Page 44 of Reclaim Me

“Remember that time your car broke down on the highway in the middle of the night?” She nods, and I continue relaying the details even though we both know the story. “Your phone was dead, and you flagged down this creepy ass van that, thankfully, turned out to be full of a women’s church group. They let you use their phone to call for help, and the only number you knew by heart was….”

“Yours,” Rae says, finishing my sentence, understanding dawning on her features.

“When you left, I knew that you were gone for good. I deserved that, but I couldn’t stand the thought of you reaching out to me for some reason or another and there being a stranger on the other end of the line.”

Several different emotions play across Rae’s features, and she quiets them all one by one, spiriting them away from my prying eyes. After a few moments of silence, she claps her hands and says, “I should get going. Do you need me to give you a ride back to the gym?”

Her polite tone is almost enough to make me ignore the way her eyes stretch wide with the hope that she won’t have to spend another minute with me today. Although it’s inconvenient, and unnatural, I decide the best thing to do is let her go.

“No, I’ll just get an Uber back.”

“Great,” she says, turning to walk away from me without so much as a goodnight.

The abrupt end to such a good day doesn’t sit right with me, so I reach for her, catching her by the wrist like I did the night I found out about Riley. This time, she doesn’t snatch away; she just turns slowly, looking between her wrist and my face with a frown.

“I’m sorry.” I release her. “I just had to say one last thing before I let you go.”

“What is it, Hunter?”

She’s not looking at me. Her gaze focused on a point somewhere above my head. It doesn’t matter. I don’t need her eye contact to know that my words will resonate in her heart.

“Thank you for today, for this chance to know her and learn you again. I know I made a mess of us before, but we really made something beautiful together, didn’t we?”

All of her features go soft, and she finally meets my eyes. “Yeah, we really did.”

16

RAE

Then

One of the first things I noticed about my room at Hunter’s place is how close it is to his bedroom. I loved that when the house was quiet and still I could strain my ears and hear him breathing or tossing and turning in his sheets. I loved that I could hear his five o’clock alarm and the creak of his floorboards that told me he was getting dressed for his morning run. I loved everything about it, but tonight, or more accurately, this morning, I despise our shared wall because it’s giving me a backstage pass to Indigo’s first night in his bed.

Usually, they sleep over at her place because, despite her initial friendliness, she doesn’t seem to be a huge fan of Will and I staying at Hunter’s place. Every week, she finds new ways to keep him away from the house, dragging him deeper and deeper into her world with little to no concern for reciprocation. I don’t know how Hunter talked her into coming over tonight, but I wish he hadn’t because then I wouldn’t be listening to this.

Her giggles of delight.

His low, rumbling tone that’s supposed to be for her but is speaking directly to the green-eyed monster living in my chest.Every time I see them together, or hear Hunter on the phone with her, all I can think is ‘that should be me.’ When I concocted my plan for the summer, I had a very specific vision for what things between Hunter and I would look like at this point, and Indigo wasn’t a part of any of it.

Nor was the belly-burning jealousy and irrational sadness I’ve been dealing with since the night of my graduation party. I thought I’d be able to soothe those emotional wounds by putting us in situations created specifically to spark Hunter’s desire, like the underboob tattoo and the kickback tonight with Cameron’s handsy ass, but so far, nothing’s worked. Every display of Hunter’s protective, possessive side is fleeting, so short-lived that I’m not entirely sure I’m not imagining them.

I turn over and sigh, sandwiching my head between a pillow in hopes of blocking them out. For one blissful moment, I think it’s working, but then Indigo snorts loudly at something Hunter said, and I’m left with no choice but to admit defeat. Sitting up, I grab the pillow and toss it at the wall.

“He’s not even that damn funny.”

“Right?” Dee adds from the other side of the bed. “I’ve never even heard him crack a joke, so she’s definitely putting on.”

“He makes jokes.”

“Girl!” She throws an arm over her eyes and lets out an exasperated sigh. “You have got to pick a struggle. Either you want me to agree that he has no sense of humor, or you want me to call him the next King of Comedy; there is no in-between.”

“Why can’t it be both?” I ask, snickering when her annoyance leads to her turning her back to me.

“Good night, Rachel.”

I roll my eyes. She knows I hate it when she calls me by my full name. “Are you really going to sleep, or are you just ignoring me?”

Her response comes in the form of a light snore that makes my jaw drop in disbelief. “Who falls asleep that fast?” I mutter, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed and grabbing my phone on my way out the door. When I step into the hallway, everything is quiet. I guess at some point during Dee and I’s short conversation Hunter and Giggles found something else to do besides work my last nerve. I check the time on my phone and see that it’s almost two in the morning, which means Will’s alarm will be going off soon.

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