Page 16 of Hunter Moon

I hated he could still affect me so much.

“Thanks.”

The flowers were beautiful, brighter than the ones Linden had held out to me across the living room. It wasn’t like I had a vase on my bookshelf waiting for a weekly bouquet of fresh flowers, but I liked these. Maybe I just liked them because Aspen had given them to me, but that was reason enough.

Even if he hadn’t known about the Reids trying to “make amends,” it was like Aspen had presented me with something equal and opposite. He’d erase the bad thing by giving me a better memory.

He had to have known, I realized. Aspen had never given me flowers before. Not once.

Maybe Linden had told him.

The effort was sweet and clumsy and entirely Aspen, to think he could erase something bad with something good—or maybe he didn’t think it worked exactly like that. Thing was, he was always going to try, even if it wouldn’t work.

He nodded sharply, and before either one of us could say anything else, he turned to go.

Trapped as I was in the bench, it wasn’t like I could jump up and rush after him, but I wished he’d hung back. He could’ve asked to talk for a minute, and Mom would’ve had to let me up. All I wanted was a handful of words, but he was walking away.

Never mind. At least I had some flowers.

I gripped the bottom of the vase and pulled them closer to the edge of the table. I didn’t want to sniff them, exactly, but I wanted to fall into them—this one piece of evidence I had that proved Aspen still thought about me, at least a little.

Enough to try and do something nice when I felt down. It wasn’t a lot, but it was more than I’d gotten from him in a decade.

Some people thought it was insane that I was still hung up on the same guy, but Aspen and I had been together a long time. High school sweethearts, we’d dated until he’d disappeared. He’d been twenty-eight.

And even though we weren’t mated, didn’t even talk about it, I’d thought it was a forever thing. Sure, it was weird not to talk about it, but some small part of me had always been scared that if I pushed, he’d think it was about financial comfort more than about being with him. Or hell, maybe he’d never wanted to tie me down, knowing in the back of his mind that he always meant to leave.

I’d gone out with alphas a couple times since Aspen left—in that first year he’d disappeared, I’d been mad, furious that he’d take all that time and leave me. But every date with another alpha turned out shitty, and it was hard to resent spending time with Aspen when he’d been my best friend.

After a while, they’d all given up. A blue-collar omega, I’d dated Alpha Grove’s son. Hisheir. An alpha like that must’ve made my head too big to settle down with someone reasonable.

They weren’t wrong—we’d never had much, and every afternoon I spent at Grove House after school had made that family seem larger than life, capable of anything.

When I was growing up, Mom had stayed at home to raise us and Dad had worked at the garage. When he died, I took his spot so our family didn’t lose the income. The guys at the garage were real flexible with my hours when I was still in school, didn’t even cut my pay—gave me what Dad had made even though I was still figuring things out.

That was because Bob Reynolds, the old guy who ran the place, said we were family. Groves looked after their own.

At least, the ones who didn’t run off and abandon you to join the navy.

The Grove family had always been rich and handsome and spectacular. They could trace their line straight back to the town founder. And clearly, turning Aspen’s head had spoiled me.

I hated that word, “spoiled.” It implied I’d once been delicious—a total snack, if you will—and something or someone hadhappened, and now I was ruined.

Anyway, I didn’t know how to explain that I didn’t care about that stuff when it came to finding a mate. I could take care of myself. It was just that Aspen made me laugh. He didn’t treat me like a prize or somebody fragile. He was there to back me up, and he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty either. We could work together, and have a good time doing it.

I couldn’t tell you how many grocery store trips for Harmony’s lunchbox snacks were made better by Aspen’s goofy grin and penchant for nicking apple hand pies from the orchard his family ran, just to make Harmony smile.

Obviously, I was still hung up on him. Couldn’t help it. Didn’t want to. If wanting a mate who was my best friend ruined me for other alphas, whatever. I had more important things to think about than dating, anyway.

Plus, like... didn’t everyone want their mates to be half of their whole soul or whatever? I’d already chipped off plenty of mine and given it to Aspen. I just didn’t have that much to give anybody else—not after taking care of Harmony and Shiloh too.

Everybody’d been sitting there quiet for a while, staring at those flowers on the table. Impulsively, I snatched them toward myself.

“Brook—” Mom’s voice held a warning note that I didn’t need her to explain.

Aspen Grove had loved me and left me. He’d taken up the best years of my life then abandoned me without a word. He’d let me rely on him, and then he’d disappeared, and instead of being heartbroken, getting through it, and moving on, I’d walked headfirst into the dark cave of denial, like time stopped moving and I could just pause and wait and everything would be fine.

And maybe it could’ve been fine, but... it hadn’t been. And now, the Morgans were going to pile blame for that onto Aspen’s shoulders, because there was plenty of anger to go around.

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