Page 102 of Hometown Heartbreakers: Sunkissed

I left the room that had me wishing for her presence and slid onto a bar stool in the kitchen. My laptop sat on the countertop, I re-read my presentation, but my mind kept wandering back to her. Would I ever get enough of her? Maybe I missed her more than I realized.

My phone ringing brought me back to reality at least for a moment. It was my brother Blake. "Yeah?" I answered sharply. Some would say I had been jealous of my brother since he had it so easy. He had father’s approval without even lifting a finger. But I didn’t deal with jealousy, I would rather cut people out of my life than having to deal with that bullshit. The worst part was that he was probably calling to steal my ideas. I wouldn’t be fooled again.

“Are you coming to the annual family meeting tomorrow?” He asked bluntly.

“Of course,” I answered shortly, not wanting to give any more information than he needed.

Blake had been my best friend at one time, we had each other’s back when our dad would dump his problems on us. I looked up to him, now he could rot in hell for all I cared. The day he let me down would remain ingrained in my brain forever, there was no forgiveness for his betrayal.

“What’s with the attitude man? I’m only inquiring about my little brother. We miss you,” he said with the charismatic tone he typically saved for the buyers he swindled out of millions.

I chuckled into the phone, “You high? You call me once a year right before this meeting and now you’re trying to feed me this ‘miss you’ bullcrap? I know what you’re doing, and it won’t work.”

Before he got a word out, my solution was to hang up. I didn’t need him dampening my mood when I had spent the best night of my life with a beautiful girl that I couldn’t keep my mind off of. I missed touching her soft red hair and craved her sweet lavender scent. My mind wonders if she was thinking about our night together. It takes all of my will power not to call her and to change my focus back to this project of mine.

Eight hours later with an empty stomach, I was famished. I searched the cupboards in the apartment but remembered that I had never eaten there before. This place wasn’t exactly a home. It was more of a hangout until I got this deal and built my home. Oddly enough when Ginny was there it kind of felt like home. It didn't feel like the beautiful barren place that I was used to. It felt warm and comfortable, I could see myself waking up next to her for an endless number of days.

I didn't get the urge to push her out the door nor did I want that. However, if she were here right now, I wouldn't be able to get a damn thing done. I would be distracted by her auburn hair waving down her back or those legs that went on for days. Her smart-ass mouth provided the best banter that I had experienced since Mom left us. Ginny reminded me of her. She was tough but fun. Maybe that's why I didn't mind having her around. She reminded me of the last person who truly loved me. Fear bubbled up in my stomach and a wave of nausea hit me hard. I held my fist over my mouth while I slowly calmed myself, taking deep breaths until I felt my heart slow to its normal pace and my hands release, turning my white knuckles back into their normal pinkened tone.

I had a purpose. I had a plan. I was not going to allow this to happen. I had too much to lose.

GINNY

The food truck was hopping all day. I covered Pap’s shift for a doctor’s appointment that he had. He asked that I not talk about it at dinner tonight. I questioned why. I hated to pry but he had me concerned.

“Now, don’t you worry. I’ll be just fine. It’s just that Mary worries enough about everything else. She doesn’t need to worry about me. Leave her to think that her husband is invincible.” He laughed as he patted my arm and walked away. Pap had no reason to lie to me. It was truly none of my business anyway. In my head he was invincible.

I ran the food truck like a professional cook, I took the orders and plated all the fixin’. Pap would’ve been proud. Weirdly enough, I thought that I would’ve seen Hunt at some point today since he frequents the truck for meals regularly. However, there wasn’t one sign of him, although I barely had time to notice since I had a constant stream of customers.

Kara stopped by expecting a free meal, but instead, I made her tie on an apron and work for her meal. After we finished the lunch rush, I fed her, and she slipped out the back. She paused to look at my Roadster. Who could blame her? That bitch was sexy as hell.

