Page 61 of Aftertaste

Once inside, I grabbed his bag from him and motioned for him to follow me upstairs. There was a spare room across from mine that I felt would be the best place to put him for the time being. Besides, being cooped up for so damn long with no privacy, I’m sure he’d appreciate a spot to call his very own.

“Hope this works for ya,” I tell him with a nervous smile as I push the door open and let him step inside.

Rogan rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced around the room, then turned to give me a grin. “This will do just fine, Hunter. Thanks.”

I nodded and retreated from the room.

It was nighttime now, so there was no reason for me to ask him if he was hungry.

At this point, I’m sure he just wanted a good night’s rest, anyway.

I walked into my bedroom and closed the door quietly behind me. I assumed by now Rogan would have been either asleep or getting ready for it, so I didn’t want to wake him up by slamming my door like I normally do.

It was my own way of keeping the monsters out from under my bed, and a warning to anyone that might be prowling the area that I would be ready for a fight. Not that I’d know the first thing of tussling with anyone who wasn’t Rogan, and we were kids then, so God knows I’d probably go down faster than I thought I might.

I quickly changed into my pajamas and climbed into bed.

I didn’t realize how exhausted the day had left me until that moment and I let out a wide yawn as I closed my eyes and pulled the blanket up to my chin.

Knock, knock.

My eyes opened and I stared at the ceiling for a moment. Maybe I had heard things and it wasn’t what I thought it might be.

After a few seconds of cicadas singing outside my window and nothing else, I closed my eyes again.

“Hunter?”

I sat up almost instantly.

Rogan was peeking into my room, still half behind the door, drumming his fingers along the thick wood.

I looked at him expectantly and he chuckled, “Can I come in for a sec?”

“Sure.”

He strutted into my room with the same amount of confidence he had at Mom and Dad’s house and came over to sit on the side of my bed.

“What’s up?” I asked as I sat up and pushed my hair behind my ears.

“I had a question that’s been eating away at me since you told me I’d be staying with you,” he begins slowly, “and I know you’ll tell me the truth about things.”

“Okay.”

I was indifferent at this point because I just wanted to go to sleep.

“Did Charles make you do this?”

His eyes became stern, like nothing less than the truth would be accepted and he was always able to tell when I lied to him.

“Kind of,” I admit softly. “But I wouldn’t have turned you away, you know? We were never the best of friends but you’re still my favorite person in the whole wide world.”

He scoffed as he looked away. Almost as if the truth hurt him when that’s exactly what he came in here for.

“Alright. Good night,” he finally says as he gets to his feet.

“Good night.”

As I watched Rogan walk out of the room, I couldn’t help but wonder what else had been on his mind.

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