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She puts her hands on her hips. I’d laugh at how much Eden takes after her mother were it not for my current predicament. “That’s unacceptable! You can’t toy with her feelings like that.”
“I’m not toying with her feelings,” I insist. “This thing we have… It’s mutual. It was supposed to be casual.”
“Casual?” Annabeth scoffs. “Good Lord, Hunter, you’re as daft as my ex-husband. Would you be worrying yourself grey for a girl you’re onlycasuallyseeing? Would you jump up in the middle of an important interview to make sure she was okay if it was justcasual?”
“I…”
“If you’re going to see my daughter, you better take fucking responsibility.”
I blink at her. “That’s what you’re upset about?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know. I figured you’d tell me to stop seeing her?”
Annabeth sighs. “I’m not exactly in a position to tell her what to do. Things between us are only just beginning to mend. Do I think it’s weird? Yes, absolutely. Am I going to get over it because it’s frankly none of my business who Eden sees? Also yes.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. There’s a terrible pressure building behind my eyes. “I do care for her, Annabeth. Truly, I do. But I don’t think she feels the same way.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Like you said. I’m twice her age. I sincerely doubt Eden’s thinking about things like marriage, settling down, having kids. She’s got her whole life ahead of her. She probably just wants to have her fun, and so far, I’ve been more than happy to oblige her.”
“And you know this for a fact?”
“No…”
Annabeth rolls her eyes. “Here’s a crazy idea. How about instead of assuming, youtalkto her?”
“I can’t fucking do that if she’s gone AWOL, now can I?” I drag my palms over my face. “I need to get in contact with my publicist. I need to get ahead of this before it ruins her reputation further. When I find out which bastard did this…”
“You need to breathe, Hunter.”
“Iambreathing.”
Annabeth takes a step forward and places her hands on my shoulders. “I know you’re angry, but you can’t lose your cool. We won’t be able to help Eden if we aren’t thinking straight.”
“Since when are you so wise?”
She snorts. “I’ve always been wise. You and Thomas just never listened to me.”
“We were assholes.”
“Of the highest caliber.”
I let out a heavy breath, my exhaustion indescribable. “At least today can’t get any worse,” I grumble.
“Deal with one problem at a time, Hunter. That’s all we can do now.”
“Thank you, Annabeth. You always were a good friend.”
“Probably not a good friend, just an honest one.”
“In our line of work, it’s one and the same.”
“You have a point there.”
She leans forward to place a chaste kiss on my forehead. I know it’s just a friendly peck. She doesn’t mean anything by it. But the gasp that comes from the doorway makes it seem like a way bigger deal than it is.
