Page 77 of Hunter
The pieces that I left behind have found their way back to me. But they aren’t making me feel whole. No, instead they’ve managed to rip out the self-sewn stitches that I’ve been silently weaving through my skin. I’ve been healing in my own way. The last thing I needed was them showing up for whatever fucked up version of exposure therapy/group counseling this is.As if.
“What the fuck?” Tattoo guy questions and looks at both of us before settling on me, “he’s your cousin?” His chin point is fucking razor sharp, and I wish it could cut out thatbaboso’s slimeball’seyes. I can feel him looking at me, and it’s fucking creepy.
“Hold on, man, this is her?” Cheap suit eagerly asks, and I give his ass the dirtiest fucking look. I don’t know where this fool came from, and I already know he’d never be honest about it anyway.Parece un mentiroso. He looks like a liar.
I’ve been face-to-face with awful fucking men before, and this fool ain’t nothing.Pinche payaso se cree muy verguita. He’s a fucking clown who thinks he’s bigtime.
He’s out here looking stupid; I can see the little dried flakes of cheap gel falling from his head before they land onhis rounded shoulders. This man’s soft as hell. I bet you he’s wearing blue because his mommy told him it matched his eyes.
He reminds me of a fucking con artist; like he’d not only waste your time, but that he’d also convince you that you’d have more to give away to him. He’s also a fucking pussy, I saw him flinch when Alvi’s boys rolled up on him.
He’s fucking soft, but I’m not. I get my head right and reach for my girl. I hold her up, eject her blade, and look at myprimodeadass in his eyes.
We stared at each other, and it was like my body knew that our blood matched, even though he looked different from the last time I saw him. It was a sixth sense, and neither of us ignored it. It actually felt like we were both grounding ourselves, digging in for whatever was about to happen.
Because we both knew shit was about to go down. And I was about to find out that there was no stopping Hunter Fucking Wilton.
FORTY-SEVEN
“You played great,nice goal by the way,” my sister states, offering me a hug after the game. We’re standing in the hallway outside the team locker room. As soon as I separate from her, Max runs and picks her up from her waist, and I clock Harmon on her back when he spins her around.
I had to get dressed and get outta the locker room as fast as I could to get away from fucking Payton. She was going around to interview some of the boys for social media or whatever it is thatshe does. All I wanna do is get the fuck outta here and get back to Ed.
“Did you see my goal, Eves? I scored for you, pretty girl,” Max tells her, and he’s got her smiling and laughing as he twirls her in a circle. This dick has a shit-eating grin on his face, and when his eyes shift to mine, I know what he’s about to fucking do. This is his tell before he says some nasty-ass shit to my sister. “You wanna replay, babygirl? You want me to sink it between your legs like I did with that puck when we get home?”
“What the fuck, Max!” I snap back and wish like hell that I had my skates so I could jam the end of the sharp fucking runner into my ears.
I know he’s a fucking horndog and have seen firsthand what he can do. I’ve seen him in action and know what to expect from him. It’s why I’ve been mentally scrubbing my eyes with fucking Clorox wipes to try to unsee the shit he does to my sister.
He’s all over her and has a hard fucking time keeping his hands to himself. Not that he gives a fuckwhat anyone thinks - especially not me or Chase. Fucking, God forbid he doesn’t go five fucking minutes without sticking his tongue down her throat - right now is no different as he makes out with her in the hallway.Yeah, I’m out, I don’t need to see all this shit.
“I missed you,” I hear him say when he lets her breath, and his three words hit me in the fucking heart.I miss someone, too.
“I almost wish he didn’t score so we didn’t have to hear him say kinky shit like that,” my brother says from behind me as I start to walk away. “Next time, send the puck to me,” he says and holds his fist out. “I’m going to meet Sloane, you good?”
“Yeah, man, I’m good,” I see him eyeing me, and I know he’s trying to get into my head again.Too bad, bro, no visitors allowed.
“I saw you hugging Evie. Things better?” I swear he’s like a dog with a fucking bone when it comes to this. I let out a fuckingloud huff. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to my brother, but right this second isn’t the fucking time. Ineedto get back to her. Iwantto get back to her.
“We’re doing better,” I admit, and keep it at that. I’m not gonna tell him that the reason Evie and I are in an okay place is because we're focusing on his problems instead of our own, but him crashing the fuck out really did give me the kick in the ass that I needed to get the fuck over myself and reach out to her.
Honestly, I was scared shitless and didn’t know what else to do. There’s no other way to say it, he was legit hurting himself. It was this bad mix of both self-neglect and self-abuse.
He was out every fucking night running these mini-marathons to get away from the army of monsters that were chasing him in his head. He wasn’t eating right and losing weight. He was either locked in that public health hazard of a room, or out in the middle of the night… or standing in the trees, hiding in the bushes waiting for Red to emerge.
He reeked like fucking ass, looked like dogshit, and at one point, the smell seeping out from under his door was so fucking awful that I thought his corpse was rotting away in his room. That’s when I maned the fuck up and called our sister.
“You sure?” he asks, and I narrow my eyes at him. I love my brother to fucking death, but he’s starting to piss me off now.And he’s not the only one.
A couple of the guys asked me if I was alright, and one senior pulled me over to ask if I was okay since he hadn’t seen me out or with anyone in a while. I told him that I was fucking fine and I am with someone.My someone.And I really want to fucking get back to her now.
I can feel my inner dragon huff and puff before blowing out smoke, and it burns my esophagus. Now I’m fucking aggravated, and he’s gonna fucking pay for holding me up.Fine, you want my attention, little brother, here ya fucking go.
“Yes, I’m fucking sure. Stop stalling and go ice your feet. And stay off of them tonight. I’m sure Red will help you if you need anything,” I can see he’s thinking about it. “Listen to me, don’t be dumber than you’ve already been. You’ve fucked up your feet and you’re looking at post-season surgery as it is, so don’t be fucking stubborn. Go take care of yourself, man.”
I pause and take a swig of my water. He wanted my fucking time, well, here it is. “This is what we’ve been talking about. Relax with Red and take care of your gnarly-ass feet… and eat something. Like real fucking food.”
“I’ll do that,” he says with a smile that I haven’t seen in fucking months and hadn’t realized how much I missed. “Where you off to?” he asks and holds out his hand for me to give him dap.
