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I shrug. “I’m sure it’s whoever pushed me off the bridge. Well, that or Dixie May saw an opportunity if she noticed I wasn’t at school for the last half of the day.”
Hunter shakes his head with his jaw set tight. “Somebody is going to get their ass kicked, even if it is your stupid cousin.”
“You gonna beat up my cousin for me?” I question with amusement.
His lips twitch, clearly annoyed. “I want to, but I don’t feel right hitting a girl, so I guess I’ll just have to help you make that happen.”
I struggle not to grin like an idiot at the idea of Hunter holding Dixie May back while I smack her around a bit.
“Is that all Low wanted?” Hunter double-checks. “You guys talked for a bit …”
“Pretty much,” I tell him. “Oh, well, she wanted to see if I wanted to go to lunch with her tomorrow.”
“No. You can’t,” Jax sputters so suddenly and sharply that he startles me badly enough that I nearly pee my pants.
I arch a brow at him. “Dude, as grateful as I am for you saving me, you can’t just boss me around.”
He steps toward me, panic flashing in his eyes. “I’m not trying to boss you around. It’s just too dangerous right now for you to be wandering around.” He roughly rakes his fingers through his hair. “With the game starting and with what happened on the bridge today …” He shakes his head, struggling to breathe. “You can’t be by yourself. Ever.”
“That’s not your decision,” I stress. “And, while shit may have happened today, I’m more prepared now. And I know how to handle myself in a fight.”
His panic magnifies, and he reaches for me, but then he jerks back. “I … I can’t …”
Hunter steps between us and gives Jax’s shoulder a soft squeeze. “You need to step outside, takes some deep breaths, and try to calm down.”
Jax lowers his head. “I can’t … I can’t lose her again.”
“I know,” Hunter says in a tone barely above a whisper. “But you’re freaking Raven out right now, and I know you don’t want to do that to her, right?”
A beat of silence goes by, and then Jax whispers hoarsely, “No.”
“Okay, then go calm down for a moment.” Hunter pats Jax on the shoulder.
Jax bobs his head up and down then swings around him to leave the room. When he reaches the doorway, he glances back and briefly locks gazes with me.
Pulsating fear.
That’s what I see in his eyes.
To the point where I can’t even breathe.
When he leaves the room, Hunter asks, “Are you okay?”
Nodding, I redirect my attention back to him. “Is he, though?”
Hunter wavers, chewing on his bottom lip. “He will be.”
I nod for a second, Jax’s words replaying in my head. “This person that you said Jax lost in a similar way as what happened to me today … how long ago did that happen?”
Hunter smashes his lips together, a series of emotions flickering across his face. “Over a decade ago.”
“Oh,” I whisper. “It seems like it was more recent … with how much pain he seems to be in.”
Instead of commenting on what I said, Hunter briefly searches my eyes. “The girl he lost was the only girl he’s ever really loved, so he didn’t really get over it, I don’t think …” He swallows hard. “None of us did, really.”
“You all loved her?” My heart aches with a pain I don’t know if I fully understand.
He gives an unsteady nod then steps toward me, wisps of hair falling into his eyes that look watery, as if he’s about to cry. “Me, Jax, Zay, and this girl, together, the four of us made up a whole. We did everything together; played together, were there for each other”—he swallows hard—“suffered together.” He momentarily dazes off before blinking his attention back to me. “But then she was gone, and a part of us withered with her … We’ve never really been whole again.”
