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Finally, he threw himself out of the car, setting his shoulders and shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. If they didn’t want him here, he’d just grab his dog and leave.
The front door was unlocked, but Casper wasn’t inside the house. No one was.
For an instant, Hunter wondered if this was some big trick, if they were all screwing with him.
Then he heard a dog bark from the backyard.
He strode through the kitchen and slid the glass door open. The sky was a gradually darkening gray, and the chill in the air had been biting through his clothes all afternoon. Michael was out in the grass, throwing a tennis ball while Casper went tearing after it.
Michael noticed him and looked up. “Hey. How was school?”
“I didn’t get hassled by Vickers or Calla.” He paused. His dog was trotting back to Michael with the ball half hanging out of his mouth. The only acknowledgment he gave Hunter was a quick woof muffled by the ball. Hunter smiled. “Thanks for letting Casper out.”
“He’s been out all day.”
“He has?”
“Yeah. When I walked out the door this morning, he bolted past me and jumped in the bed of the truck. I tried to get him back in the house, but he wouldn’t go. So I just took him with me.”
Casper dropped the ball at Michael’s feet and barked.
“Traitor,” Hunter called.
Michael picked up the ball and beaned it into the woods. He had one hell of an arm—the ball was gone. Casper took off like a shot.
“Where’s everyone else?” Hunter said.
“I didn’t have an evening job, so they all made plans. I think they’re hitting the school carnival later. Aren’t you?”
A carnival. Like he could possibly go to something like that while Calla was probably sitting at home figuring out which house she was going to torch first.
“Nah,” he said.
“So I called your mom today,” said Michael.
Hunter snapped his head up. Michael had asked for his mom’s phone number last night—under the pretense of needing it in case of an emergency. “You what?”
“She needed to know where you were.”
“She has my cell number,” he snapped. “She could have found me if she wanted.” Hunter felt like he couldn’t catch his breath. Emotions ricocheted around in his head.
She’d watched him walk out. He shouldn’t give a crap what she thought.
But he did. A lot.
He didn’t want to ask what she’d said. His fingernails were digging rivets into the porch railing.
Casper was back, dropping the ball at Michael’s feet and nosing it forward when it wasn’t thrown immediately.
Michael obliged him, flinging it into the woods again. It cracked against a tree somewhere out of sight. Casper was off.
Michael glanced up at the porch. “She said she’d put the rest of your things together, if you want to come get them.”
Those words hit hard. Michael could have thrown the ball at him and the impact would have hurt less. Hunter couldn’t even speak. His voice would break and he’d look like a total wuss.
She hadn’t said, “Tell Hunter to come home.”
She’d said she’d pack up his stuff.
