Page 148 of The Confidant
“How’s the valedictorian speech coming?”Hunter asked as he brought our chai lattes to the table after Kiara had called his name. “Have you found the right inspirational quote to open with yet?”
“Not quite,” I said, taking a sip from my drink after he handed it to me. “But I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”
“You always do.” Hunter took his seat next to me and opened his laptop.
It was the Sunday before graduation, and we were both working at a corner table in the local coffee shop that Hunter had always snuck away to on Sunday mornings.
When he’d invited me to come with him a couple of weeks ago, I’d thought for sure we’d get in a car accident on our way here because I’d always been taught it was such a huge sin to shop or visit places like this on the Lord’s day.
But after coming here three weekends in a row and not being in any sort of mortal peril, I found myself looking forward to more laidback Sunday mornings and hoped that we would continue the tradition when we were back in New York.
My dad didn’t love that I had decided to take a sabbatical from The Fold to see how I felt without it in my life. But he did understand why I needed space after everything that had happened with Xander. He too had been shocked that the High Priest hadn’t been able to use his special spiritual gifts to see the wolf living among us, but after having his own doubts for a few weeks, my dad seemed to separate that experience from all the other experiences he’d had with The Fold. I doubted he’d ever choose to leave his faith.
Which was understandable. He found a lot of fulfillment in his beliefs. And if I was going to expect him to respect my own spiritual journey, I would respect his.
We all deserved to live life on our own terms and in the way that made the most sense to us.
But if the next few months continued the way this past month had, I was starting to think I may never go back. My faith in The Fold being the right path for me had been shattered, which I still sometimes cried about because it had been such a big part of my life. But this starting with a clean slate and seeing what the universe showed me it had to offer was more freeing than I would have thought. Plus, with Hunter there to support me as I figured things out, I knew I would be okay.
“Do you think Elyse and Carter know you’re the one who will be receiving the award and giving the speech?” Hunter asked, breaking me from my thoughts.
“I don’t know if the committee has officially reached out and told them they didn’t win.” I set my cup on the table between our laptops. “But they knew the valedictorian would be notified right after the final grades were tallied last night, so I’m pretty sure they’ve already figured it out.”
“Hopefully, we won’t find them in the middle of egging your car when we get back to the school,” Hunter said with mirth in his green eyes.
I laughed. “If anyone is doing that, I’d put my money on Asher.”
“Yeah, that’s probably more likely,” Hunter agreed with a grin. “He definitely seems the type to avenge his girlfriend’s honor by doing something like that.”
“That he does.” I took another sip from my drink and leaned back in my chair. “So, did you figure out which emailsThe Confidantis answering for next week’s column?”
“Not yet,” he said. “I got too distracted by reading the comments on today’s column.”
“Are there a lot?” I sat up again and leaned closer to look at his computer screen.
I hadn’t had a chance to read the column yet myself, so I was curious which question and Hunter’s subsequent answer had spurred so many comments.
Hunter angled his computer so I could look at the screen better and said, “Have a look for yourself.”
So I started reading the first few emails he’d answered. And while the advice was at the typical quality that Hunter’s columns were always at, I didn’t see why they’d receive more feedback than previous weeks.
“Did I pass it already?” I furrowed my brow and glanced at Hunter who was watching me as I read.
But he just shook his head and said, “Keep going.”
I finished the fourth question, and when I got to the last email from someone who called herself,Pining for my mega-hot best friend,I smiled. “This looks like it might be something you have a little experience with.”
“Because I think you’re mega-hot?” He smirked.
“No…” I felt a blush rise to my cheeks. “I was thinking more ‘the pining for your best friend’ part, but I’ll definitely take that compliment, too.”
“You better, because it’s true…” He chuckled, and with a wink, he added, “But yeah, I might have just a little experience with the pining part, too.”
“Yet another thing we have in common,” I said before letting my gaze scan through the email.
Dear Confidant,
I’m in a bit of a tricky situation that I’m not quite sure what to do about. You see, I have a major crush on one of my close friends and have no idea what to do about it. We’ve known each other for years, since he was friends with my older brother first, but it wasn’t until this past year that we became close enough for me to consider us best friends.
