“I’m sorry I snapped at you.” His gaze cut to mine. Remorse and uncertainty filled his tone and his eyes.
Some of the tension coiling in my belly loosened. “I’m sorry I pushed you. I know it’s not easy for you, Hunter.” I ran my hand over the back of his, gripping the gear stick. Tracing my fingers over his knuckles, I tried to find the right words to keep this from boiling over again. Licking my lips, I took a breath and kept my gaze trained on his hand.
“If you’d spend just a few minutes with him, it would really mean a lot to me.”
At the red light, he dropped his head back to the headrest and closed his eyes. With his chin tilted toward the roof of the car, he nodded. “Fine, I’ll get him some food and talk to him. Maybe he’ll lay off if I let him get whatever he wants to get off his chest.”
Euphoria engulfed me. I was floored, completely caught off guard by how easily he threw that out after fighting against even speaking to Ryder for months. The two of them would finally have a chance to talk to each other. Maybe Hunter would see that Ryder wasn’t the boogeyman, and Ryder would finally get a little of the connection he’d been craving for who knows how long.
Pulling against my seat belt, I grabbed his neck and hugged him as tightly as I could. “Thank you.”
Rolling his head to the side, he brushed the back of his fingers against my cheek. “Don’t mention it.”
The trip to the airport was short. Too short for me. As much as I wanted to see my parents, I wanted to be with Hunter. But maybe I was falling back into the old patterns I’d had with Seth, jumping in too quickly. We’d already skipped ahead to the moving-in part, although we’d done it in reverse, so the long weekend apart would be a good thing.
It would help keep me from falling too hard and too deep.
Instead of pulling up to the curb, he drove into the parking garage and found a spot.
“You don’t have to take me in.”
He leaned back into his seat. “I know, but I want to.”
What was it I was saying about falling hard and deep? Damn it.
Walking hand in hand, Hunter pulled my bag and stayed with me through check-in, where wouldn’t you know it, he knew someone behind the counter. With my newly upgraded ticket, we hopped onto the escalator to take me up to security.
He wrapped his arms around me tightly, burying his nose in my hair and inhaling like he was trying to imprint my scent on his nasal passages.
“Will you be good while I’m gone?”
We’d been sleeping in his bed since the night I found out why he’d been kicking me out. Other than a few cover-kicking incidents, he hadn’t had any more nightmares.
“I’ll be okay. The bed still smells like you.” His fingers brushed against my chin.
It was three days. Seventy-two hours and I’d be back in his arms again. “I should go.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder to the rapidly growing security line.
“You should.” But he didn’t seem like he wanted to let me go any more than I wanted to go.
My arms shot out almost involuntarily for another quick hug, and I rushed off, not trusting myself not to miss my plane while standing here with him.
I checked back over my shoulder once I hit the metal detectors and waved to Hunter. He waved back. Once I’d gathered my bags and turned the corner, I peeked back. Only then did I see his head disappear back down the escalator taking him to ground level.
So many things had changed in such a short period of time. Living together heightened every interaction and emotion. In three days I’d be back and the welcome home felt like it would change us both.
31
Hunter
Ryder looked up at me from one of the lobby chairs. His elbows rested on his legs, and his knee bounced up and down, shaking his whole body. “Sabrina put you up to this, didn’t she?”
My jaw clenched and I nodded. I’d instantly regretted finally calling him, but I’d do it for Sabrina. The look on her face when she’d left the kitchen before getting on her flight had been so full of profound disappointment, I hadn’t been able to stomach it for long. And then the way she put me in a choke-hold hug when I’d said I’d agree to meet with him had cemented my decision, although I’d wished it hadn’t.
He shot up from his seat with a look of total disgust and walked toward the door. “I should’ve known.”
I hooked his arm, not expecting him to care that much as long as he finally got what he wanted. The temptation to let him go was crowded out by how upset Sabrina would be at hearing what had happened, and I had no doubt he wouldn’t keep his mouth shut. The disloyalty from our father’s side ran though his veins—and mine. “What does it matter?” I bit out, irritated that he was making this more difficult than it had to be.
He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “Sabrina will be pissed if she finds out you didn’t do it, won’t she?”
The muscles in my neck tightened. I bristled at how dead on he was. Was I that transparent when it came to her? “Do you want food or not?”
“Is that how you invite all guests into your apartment?” He turned and folded his arms over his chest, self-satisfied that he now had the upper hand.
My breath fumed in my throat. Close to boiling, I grimaced. “Would you like to come up for some Thanksgiving leftovers?”
“That was better, but—”
“Fuck it, do whatever the hell you want.” I spun around and stormed toward the elevators, having not even a hint of the reserves necessary to deal with his bullshit.
“Wait.” He rushed after me. His sneakers squeaked on the marble floor. “No, I’ll come up.” Falling in step beside me, he followed me into the elevator in silence.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t talk. I could give him the food, and he could be on his way. I should’ve made up a container of food and shoved it into his hands the second he stood from the chair downstairs.
The doors opened to my floor. And I trudged to the apartment. It would be ten minutes, tops. I’d spent longer periods of time with much worse people. Like the time I’d had to sit through a three-hour monologue about a big shot’s polo days up in Connecticut and how much he missed riding, all to get access to the grounds of his former stables for an outdoor private concert.
Ryder and I would talk, or, hell, maybe we wouldn’t. We’d talked already, maybe that would be enough for Sabrina—but deep down I knew it wouldn’t. Fine, we’d keep it light. Conversations about school, the weather, nothing about our families or father. Boring, banal, basic information only.
Ryder came inside and kept his coat on. Good, maybe he was thinking the same thing I’d been. We’d get this over with and forget about it and never have to see each other again.
“Does this mean Sabrina’s your girlfriend now?”
I walked into the kitchen and pulled out all the trays and containers filled with leftover food from the fridge. One perk of working with so many food vendors was that catering trays of delicious food were always being offered up. What was in my fridge was less than a fifth of what was left at Jameson’s house. Taking a load of utensils out, I tried to keep my anger in check and set them on the counter. “Sabrina and I are none of your business.”