Page 46 of The Rise

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

“Nothing.” He grips my chin in his hand roughly, causing me to wince at the pain.

“We don’t lie to each other, little rebel. Now start talking.”

“I was just thinking about what it’s going to be like to see them again. It’s been months,” I confess.

“You’re worried?” I shake my head. I’m not worried about them getting close to me because Hunter is here.

“No.”

“It’s because of him,” he says, nodding to himself. “You’re worried about seeing him again.”

“I …” Hunter raises his hand to stop me from talking.

“You had feelings for him, Lana. Are those feelings still there?” My stomach tumbles inside me. I don’t want to say yes because I don’t really feel anything for Gabe anymore, but at the same time, he was always there when shit got bad and I needed him. When I don’t say anything, Hunter turns on his heel and walks toward the hall.

I climb to my feet and chase behind him, needing him to understand.

“Hunter, wait!”

“No.”

“Hunter?” I call out to him once more, but he’s storming down the hall. I catch up to him and grab his upper arm before he spins around and slams me against the wall.

“You still fucking care about him? After everything they’ve done to you?”

“It’s not like that. Gabe was there when I needed him. He might not have stood up for me, but he was there. I don’t know how to shut that off,” I tell him.

“He let them kill your unborn child, Lana! There shouldn’t be anything left to shut off! That shit should have been long gone from your system,” he yells at me.

“I’m trying here, Hunter! Don’t you fucking get that?” he runs his hand through his hair as he stares at me.

“No. I guess I don’t. There wouldn’t be anything for me to think about if someone took my child away from me.”

“But it wasn’t him.”

“It was him! He put that baby inside of you, Lana, and he knew what the outcome would be,” he yells in my face. Tears slowly fall down my cheeks as his hand comes up and wipes them away. Something about this moment hits me in the chest. He’s mad, but he’s still taking care of me. My chest fills with something I thought I felt for Gabe but I didn’t. I feel it for Hunter.

“I love you.” The words come out before I can rethink them, and my chest constricts as his hand grips my face.

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” he asks so calmly it gives me chills.

“I said, I love you, Hunter.” His hand stays tightened around my face as he looks me in the eye. I can’t place the look on his face, and I almost don’t want to.

Hunter leans down and rests his forehead against mine, his breathing heavier than it was.

“You can’t just say those words to a man like me, Lana.”

“Why?”

“Because when we hear them, we want them to mean something.”

“They do mean something, Hunter. They mean everything. Everything I’ve been feeling, the way my chest tightens when I think about you leaving or being hurt. Seeing you the way you were when you lost control almost killed a piece of me. I can’timagine not having you with me, Hunter, because when I do, it feels like I can’t breathe.”

“Tell me again,” he demands.

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