Page 128 of Pinkie Promise

I rake a hand through my hair and then flick my eyes over to the back office, knowing that it’s unlikely that I’ll find her there but willing to give it a shot anyway.

I rap my fist on the door and call out, “Fallon? You in there?”

It takes five seconds for the door to open and, when it does, it’s my mom who’s standing on the other side.

I quickly glance around, checking that Fallon isn’t in the vicinity.

Then I feel something slap hard against my bicep and I drop my eyes back to my mom.

She shoves the paper that she was wielding roughly against my chest and when I look down at the front page I see myself staring back at me.

Heat stains my cheeks and I hide the paper under my arm.

“Where’s Fallon?” I ask gruffly, not liking the feeling of suspense in the air.

“Hunter, she knows.”

The Band-Aid is off before I’ve even registered what she’s talking about. My chest heaves in one fast pump, indignation coursing through me.

“She knows what?” I ask, just in case I’m not understanding her correctly.

“She knows that you gave up your job so that she could have one, and she knows that she already met yourmomand you failed to mention it to her.”

I scrub angrily at my hair. “I’m a fucking idiot,” I murmur.

My mom doesn’t argue with me on that one.

“Did she already leave?” I ask, and my mom nods her head.

“Shit,” I curse, looking around in a panic. “How the hell do I explain this to her?”

How do I tell her that I wanted to do what was best for her, because I hated seeing her struggling all on her own?

This is not good. This is really,reallynot good.

“I already messed up too many times,” I say hoarsely, adrenaline coursing through my body and making my hands itch to do something. Tofixsomething.

My mom narrows her eyes. “How do you mean?”

“I’m the reason why she got fired from that feminist Hooters-type joint in the first place, not to mention I’m the reason why she got another damn knock on the head.”

She blinks up at me. “What are you talking about?”

“I slammed a door in her face.”

“You didwhat?!”

“See?” I say, gesturing towards her jaw-on-the-floor reaction. “This is exactly what I mean. I was just trying to make amends, to atone for all of the dumb shit that I did when I first met her. I just went an unusual way about it.”

My mom levels me with a look. “Hunter, I think that she’s going to need some time to process this.”

“To process what?” I bite out.

“The fact that you lied, Hunter. That you went behind her back when she specifically asked you tobutt out. Maybe she wanted to be herownhero.”

I squeeze my eyes shut and press my palms against them.

“I was trying to do the right thing,” I rasp. “Fallon can be so remorseless with herself. I needed to help her out, and I couldn’t handle her struggling anymore when the solution was right there. Righthere. I wanted to be someone that she could count on, someone who would make her life that much better.”

---