Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
He looked at me a moment before standing. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”
Hunter tucked me under the covers and then undressed and slipped in behind me. Unlike the other nights we’d shared a bed, he left his boxers on. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he pulled me flush against his body. His hold was so tight, it made me feel like he was afraid to let go. Or maybe that’s what I wanted to believe.
Tomorrow Izzy would be home, so tonight was likely the last full night we would spend together. It wasn’t exactly how I’d seen our final act, but maybe it was easier this way.
About a half hour after we settled into bed, I heard Hunter’s breaths change, and his hold on me loosened a bit. I allowed myself to succumb to the medicinal haze that made my eyelids feel too heavy to keep open.
Early the next morning, Hunter stirred, but I didn’t open my eyes, assuming he was going to the bathroom or something. After a few minutes of him tiptoeing around the room, I felt his lips touch my forehead, and I realized he must’ve been sneaking out.
He gently pushed a lock of hair from my face and whispered, “Crazy about you, sweet pea. I’m sorry.” Then he was gone.
Chapter 31
— Natalia —
I’d just started to feel better when the dreaded day came. Not great—but good enough to shower and spend time in the upright position. Hunter had come by a few times after our night together—he’d even brought takeout and a horror movie for me and Izzy one evening, knowing how much she loved scary movies.
For the last twenty-four hours, I’d been trying to avoid thinking about saying goodbye, wondering what those words would sound like.
Thanks, it’s been fun.
See ya around.
Anytime you’re in town, stop in. My door is always open to you. And by door, I mean vagina.
Tips are appreciated!
I bounced from sad to angry and back to sad so often, it was just a matter of timing as to which Nat the poor man would get when he arrived.
Unfortunately for him, he buzzed when I was feeling pissy. I didn’t bother to wait at the door as I usually did, to admire his farewell strut down my hall. Instead, I left it cracked open and went back to the book I wasn’t really interested in on the couch.
Hunter knocked twice before pushing the door open.
I waved but didn’t look up.
Awkwardness settled in before he’d even closed the door behind him—at least for me.
He sat down on the edge of the table and took my legs in his hands. “How’s the patient feeling?”
“Better.” Acting like an insolent teenager, I still hadn’t looked up at him.
He waited me out—saying nothing for a few minutes, until I glanced up to see what he was doing. And then he trapped my gaze.
“There she is.”
His smile served only to piss me off further. He looked his usual casual, beautiful self, and I wanted him to look like I felt inside—a mess. I hated that he was so unaffected by our saying goodbye.
“Can we just say goodbye and get this over with?” I bit out with as much snark as I could conjure up.
At least his smile fell. “Natalia…”
“Seriously, we’re both adults. It was fun. Now we’re done. I’m not up to giving you one last blowjob, if that’s what you’re hanging around expecting.”
Hunter’s head dropped, and he stared down at the ground for a minute. When his eyes returned to my frigid ones, I saw pain behind them. “I … I never meant to hurt you, Natalia.”
My mouth started going without my brain thinking it through. “Well, you did. You know why? Because this was never just fucking. You can say whatever you want, but you knew it from day one, too. You don’t have dinner with a woman’s family, help her daughter with her hook shots, and nurse her when she’s sick when it’s just fucking. And at this point, I find it insulting that you would even pretend that’s all we had.”
Hunter ran his fingers through his hair and blew out a deep breath. “You’re right. We were always more. But that doesn’t change that I need things to end.”
It felt like someone had sliced right into my heart. I swallowed.
“Maybe not. But you know what it does change?”
“What?”
“You owe me an explanation.”
Hunter looked me directly in the eyes. “I’m sorry, Nat. I really am.”
I couldn’t stop the tears that started to fall. But I also wanted some shred of dignity. “Just go. Please.”
I felt him staring at me, but I wouldn’t look up. Eventually, he stood. He caressed my hair one more time before he leaned down and kissed my forehead. Then he left without another word.
I cried the most awful cry after the door clicked shut. The funny thing was, with everything I’d gone through with Garrett, I didn’t cry once. My marriage had imploded in an instant. After the initial shock of my husband being arrested and finding out he wasn’t the man I’d thought he was, I’d moved directly to anger—almost skipping the entire phase of loss where I should’ve been upset.