was extremely sexy. I wanted my Hunter back.
“Can I… borrow you for a moment?” He held out his hand, and I was shocked. After days of no communication, Hunter wanting to take me by the hand was a surprise, albeit a good one, but still a surprise.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Come with me, please.”
I followed behind Hunter, tugged outside as he led me to his truck and held the door open. I got in, and he started driving toward the flip.
“Hunter, I haven’t seen or talked to you in days.”
“I’m an idiot. Forgive me?”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah, please.”
“No. Actually, let me out of the truck now.” I was pissed. Did he really think I’d let it all go, forgive and go back to what we were before? I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t do it.