His blue eyes turn to solid ice, and my hope quickly fizzles away. His features set into hard lines as he rises from the chair and buttoning his jacket, he leans a little closer to me, whispering, “Not in a million years.”
The sharp edge to his tone sends goosebumps rushing over my skin, almost as if a chill just swept through the room.
He starts to walk away from me, but I dart after him, grabbing hold of his arm. Hunter stops, and his eyes are filled with disdain as they drop to where I’m touching him.
I quickly pull my hand back and say, “Please, can we talk?”
“You really want to do this here?” he snaps as he turns to face me. Before I learned the truth, my anger made me brave and reckless, but now I struggle not to cower back from the fury radiating from his body.
Before I can plead for his forgiveness, Hunter steps closer to me in one hell of an aggressive move, but I keep my ground.
“I’ve given you two years, Jade. I refuse to waste another second of my time on you.” His words are harsh, but I know I deserve every one of them.
“I know, and I’m so sorry, Hunter. Can we go outside so you can tell me how you feel? I want to fix things between us.”
He lets out a burst of air, the corner of his mouth pulling into a vicious grin I haven’t seen before. “You want to know how I feel?”
I nod quickly, praying he’ll open up to me.
Hunter pulls back, and his eyes lock on mine. They look cold and expressionless as he says, “At first I was angry and fucking upset, but then I realized it meant I cared. Now?” He shrugs carelessly. “Now, I feel nothing. You insulted me and went as far as repeatedly accusing me of murder. I guess I could retaliate, but I won’t because I’m not that kind of person. We’re done. There’s nothing left of our friendship to salvage. You made sure to destroy what we had.”
“Hunter,” I plead as tears begin to sting my eyes, realizing I’m not going to get a chance to try to fix things between us. I grab onto the only splinter of hope I have left. “What about the kiss?”
Hunter lets out a dark sounding chuckle. “Like you said, Jade, it was just a kiss. A stupid game and probably the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. It meant nothing.” He begins to turn away but then stops, and his tone is biting as he says, “One last thing, don’t ever touch me again or pretend we’re friends.”
Chapter 13
HUNTER
Thanks to Jade picking such a shitty time to talk to me, everyone on campus now knows we’re fighting after the scene that played out between us.
Back at the suite and finally done with the night, I shrug out of my jacket and rip the tie loose from around my neck. I toss the fabric on my bed and then freeze when a song begins to play loudly outside my room.
Fuck, I forgot to shut the damn door behind me.
For a moment, I listen to the words as Fighting Gravity by Caleb Johnson fills the air. When he sings, ‘The memories are all I’ll save tonight…,’ I swing around and stride to the door, slamming the thing shut in Jade’s face.
The woman knows no end. I’ll give her that. She doesn’t know the meaning of giving up on anything.
‘…never thought you would ever quit on me… Without you, I’m gasping, it’s hard to breathe…’
The words are hard to hear because I lied to Jade in an attempt to hurt her as much as she hurt me. I don’t think I have it in me to ever quit on her, no matter how many times I’ve said that I’m done with her.
‘I hate you, and I wish it was you instead of Brady.’
Heartache splinters through me, and I close my eyes as they begin to burn from the tormenting memory. It hurts so fucking much it’s becoming difficult to breathe. I take a gasp of air and sink to my knees from the overwhelming feelings weighing down on me.
‘I hate you.’
“Fuck,” I groan, grabbing at my shirt and fisting the fabric over my aching heart.
She fucking broke my heart over and over.
I don’t even hear my door open and only realize Hana is in the room with me when she kneels in front of me.
“I’m here,” she whispers, and when I lift my painfilled eyes to hers, a tear trails over her cheek. “It’s okay to cry.”
I shake my head and try to fight my emotions back, but they’re too out of control. The heartache is too intense.
Hana lifts her hand to my cheek and gives me a sad smile. “I wish I could help you carry the hurt.”
My body begins to shake from all the effort it’s taking to not cry.
I hear the door behind me, and when Fallon asks, “Are you okay?” I can only shake my head.
She drops down next to me and wraps her arms around me, and it breaks the last of my resistance. I lower my head until it rests against Hana’s shoulder and let the first tear fall.
It doesn’t ease any of the pain. It doesn’t wash away the anger. I don’t find any release, but instead, it makes a pressure build up inside of me until it feels like I might explode.
Fallon tightens her arms around me, murmuring, “We’re here. We’ve got you.”
Every scathing word. Every punch. Every hateful look.
When I finally manage to reign in the tears, I pull back and ask, “How am I suppose to just forget what she did to me?”
Fallon brushes her hand over my cheek and shakes her head. “No one expects you to, Hunter. You need time to heal, and we all understand that.”
“Can I even heal? It took all my strength to fight her. I don’t think I have any left to forgive her.”
With a world of wisdom way beyond her years, Hana smiles tenderly at me. “It takes time, Hunter. It’s not something you can give overnight; otherwise, people would be handing it out left, right, and center. Forgiveness is the final stage of healing.”
I nod, knowing she’s right. I let out an exhausted breath. “I keep saying I’m done with her. Damn, I just said I don’t think I can forgive her, but…” I move to get up, and when I start to pace the width of my room, the girls go to sit on my bed.
Fuck, all these emotions are giving me whiplash.
My voice is strained, when I say, “Jade’s a part of our group, and even though our friendship took one hell of a knock, I can’t bring myself to stop caring about her.” I let out a bitter chuckle. “Fucked up, isn’t it? I’m a sucker for fucking punishment.”
“Not at all,” Fallon says. “You can’t just stop loving someone, Hunter. You’ve fought so hard for so long. You finally don’t have to be the one to keep the peace. Jade took her grief out on you, and now that she’s finally healing, you no longer have to be her rock. But now, you need time to deal with the heartache it caused you.”
The corner of my mouth lifts slightly. “Jase said something similar the other day.”
Fallon lets out a chuckle. “Yeah, he can be insightful when his mind’s not in the gutter.”
There’s a moment of silence, then Hana asks, “Do you feel a little better?”
“Yeah.” I give the girls a grateful smile. “I think I just had to admit the truth to someone.”
“Do you want me to talk to Jade so she’ll keep her distance until you’re ready to talk to her?” Fallon asks.