Page 135 of Always You

“Doesn’t mean he has to do it,” Jason replies with a shrug, and I want to believe him. I want to tell myself that I can keep going like this until forever, but just thinking about Laurie has me huffing in disbelief before Jensen speaks out loud what I already know.

“Can’t avoid it forever. She ain’t that kinda girl.”

52

“It’s still fucking weird to see him on TV.” Julie takes a sip of her wine from the other side of the bar, glancing up at the re-run broadcast of the Met Gala.

I pick up a glass, drying it with the cloth in my hands. “I know.”

Hunter looks great in his three-piece suit, his brown hair not hiding below his signature snapback but pushed back in a cute crest. Laurie hangs on his arm in a white silk dress that hugs every curve of her body, her eyes smokey and alluring as fuck.

She looks gorgeous.

They both do. The little tug at my heart makes me believe I’ll never really love seeing them together, but with every photo or TV appearance I see, it becomes a little more bearable.

“We all know you are the bad boy fighter, but it’s good to see you clearly have a soft spot. Are you in love?” My eyebrows lift up at the screen hanging above the bar, the question of the reporter catching me off guard. Hunter’s hazel eyes grow big, but if it was fueled by fear, it quickly smooths back into a boyish smirk.

“Err, yeah, sure. What’s not to love?” He tugs Laurie closer into his chest, a broad smile on her red lips.

“He’s not very good with words, but we’re madly in love.” Her hand is draped over his heart, and I swallow away the nausea that now swirls in my stomach. Dread builds deeply, accompanied by something that can only be described as disbelief.

He loves her?

“Oh, shit.” Julie almost chokes on her wine before her gaze clashes with mine.

“Did that just happen?”

“Can I lie?”

“No.” I shake my head, fishing my phone from my back pocket. I have no right to have a racing heart and anger rising quicker than a fucking airplane for take-off, but I can’t fucking help it. I still see myself standing on that sidewalk and him telling me he doesn’t say those words. But clearly, that was a lie, wasn’t it?

CHARLOTTE: You love her?

Julie keeps her eyes trained on me as I keep staring at the screen, waiting for those blue dots to appear.

HUNTER: What are you talking about?

CHARLOTTE: TMZ, asshole. I thought we agreed to share the important shit with each other?

“Jackass,” I mutter, frustrated as fuck, then flip the screen to Julie.

“I’m sorry, girl,” Julie offers with a pitying look on her face, and I let out a growl in response when my phone rings. I don’t even have to look to know who it is.

“If you’re going to throw some bullshit at me, saying you don’t get why I’m pissed at you, you better hang up real quick, Hunter Hansen.” I scowl, holding my phone against my ear.

“It’s not what you think.” The guilt in his voice is undeniable, but I’m not going to let him back-peddle out of this one.

“You didn’t just tell her you loved her?”

“It doesn’t mean as much as it does to other people. I don’t even mean it. I mean, what is love, anyway? I like her, but love is a big word. I think.” His voice sounds heavy, like he’s barely believing himself, and I can’t blame him.

Clearly, he’s full of shit.

“Right, isn’t that exactly why you shouldn’t say them?”

“They caught me off guard. I didn’t want to make it awkward.”

I roll my eyes, his response not even surprising me. When it comes to his feelings, Hunter Hansen is the king of deflection, always trying to avoid whatever is going on inside of him. I could barely get him to talk about his mother, or the grief he was still carrying from missing his brother and father. It’s the reason why him saying those words in front of a camera shocks me even more.

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