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He gets in and drives us back in silence, the sexual tension thick and tight like a band, stretching and constricting around us in his truck.
When we arrive at my car, Hunter leans over to me, but I freeze when I spot a blue vehicle next to my truck. It is small and a Toyota, looking exactly like my mom’s car.
As I stare, sure enough, my mom hops out of her car and spots me, frowning before she marches over to Hunter’s truck.
This can’t be good.
“Alison Rose Bailey! You get out of that truck and away from that man right now!” she hollers, and I flinch as Hunter growls like a dog beside me, hopping out of his truck immediately and praying he doesn’t follow.
To my dismay, he does. Of course.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” I ask as I walk to her, Hunter trailing behind me, causing my mom’s eyes to flare.
“I came to visit and when Claire told me you weren’t at the house, I went to every fucking business to find you. And looked like an idiot because lo and behold, my daughter is out parading around with the town’s playboy!” She’s yelling and I feel Hunter’s anger radiate before me in silence. They stare at each other like lions in the wild and it confuses the hell out of me.
“You know Hunter?” I ask.
“It’s good to see you again, May. How’ve you been?” Hunter asks my mom suddenly, shocking the hell out of me as I stare at him in disbelief.
“Don’t you talk to me, Brooks, and get the hell away from my daughter,” she spits out, grabbing my arm and yanking me towards her, Hunter’s jacket falling to the ground.
“What are you doing Ali? This man is twice your age and your father’s rival! You’re embarrassing his legacy!” she shouts, and I feel the burn of both shame and anger heat my face.
“Mom-” I try to say, but she cuts me off.
“That’s enough, we’re going back to the house. Now,” she huffs, pulling me to the car and away from Hunter.
“Stop manhandling me, Mother! I'm a grown woman!” I shout, but she doesn’t stop.
“You may be a grown woman, but your priorities are shit right now, kid,” she says, opening the car and shoving me in before she drives away and towards the house.
I look out the window and lock eyes with Hunter. Power and anger radiate from him as he smokes a cigarette, his smoke billowing in the wind until he becomes a speck in the distance.
What the fuck just happened?
20
We arrive at the house,and I hop out of the car before my mom even comes to a complete stop. I slam the door behind me and stalk my way up the porch steps, locking eyes with Claire briefly as she, Marley and Earl all stare after me as the front door slams behind me.
Great, I guess we have a full audience now.
“Don’t you walk away from me, Ali! We’re discussing this right now!” my mom hollers after me as I freeze on the staircase, everyone looking at me now in the foyer.
“Discussing what? How you just treated me like a child even though I’ve been handling every single fucking thing for Dad since he’s gone? Handling it all like a pro without any fucking guidance or clue about what I’m doing!” I shout back, the dam breaking and overflowing now.
“No, kid, we’re discussing the fact that you were just out with Hunter fucking Brooks and lying to all of us! So, clearly you know who he is and that you shouldn’t be getting fucking involved with him!” she hollers back, stunning everyone.
Claire gasps, Earl groans and Marley covers her mouth, trying to hide her smile.
“Yes, Mom. I know who he is. What I don’t know is why everyone hates him so much. What has he done that’s so fucking bad?” I ask, frustrated as she walks to me with deathly eyes.
“Because he’s the son of the devil, Ali. He’s the son of the man who put your father in debt and almost stole his livelihood. And he helped him fucking do it,” she seethes and I freeze, narrowing my eyes on her.
“Where’s your proof?” I ask and she scoffs and gestures back to everyone behind her.
“Right fucking here. You want to look at the books? Maybe go around the town and interview everybody? They’ll tell you right away that both his father and Hunter at the young age of twenty, singlehandedly stole most of your father’s clients, products and hard work. Nearly bankrupting him and costing him everything he worked for,” she says, and I am silent for a while, in disbelief.
I knew he was bad news, but I didn’t know he was capable of this. He can’t be. I let him get close to me. I let himinsideme. This can’t have happened.
