AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Michael came through the doorway. “Jesus, I wish it were that easy.”
Hunter glared at him around Hannah’s hands. “I told you I’d end up punching him in the face.”
“Yeah, thanks. You left out the part about destroying the foyer in the process.” Michael stroked a hand down the back of Hannah’s head, then squeezed her shoulder. His expression gentled when he looked down at her. “You still want some coffee?”
She turned her head to smile up at him. Her voice softened. “That’d be great. Thanks.”
Hunter watched this exchange and instantly felt like a third wheel.
But he also felt envious, similar to the way he’d felt watching Noah Dean with his mother.
He’d seen his parents like this before, this gentle consideration for each other. Hunter had always believed it, until his father had destroyed everything, dropping a bomb about using women, and every personal relationship being a means to an end.
It meant that there’d never been anything honest about his father’s relationship with his mother.
But worse, Hunter didn’t know what it meant about his father’s relationship with him.
Even now, watching this casual touch between Michael and Hannah, he wanted to examine it and see what each was after.
And of course the minute he tried to decipher it, he erased the magic. Just like Kate jumping into his lap in the Ferris wheel car, it was all a carefully maneuvered ploy. Michael’s hand on Hannah’s hair was a mechanical touch to coerce her to stay, just like her soft voice had been a way to get a cup of—
“Hey,” said Michael. “Are you listening to me?”
Hunter pressed his hands to his eyes. God, he was going to make himself crazy. “No. Sorry.”
“I said I told Gabriel to knock this crap off. He said you were hassling Nick . . .”
That didn’t match what Gabriel had said in the hallway, but Hunter didn’t have the mental energy to figure it out now. “I wasn’t hassling Nick.”
Michael put up a hand. “Nick said the same thing, and then they started arguing, and I just wanted to blow my brains out because I didn’t realize I was living in a juvenile detention center.”
“Nice,” said Hannah.
Michael looked down at him. “Do you think you can make it through the night without breaking any bones?”
“Yeah,” said Hunter.
Michael glanced at her. “Is he fine?”
She looked at him. “Are you fine?”
He shoved out of the chair. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Gabriel was nowhere to be found. Nick was in bed again, reading the same book. Hunter felt like he’d already done this hours ago, though it had only been about twenty minutes.
He probably should have taken a Motrin before coming up here.
“Welcome back,” said Nick.
The funny thing was, his voice had lost its earlier edge. Hunter glanced at him. “Thanks.”
“When Chris was ten, we pushed him down the stairs. This was twice as entertaining.”
Hunter couldn’t tell if he was teasing or not, and it was hurting his head to try to figure it out. “Glad to amuse you.”
“It sure as hell made up for having to work tonight.”
Hunter still wasn’t sure how to take that. He climbed under the quilt on the air mattress and wished sleep would just take him away for a short while. After a bit, Nick clicked off the light, and Hunter’s thoughts started to fade.
