Page 176 of Between Hate and Desire

“Lennon.” He sits next to me. “Were you at The Woodlands tonight?”

I squint one eye as if I’m racking my brain. “For like half a minute…”

“Why?” he asks. “What were you doing there?”

Deciding I need to face this, I sit up until I’m resting against the headboard. “I came to talk to you but realized you were on a date, so I left.”

“Why didn’t you text or call me beforehand?”

“I’d had a few shots by that point and wasn’t thinking clearly,” I admit shamelessly. “I wasn’t spying on you, but I shouldn’t have gone there in the first place.”

“And are you thinking clearly now?” he asks, keeping his intense gaze on mine.

“Yes. I think so.”

“Good, so then you can hopefully understand what I’m about to say.” He shifts his body so we’re face-to-face. “I wasn’t on a date. I haven’t wanted to take a girl out on a date since the moment I met you. I don’t know what you saw, but between the end of dinner and drinking at the bar to the timing of your text messages, I’m guessing it was when Carly’s husband was out on a call. Because had you come any earlier or stayed a few minutes longer, you would’ve seen Mr. Long kissing his wife.”

I’m pretty sure my face turns red and blood stops pumping to my heart.

But that doesn’t explain the touching…

“Well, she seemed pretty handsy for being a married woman,” I blurt. “But you didn’t look like you hated it either. You were laughing and smiling.”

“You’re right, I was, and you know why? I was telling her all about you and Allie. In fact, I was beingthatguy who talks about poop explosions and how spit-up is a new part of my wardrobe now.”

Wait. What?

He must sense my confusion. “She leaned in and touched my arm a couple of times, but that was it. She got the hint I wasn’t interested in her advances pretty quickly when all I did was talk about you two.”

“So if you got my message two hours ago, then why didn’t you come home right away?”

“Trust me, I wanted to. Sophie texted and said you needed to sleep off the alcohol and to ignore whatever you had texted me.”

“That little snitch.” I growl.

“So is that how you feel, Lennon?” He frowns, inching closer. “You want to move out? Because it’d gut me to lose you two.”

My chest squeezes at the raw tenderness in his voice. Hunter’s pained expression nearly has me in tears. The last thing I want to do is hurt him.

“I-I thought…” I stop myself, suck in my lower lip, then start again. “I thought you were ready to move on and date someone who could offer you everything you deserved. I wouldn’t blame you if you did. I just…”

“What did you have to talk to me about in the first place?” he asks when I don’t finish my sentence.

“Something.Nothing.”

“Something, huh? And thatsomethingcouldn’t wait?”

“At the time, no.” I grimace. “The alcohol was giving me a false sense of confidence.”

“Well, do you wanna tell me now?” He raises his brows.

“Yes. No. I dunno.”

“Which is it, Lennon?”

“Yes, but it’s not something you blurt out like a shopping list.”

“If it’s what I hope it is, something I’ve been waiting a long-ass time for, then you’re gonna have to be the one to say it this time because I’ve convinced myself you never would.”

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