That was the funny thing about Kara, she was there until she wasn’t. She did what suited her. She didn’t really know any different, but one would think she would’ve caught on at some point. I needed to remember what our friendship was… a good time. I knew that I could’nt count on her for more than that.

After the crowds were gone, I put everything away and prepped for the next day. I felt like I was missing something and realized my bag was missing. It held all my important documents and my wallet. I searched through the truck for a few minutes before realizing that I could’ve left it on my bike. I locked up the truck for the night, I rushed to my Roadster frantically searching the side bags, thankfully my bag was there. Relief washed over me. I was grateful no one had messed with it. My bag was open, but my wallet was still there, and nothing was missing, however, my debit card seemed like it had moved. I shook my head realizing that could’ve happened at any time since I hadn’t touched my wallet since we were at the bar Friday.

I headed back to Pap’s place. As I straddled the bike and started up the engine, I got this feeling like someone was watching me. I turned my head slightly to the right and then to the left, but no one obviously gawked in my direction. A few people lined the streets, traveling in and out of the local shops. Others leaned against the poles on the dock, while others docked their boats into their spots. No one appeared to have any interest in what I was doing at all. It was just my paranoia.

Revving the engine, I shook the worries out of my head and stepped into gear. The ride to Pappy’s was beautiful. Breathing in the sea air, watching the boats swaying with the waves, and the lazy noises of people walking about the city. The further I got from town; the willowy branches swayed with the breeze. The rich greeneries felt like I was truly home. At least the home that I made each summer.

I pulled into the long drive decorated on each side with Mary’s yellow tulips. Her tulip garden brightened her yard and enlightened my memories of that summer.

Memories of that summer flooded my mind.

I sat on the front porch step awaiting my mom to get home from work for my birthday dinner. We couldn’t afford much, but it was tradition. I felt like I had been sitting there for hours when the sun began setting and my tears began to fall.I was devastated. How could Mom forget my birthday? It was bad enough that Dad had left, now no one would be thinking of me, then a tap on my shoulder caused me to tilt my head toward the sandy-haired boy shuffling his feet, before handing me a bouquet of yellow tulips. Later that day Mary would scold him for picking her prize flowers, then later hug him for cheering me up.

I felt overwhelmed by the hardest moment of my life and did the same thing again. I held my face in my hands and allowed the silent sobs to take over. I sat on the porch step for a while.

A tap on my shoulder brought me out of my self-pity. I peered up from under my lashes to see Hunt standing there with a yellow tulip in his hand, just like the day we became best friends.

Before I uttered a single word, he sat down close enough to me that I could smell his intoxicating manly scent, his leg brushed mine and I forgot which sarcastic comment I was about to whip out. It’s like for a single moment I forgot about our time last night and wanted to keep lashing out at him for the past.

He kept his head low, “I failed today and all I wanted to do is hug you and tell you how much last night meant to me. I know we seemed to have chosen different paths in the past and I’m not much of asharing your feelings kind of guy,” he brushed back some of his hair and continued, “but I want to change that. I want more nights like last night, and...” He hesitated. Hunt seemed to have wanted to say something else but stopped himself.

“Hunt…” I began, words became hard to form in my mouth as his green eyes peered into my soul.

He continued, “I’m sorry, this must be a lot to take in. I don’t expect an answer right away. Take your time to think about it.” He placed his hand on my knee and tilted his head like he did when we were younger in an attempt to sweet talk me into doing something that we could possibly get into trouble doing. But when he made that face, I almost found it impossible to say no, for now, I would just remain quiet. He started speaking, “My day was shitty, so if you refuse…” He paused smirking like he did when he thought he was winning. “It’ll just be the worst day of my life and I don’t know if I can handle more bad news right now.”

I respected the fact that he’s giving me space to think about what he just dropped on me and that gave him an extra brownie point. My curiosity peaked and I asked, “If you want to talk about it, I’m a great listener.”

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