Page 72 of Imperfect Saint
“But he stays here. A lot. Tyler doesn’t really live anywhere. He couch surfs from here to Vaughn’s to Tatum’s and sometimes even Dad’s place. He stays with friends sometimes. I had the extra bedroom so he spends more nights here than anywhere else, but I wouldn’t say he lives here.”
“What do you mean, he doesn’t live anywhere? He’s what… twenty-three?”
“Twenty-five next month.” Hunter snorted, “But he’s not ready to grow up and I’m not going to be the one to make him. He spends most of his money on all these wild adventure trips he loves to go on and I’m not going to force him to pay rent just to tie him down in a life he isn’t sure he wants.”
“You mean if he decides he doesn’t want to work for Vaughn he won’t have to worry about being homeless because he can’t afford his own place.” Millie nodded thoughtfully, her mind kicking on enough to begin to process all of it.
“Yeah, something like that.”
She managed a small smile, “You’re a good big brother.”
“He’s the best big brother.” Tyler came back into the room like a whirlwind, dark hair flying and blue-green eyes flashing as he shot her a wink before turning to Hunter, “Be sure to lock the door behind me.”
“I’m the big brother. I got this.”
“I know you do. Just, take care of her.” Tyler reached out and gave Hunter a one-armed hug and Hunter returned it without ever letting go of Millie with his other arm.
She smiled softly at the embrace. It had been an awful night. It had been weird and the last few hours had seemed more dreamlike than anything based in reality, but she knew instinctively that the St. James brothers loved one another. Vaughn and Tyler had come riding in as soon as they’d heard from Hunter that there was a problem and they’d done their best to try and fix it for them, or at least make it better. Seeing Hunter and Tyler together like this reminded her that she would need to call her brother soon, and her father, eventually.
The thought had her wanting to crawl back into her shell and let the St. James brothers deal with that too.
“Hey.” Tyler’s voice pulled her back to the moment and she realized that he was looking at her now.
“Sorry, what?”
“I said, you’re a badass, Millie Turner. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.” He winked again and Hunter made a low growling noise and pulled her into his side.
“Stop flirting with my girl and go away.”
“I’m going.” Tyler hefted his backpack onto his shoulder again and then grinned at his brother, “I can see now why you were trying to keep her all to yourself, Hunt. She’s a special lady. I’m sure Tatum will love getting to meet her at Sunday dinner.”
“We’re not doing Sunday dinner this week.” Hunter groaned.
Tyler only shrugged, “That’s fine. Whenever. Vaughn and I already voted and we think she’s gonna make a damn fine St. James one day.”
“I said, get out.” Hunter all but shoved his brother who tripped a little but waved as he opened the door and then disappeared out it with the sound of laughter still ringing in the small space.
Once he was gone, the space went quiet and still again. Hunter let go of her to move to the door. He flipped both locks and then checked it again before trusting that it was going to hold.
Somewhere in the back of her mind Millie knew that there was no point in locking herself up tight now, the threat was gone. Joshua was in the hospital and once he was stable they’d move him to a room with bars. Now wasn’t the time to worry about her safety.
She should have been worried about it for the last six weeks, ever since the day of Colin’s wedding when Joshua had vowed to make her pay. She should have known it was coming like an impending storm, but she’d let her guard down. She’d let herself believe she was safe because she was happy. And she’d been wrong.
But she’d won. She’d gotten away. She was still alive and she still had Hunter and she still loved him with every fiber of her being.
Finally alone, Millie opened her arms and Hunter came back into them, wrapping her up tight. She buried her face against his chest. He smelled like cologne and sweat and home. Hunter felt like home to her. He was her safe place. Not her apartment, not now, not ever again. But with Hunter, she felt like she was home.
Hunter wrapped her in an embrace so tight she could barely breathe but she didn’t mind. She held onto him just as tightly. His heart was still racing and she could hear him breathing fast. His hands shook slightly as they traced over her back, up and down, comforting her but also comforting himself with the knowledge that she was here and safe in his arms.
They were silent and still for so long that when Hunter finally spoke, his gruff voice surprised her a little.
“I almost lost you tonight.”
She tightened her grip on him and shook her head, “No, you didn’t.”
It was an automatic response. She didn’t even think about the words before they left her mouth. Hunter hadn’t almost lost her, of course he hadn’t. She would never leave him, but it took only a moment for her brain to so helpfully supply the memories of the night and realize that wasn’t what he’d meant, and Hunter confirmed it when he pulled back enough to hold her face and meet her eyes.
“I did. I almost lost you. Mille, he had a gun.”
