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“Hunter? What are you doing here?”
They both whirled around at Bronte’s voice. She was dripping wet, holding a towel around her body, a knot of material between her hands at her chest.
Hunter rushed to wrap his hands around her shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Bronte. I didn’t know what happened. You should’ve woken me up.”
“I tried,” she said, scowling. “You were dead to the world.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drink so much.”
“That’s the problem. You never mean for anything to happen.” Bronte stepped away from him, and straightened her posture, tightening the towel in her hands. “I’m tired of being your backup plan.”
“You’re not my backup plan, Look.” He pulled a small box from his pocket. “Would I get this for you if I didn’t want to be with you?” He opened it, revealing a diamond ring.
Chris’s first instinct was to grab the box and throw it out the window, sending Hunter closely after it. The second was to look to Bronte. Did she want to marry him? Did she want to give up the possibility of what was happening between them for this twat?
Bronte rolled her eyes at Hunter. “You thought you’d ask me to marry you, and I’d do what you want me to.”
Chris breathed out in relief at her reaction and leaned against the wall. He knew he shouldn’t be witness to this particular conversation, but he couldn’t find it in himself to leave.
“Hunter, we’ve been together for so long, we don’t even know why anymore. At least, I don’t, and I’m tired of coming in second place to your job, your drinking, and your schedule. That’s not the kind of life I want to live.”
“So, that’s it? You don’t want to try anymore?”
“We’ve tried,” Bronte said. “We tried in college and broke up. We tried after you graduated and broke up because you moved to Harrisburg. We tried when I graduated and got a job here and broke up. We tried again this year. A relationship needs work, but not this much.”
He deflated from her words and stuffed the ring into his pocket. “I’m sorry you feel that way,” he said after a while, his gaze on his feet. “Does this have anything to do with him?”
Bronte’s eyes flickered to Chris and back, her mouth twitching. He was about to step in and answer for her, tell this reptile to go back to whatever hole he crawled out of. But he didn’t have to.
“Yes.”
Hunter raised his head, his voice devoid of almost all emotion as he said, “Well, you and your new boyfriend can go fuck yourselves.”
Chris glared at him, purposely shoulder checking Hunter as he opened the door. When it slammed shut, Chris turned to see Bronte let out a deep breath. “You okay?”
“My dad had a heart attack, and I just broke up with my boyfriend.” She let out a hysterical giggle. “Okay is a relative term.”
He raked his eyes up from her toes to where her legs disappeared under the yellow-and-white striped towel. He pushed a clump of wet hair behind her ear. “You’re dripping all over the floor.”
She laughed and pressed a hand to her face. “I shouldn’t laugh. It’s terrible.”
“No. Don’t do that.” He wrapped his fingers over Bronte’s wrist and tugged her hand down. “Don’t cover up your dimples. They’re one of my favorite things about you.”
“One of your favorite things? Meaning you have more than one?”
“Oh yeah. I’ve got a list. The dimples are number three.”
“Really?”
Her sincerity and humility were ten and eleven, respectively.
“What’s your number one?” she asked.
“Your heart.” Without question, her good, good heart. “I don’t want you to feel bad about what you said. You were being honest.” And he thought it was about time to finally come clean about who he really was and what he could offer her. Which was not much. He didn’t deserve her, and yet he’d make a deal with the devil if it meant he could have her.
“You know how I feel about you,” he said, and she nodded in agreement but stepped away. He was desperate to touch her, though he understood her need for space. The last few hours had been harrowing for her. “I don’t want to push you into anything, and I promise I won’t bring it up again until you’re ready.”
She blinked up at him, her eyes clear and blue, her teeth nibbling at the corner of her bottom lip.
