Page 29 of Merritt and Her Childhood Crush
I take a shuddery breath and nod my head. “I’m okay.”
Hunter lets me go, shoving both hands into his pockets, and steps away. “What does Simon think about you coming down here and hurting yourself right off?” he asks.
It’s a stupid question, but the question isn’t the point.Simonis the point, and I understand immediately what Hunter is doing. He still thinks I have a boyfriend, and he’s putting that boyfriend directly between us. He’s telling me I can’t look at him like I want to turn him into a snack when there is another man in the picture.
I swallow. “Simon? Oh. Um, I haven’t told him.” I wave a hand dismissively, like it’s no big deal. “But I’ll be fine. Iamfine.”
I should tell him the truth. And I want to, but I also recognize that Simon as a buffer between us might make this whole renovation project a lot easier. If I’m not staying on Oakley, wanting Hunter won’t do either of us any good. Besides, there are other things I need to say first. More important things that don’t have anything to do with whether I’m available for a relationshipright now.
Regardless of whether I let Hunter believe Simon is or isn’t in the picture, he deserves to know why I said such awful things to him when I left.
It’s time for me to apologize. I just have to figure out how.
SEVEN
Hunter
Dante grinsas he punches my order into the computer. It’s the kind of grin that inspires violent thoughts. Like punching the smile right off his face.
“Want to tell me what you did to maketheMerritt want to prank you? She said something about you suggesting Saltillo tile as backsplash. You didn’t think she’d do her research?”
I should never have spilled my guts to Dante after a night drinking Jägermeister. Unfortunately, he knows everything there is to know abouttheMerritt. Nothing—and I mean NOTHING—good comes from drinking Jäger. Licorice is bad enough in candy form. As alcohol, it’s even worse.
“What’s the total?” I ask, drumming my fingers on the counter and pointedly ignoring his question.
“I’m working on it.”
“Come on, man. I know you just punch in the code. It doesn’t take a genius.”
Dante’s eyes widen, and he puts a hand to his chest. “Are you questioning my vast knowledge? I am a veritable fount of—”
“Do I need to climb over the counter and ring myself up?”
“Testy, testy,” he says, and his grin widens. “My fingers are just a little stiff this morning.”
I groan. “Don’t pull the arthritis card, man.”
“But that’s the only thing it’s useful for—making sure I get the last word.”
Dante used to work with me on the island. For a brief time, he was also my roommate, after Cassidy, and saw me through some dark times. Hence the Jäger-fueled confession. But when he was diagnosed with early onset arthritis, he shifted away from manual labor to running the family business when his dad retired. Though he never complains, I know he misses doing the hands-on work. I would too.
“Are you going to be installing this tile yourself?” Dante asks as he slips the printed purchase order across the counter. “Sounds like a big project from what Merritt said.”
Why do I hate hearing him say her name?
“This time. It’s an old house. Not sure I could trust anyone else to do it right.”
While most contractors typically hire out a lot of the tedious jobs, I like to do them myself. Working with my hands makes me happier than overseeing people. And other than Dante, I’d rather work alone. More and more lately, that’s what I’ve been doing. Especially with the Markham property.
“Mmmhmm,” Dante says. “Pete was in here the other day, and he said he hasn’t heard from you in weeks.”
I shrug. “I haven’t needed any trim work done.”
“You use Pete for a lot more than trim work.” Dante levels me with a glare that might look intimidating if I didn’t know him so well. “It’s all right if you just admit you’re hanging around Genevieve Markham’s house on purpose.”
“Don’t start with that, man. Merritt wasn’t even back in town until this week.”
“But you’ve been thinking about her a lot longer than that, haven’t you? Hoping she’d come back. Knowing thateventually, she’d have to see the house you poured your heart and soul into fixing up. You surethatisn’t the reason you don’t want anyone else installing the tile?”
