AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“My parents spoke to me. I was so angry after you left, and they wanted to help. They tried to explain how it might have looked to you, finding Miles here, even though there was nothing going on, and they reminded me of how I’d felt when Keira came into the office.”
“They knew about that?”
“No, but I’ve told them now. Not in any great detail, obviously. I haven’t told them what Lucian did, but they asked me to imagine how you’d have felt, and I realized I didn’t need to imagine it at all. I—I treated you so badly over Keira, and you were so kind…”
“Hey… don’t you dare blame yourself for this. It’s my fault.”
“We both made mistakes this time, Hunter. I should’ve talked to you, not yelled at you.”
“You wouldn’t have needed to, if I hadn’t judged you so quickly… again.”
He’s not wrong there, I suppose, but there seems little point in going over the same ground now. We both know we got things wrong.
“Can we change the subject?”
“Sure.”
“Why did you give me the money?” I ask. I need to know… to understand. “You paid it to me on the same day you fired me. I didn’t expect anything, but even if I had, it would have been whatever the severance payment is, not a quarter of a million dollars.”
“It wasn’t about severance. It was about us. That’s why the money’s from me, not the company. Drew had told me he’d found you in the parking garage, crying. I didn’t want to believe him at first. I was so convinced I was right, that you’d been lying to me… conniving with Ken Bevan in some way. But when Drew told me what he’d seen, and we’d talked it through some more, I started to wonder.”
“But why pay me? And why so much?”
“Drew said I was behaving like my father…”
“You weren’t, Hunter.”
“Yeah, I was. I’d made it about me, not about us. I’d hurt you. Drew said I’d broken you. Even if I didn’t understand what was going on, I had to do something. I needed to know you were gonna be okay… financially, if nothing else.”
He’s thinking so badly of himself, but I don’t know what to say to make it better. If he were here, I’d hug him… but he’s not. And I need him to be.
“Can you come over?”
***
Hunter
I pinch myself on the arm. It hurts and I smile. This has to be real, even though I feel like I’m in a dream. Livia asked me to come over… and I’m already making my way to the elevator.
“Of course. But you’ll have to give me a couple of hours. If I leave now, I can be with you before six.”
“Why is it going to take you so long? You’re only in Portland. It’s not…”
“I’m not in Portland. I’m in Boston,” I say, interrupting her.
“You went home?” She sounds surprised, and I smile. “I thought you were gonna stay at a hotel.”
“I was. But then we had a fight. You told me there was nothing left for us… remember?”
“Yes. I’m so—”
“Don’t you dare say ‘sorry’. This is on me.”
“I—I didn’t realize you were gonna leave.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t come back.”
“You mean, you’d really drive all the way back here again… for me?”
