I lifted a shoulder. “I pissed her off, so she left.”
He remained focused on his task, but I knew that wasn’t the end of it. Preston and I had been friends far too long for me to expect him to let it go so easily. Besides, he worked as a counselor for a living. He’d been trained to dig into people’s problems.
“What did you do to piss her off?” he asked.
“What didn’t I do?” I turned my response into a question. Which prompted him to glare at me. I huffed. “I don’t want to talk about it, okay? Not everyone wants totalkabout their feelings.”
“So, you do have—feelings, that is? For this woman?”
“I-I…I do.”
He stilled, giving me his full attention. “You do? Who is she? How long have you been seeing her? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Shit. Slow down.” I held up my hands.
“Okay. First of all—” He gripped my shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze. “Congratulations for owning up to your feelings.” From anyone else, it would’ve come across as condescending, but I could tell Preston was genuinely happy for me. He actually seemed proud of me.
“Guess maybe I’m not a cold, heartless bastard after all,” I muttered.
He rolled his eyes. “I never said you were. Now, let’s talk about this woman you have feelings for.”
“What are we? Two chicks? I’m not doing this.”
He set the bobby pin down and placed his hands on his hips. “Hunter.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Preston.”
He didn’t move. “You want my help, I’m going to need you to tell me what’s going on.”
My eyes darted toward the bobby pin on the counter, and I lunged for it. But I wasn’t quick enough. Preston beat me to it, grasping it tightly in his fist.
“You want out of those handcuffs? Talk.”
“First, Lauren. Now, you,” I huffed.
I only realized my mistake too late. Preston stilled, his eyes going wide. “Lauren? Lauren, as in Lauren Clarke, Alexis’s best friend?”
I let out a deep sigh. “Yes.”
“Yes?” He dropped the bobby pin, and it jingled against the floor. “Since when?”
“Hmm.” I screwed up my lips. “I’m not entirely sure how to answer that.”
While he was distracted, I bent down to retrieve the bobby pin. I stuck it into the hole—ha-ha. I rolled my eyes at my own terrible joke, though I knew Lauren would’ve laughed with me. Would she ever laugh at a joke with me again, I wondered as I jiggled it to loosen the pin. It wasn’t easy with my wrists bound, but I did it.
“Ha!” I said, unlatching the cuffs. I tossed them across the counter and rubbed my wrists. “Never again. Anyway, thanks for your help.” I turned for the door.
“Hunter,” he growled.
I froze, my shoulders stiffening, my defenses rising. But then Preston said, “Talk to me, man,” in a softer voice, and I broke.
I took a deep breath and told him everything. I told him about Lauren and me. I told him about Mia. And I told him about what had happened tonight—minus the sordid details of our sexcapades, of course.
He’d been quiet for a few minutes, taking it all in. I understood—I’d dumped a lot on him. A secret relationship. A baby mama. I was exhausted just thinking about it.
“So?” I finally asked, unable to take the silence any longer.
“Let’s start with Mia and the baby.”
