But I’m still terrified. Absolutely frightened of the way Hunter will react. The other day, during class, I almost told him. It was right there on the tip of my tongue. But I just couldn’t do it. Even afterward when I had the chance.
Each minute, hour, day, week, month, and year that Maverick has been alive, I’ve had the opportunity to tell Hunter. First, it was the pain of his betrayal holding me back. Then, the anger and pettiness. If he didn’t want me, he wouldn’t want him. Now, it’s the fact that all that shit came to the surface about his brother and me. Even with me speaking the truth, I could tell Hunter didn’t honestly believe me. He’ll want to talk to Owen first.
Then what? If Own lies again, and Hunter sees Maverick—I’m toast.
Does that make me a terrible mom for wanting to make sure everything is safe before I take that leap and bring him to Golden oaks? Because when I bring him on campus, there is no going back. Jenna will know immediately, and I have to risk her being pissed off at me for not telling her. I always have to prepare myself in the event that she’ll want to move out.
Jenna is the only one who’s been keeping me sane. She may be fucking one of Hunter’s friends on the regular, but that doesn’t negate the fact she has my back.
What will happen if she deserts me, too?
A sob catches in my chest, and before I know it, Duncan is out of his seat and rounding the table, taking me into his arms. The warm feeling of his big body encasing me has an instantaneous effect. It enrages me and makes me feel better all at the same time.
Stepping away from him, I use the back of my hand to wipe the tears from my eyes. “It’s amazing we kept Maverick a secret for this long, considering you’re friends with you know who. But, Duncan, his family still lives in Golden Oaks—fucking hell, Hunter is going to GOU! I was using this time to figure out what I was going to do. I can hide him from Hunter, I know it. We both know what will happen if that family finds out one of them has an heir. I hate to even think it, but they will go ballistic."
"Whose fault is that, Lo?" Duncan asks. "It's yours in case you're wondering. You kept that little boy from his father. You kept him from his extended family. It will be you who takes the brunt of their anger."
I jam my hands into my hair, messing up my already messy bun. "You have no idea what you're talking about!" Then I spear him with eyes filled with fire. "Hunter will believe Maverick is Owen's! Don't you understand?"
My brother falls back a step. "What? You and he ne—"
"That won't fucking matter! Remember that night I came home crying? The same night I found out I was pregnant? That's why! Hunter dropped me like a sack of potatoes. Apparently, Owen told Hunter I slept with him, so put two and two together, Duncan." Every muscle in my body tightens as I slice my arm down between us. "He will see Maverick once, and that’s all it will take. He’ll believe he belongs to Owen, and he’ll conjure up in his head that that is the reason I ran off, no matter what I've already told him. He’ll believe what he sees."
"Maverick looks just like him!" Duncan argues, but it's a pitiful argument. He and I both know that.
"Owen and Hunter could pass as twins, and you freaking know it. Maverick has an ice blue eye and an emerald green eye. Get it now?!”
“That means nothing.”
An emotionless laugh free falls from my lips. “It means everything, Duncan. You don’t know how Hunter is. Only I do. Maverick’s mismatched eyes are a Prince's trait, yes. But Hunter won't even acknowledge the fact Maverick inherited his eyes from him and me. All he will see is the color of Owen's bright emerald flashing in his face and think I betrayed him. Again. That will be enough to condemn me, even if it's the most idiotic reason.”
Duncan’s eyes flash with heat. “Sooner or later, you’re going to have to get over this, Lo. The truth will come out, and it’s about time it did.”
My mouth falls open in disbelief. “He rebuked me because of a blatant lie, Duncan!"
Just thinking about all those years ago lights a fire under my ass. It makes me into the fierce hellion that Hunter fell in love with. However, after everything I've been through, I know I'm no longer that girl. In fact, this is the most infuriated I've been since my mother asked me about getting an abortion.
There was no way I was going to give up my baby, even though Hunter wanted nothing to do with me. At the time, Hunter tossed me to the side like discarded trash, so I took that to mean he didn't want anything to do with me. Period. Wouldn't that be the most logical thing obtained from basically being tossed out on your ass?
After our talk under the football bleachers, a little shift in our dynamic came about. Finally. Long overdue if you know what I'm saying. But that still doesn't mean that Hunter will do what he needs to, nor will he not revert back to his hateful ways and think Maverick is his.
Telling him my version of the truth won't be enough for Hunter. He will want to know it all. Until he beats that dead horse into the ground, and we're all sick to death of hearing about it. That is just the way he is.
Hunter dives down deep, under the very marrow of your bone and analyzing how you tick. He never leaves a stone unturned, nor a question unanswered.
I sigh, defeated over the whole thing. Either way I go, I'm fucked. But I was only trying to do what I thought was best for my son. Can I be faulted for that?
"He won't believe me. And after everything I've been through, Dunc, I don't know if I can handle seeing that betrayal again. His anger, I can deal with."
A cool wisp of air slices through my thin shirt as I think about it. Wrapping my arms around myself, I sit down in the chair I vacated earlier, slouching down until my ass is barely in the seat. Duncan takes his spot once more when he sees I'm not about to go off the deep end, and we stare at each other in silence.
Tension is so thick, you could cut it with a knife, words still left unsaid between both of us. But here in my dad's kitchen, surrounded by haunting memories of our mother humming while she danced and baked her famous apple pie, we can't bring ourselves to mar our mom's memory like that.
She wouldn't want us fighting, even though Duncan is a dick for lying. She'd want us to stick together, forge a way through the tough times to make way for the good times.
“Lo, I'm not saying this to sound inconsiderate," he murmurs, wrapping his hands back around his nearly empty mug. He can't even bring himself to meet my eyes. Whatever he's about to say, it must be terrible.
"Spit it out."
"I’m sorry, Lo, but those are nothing but excuses."
My eyes snap back to his, knowing—pleading to my innermost being—that I didn't hear him right. Because that means that this whole time, he's never truly been on my side. He's been faking it just like everyone else. With his pensive expression aimed at me, I irrevocably have my answer. He thinks I'm making excuses.
I slap my hand down on the table, my anger blowing through the roof. “I've never once made excuses in my life. Didn't when I found out I was pregnant and won't until the day I die.”
Yes, what I did, by keeping Hunter and Maverick in the dark about each other, is wrong. I'm woman enough to accept that and move on. But I refuse to sit here and be belittled by my brother. By one of the only people I thought had my back. I love him, but right now, I dislike him with a fiery passion.