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A closer look reveals that the scar runs down the entire area from under his arm to the edge of his hip.
How have I never seen it before?
I suppose the inky barbwire with blood red roses tattooed on top makes the scar virtually undetectable. You’d only really notice it if you knew where to look. And you have to be in the right light, like we are now.
What the hell happened to him?
It had to be something quite bad. And the fact that he covered the scar with a tattoo suggests something deeper. More pain.
He’s never mentioned anything about getting hurt, so a twinge of apprehension fills me when I consider asking what happened. Then I realize there’s no way I can’t ask.
I get up and make my way over to him.
Hunter smiles down at me thinking I’ve come over to kiss him or play, but when I press a finger to the scar, the humor fades from his expression.
He stills beneath my touch, and my gaze flicks up to meet his.
“I see it,” I say, keeping my finger on the scar. “What happened to you here?”
When he just stares back at me, I think of all sorts of things. I even wonder if he was bitten by a shark and that might have been how he earned the nickname.
But I don’t think it’s that.
I know him. If that was what happened, he would have told me if only to shock me.
I know Hunter Le Blanche well enough to know that the things he doesn’t tell you are what might hurt him the most.
“It was an accident.” His voice curls with sadness.
“What kind of accident?”
Again, he stares at me, but not for as long as before.
He turns, and my hand slips from his side. He finishes laying out the meat on the fire before he looks back at me.
Resting a hand on my arm, he guides me over to sit on the towel he laid out for his clothes, where he sits opposite, facing me.
“You asked me some time ago about Alexis and Jackson,” he begins. “You wanted to know about my relationship with them.”
On hearing Alexis’ name, my stomach squeezes. It’s that bitter taste of unwarranted jealousy. I hate it because I shouldn’t feel that way.
Hunter has given me no reason. In fact, this is the first time that he’s mentioned her without me having to bring her up first.
“Yes. I did.”
“Here’s the rest of the story. We all grew up together. We started out as three best friends. Alexis and I started dating in our teens. I was in love with her, but so was Jackson. I want to say that I didn’t know, but I did.” His jaw clenches, and he pauses for a beat before he continues. “I thought we were all cool. We lasted through high school, then we went on to college. By then, Alexis and I planned to get married. She got pregnant in our sophomore year, but what I didn’t know was that was the moment when things turned upside down.”
I’m already on edge wanting to know what happened between them. “How did it turn upside down?”
“I walked in on Alexis in bed with Jackson. We had an apartment by then. They were in there. That was bad enough, but then I learned that weeks before, she got rid of my baby so she could have his.”
My jaw hits the floor and the bottom of my stomach plummets.
“What? I can’t believe what you’re saying to me. Why would she do that?”
“Money and power, prestige.”
“But you have all of that.”
