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Chapter 24
Gunner
I headed for Hallie’s place when it was all over, hoping to just crawl into her bed and hold her for a while. I needed her after this kind of night. Not to mention, I still had a busted phone, and the last thing I wanted was for her to think that I was ignoring her—though I’m not sure why she would think that in the middle of the night…
It’s not like she would even be awake.
Which is why I second guessed my decision as I climbed the porch steps of her house. It was nearly 2AM, and I knew that I might disturb her.
Fuck.
I paused at the top of the steps, wondering if I should just go home. However, the porch light kicked on a few seconds later, and the front door opened, and Hallie appeared in the doorway.
“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded. “Why didn’t you call before you just showed up to my house?”
“My phone broke,” I said, digging it out of my pocket. “There was no way that I could call you.”
Hallie’s blue eyes were shooting daggers under the warm lights. “And how did you break your phone?”
“I dropped it face down in the kitchen,” I answered her, just leaving outwhosekitchen I was in when it happened. “It fuckin’ ruined the screen. I’ll have to get it replaced this morning.”
“Yeah, well, you know what,” she snapped. “As much as I want to be understanding for your broken phone, I wasstuckon the side of the road tonight with a flat, and I couldn’t get ahold of you!”
Oh, shit. No.
I looked over my shoulder at her car, sure enough seeing the spare on the back driver’s side. However, then it hit me—I hadn’t broken my phone until almost midnight. “What time was that?”
“I don’t know. Midnight probably,” she snapped at me. “I had to go to the store to get Iris more Pedialyte. She started getting sick again, and I was out.”
“Why didn’t you just ask me to get some for you instead of you trekking out in the middle of the night?”
“Are you serious? I’m a fucking grown ass woman. I don’tneedyou to run errands for me. Besides,” she pointed to the phone in my hand. “It’s not like you could’ve gotten it for me anyway. You’d have had no idea about any of it.”
I let out a sigh, running my hand over my face. I was so fucking tired—too tired to be fighting with Hallie. “I just need to give you the numbers of Viper and Will. Then you’ll always be able to reach me if you need something.”
She shook her head at that. “I don’twantto have to call your friends every time I need something, Gunner. I want to be able to call you. I have a daughter—I have someone who depends on me, and I want someone I can depend on.”
“So what’re you trying to say then, huh?” I exploded with frustration. “Because Iamtrying to fucking figure out how to make things work between us, but I can tell that you’re just looking for a reason to call things off.” I hadn’t intended to lash out at her, butfuck,why was nothing going my way?
“I’m looking for a reason to trust you again,” she seethed, her voice sharp. “You keep telling me that you’ll do better and that I’ll be able to rely on you, but I’ve yet to see that happen.”
“Hal, my phonebroke.There was nothing I could do, and you shouldn’t have been out fucking driving around town at this time of night, anyway!”
“IrisneededPedialyte!” Her voice raised in pitch, and I knew that she was now beyond pissed at me. “I’m not going to follow some stupid rule of yours when my daughter is sick. I needed to help her, and there was nothing else I could do.”
“Well, next time you’ll have the guys’ numbers so you don’t have to wander out so late.”
“Gunner…” her voice trailed off as she met my gaze. “I don’t think thereisa next time.”
My heart felt like it might just fucking stop in my chest. “What the hell does that mean, Hal? You’re seriously going to kick me to the curb because my phone broke? This isn’t fair.”
“I just don’t think I can do it,” she said in a low voice, one that as much as I wanted to be angry with her, was just strained with pain. “I have a daughter, and I need to be with someone who can be there for the both of us.”
“I can be there…” I took as step toward her as she stepped back into the house. “This stupid fucking phone is a piece of shit—but I came straight here after I finished up with the club. I was coming for you. We had a date night planned for tomorrow.”
“Not anymore,” she snapped, slamming the front door right in my face. I stood there for a few minutes, the numbness pouring over my body.
Why the hell is she just getting rid of me like this?
