Page 40 of Hot Shot
“Yeah.” I trail off, lost in thought, trying to decide how much to tell him.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Hunter says quietly as if he can read my mind and knows how difficult this is for me.
“I know but I feel like I should be straight with you.” I pick up my coffee and walk over to the couch taking a seat.
“I thought we were going to be a thing, a couple. You know the whole friends-to-lovers trope that’s popular in romance novels? Yeah, I thought that would be us,” I say with a sad smile. “I swear all the signs were there over the years. Earlier this year, I got tired of waiting and confronted him about it.”
I shrug, trying to push down the tears that want to slip out. “He told me I was mistaken. Our friendship fell apart after that.” I stare down at my untouched coffee in my hands. I hate talking about what happened between EJ and me.
“Asshole. Where is he now?”
“Settle down, tiger.” I pat his arm. Yep, definitely can’t tell Hunter that EJ is an NHL player or which team he plays for. That would not end well. For either of them.
Hunter startles me when he pulls me into his arms. “Thank you for telling me.”
I nod, letting myself sink into his embrace. Trying to will away the tears that are still threatening to fall.
I wonder if I’ll ever be able to talk or even think about what happened between EJ and me without feeling like I’m going to fall apart all over again.
“My parents were never married,” he blurts out after a few moments of silence. “They had an affair.”
I look up at him, waiting to see what else he says.
“My father was married at the time. Hell, still is for all I know. My mother didn’t want me. I was an oops. She had an affair with a coworker—my father—and got pregnant. She was already almost forty and hadn’t planned to have kids. Yet here I am. We lived in Steamboat Springs for years because that’s where she was working when she got pregnant with me.”
“Fuck, Hunter,” I whisper.
“I’ve never told anyone that.” He swallows and I lean into him, trying to comfort him like he comforted me. “When we moved to Minneapolis, it was so my mom could dump me with her family to raise me.”
“Why didn’t you stay with your father in Colorado?”
He runs a hand through his hair. “He didn’t want me. Mom was done being trapped by parenthood. I was ten. Ten. My aunt and uncle raised me.” He lets out a bark of laughter. “Technically my cousin and his wife. My mom was the youngest in her family. Having me at forty meant that her older siblings’ kids, her nieces and nephews, were already grown.”
Hunter sighs and I reach up to stroke his face, staying quiet. I can’t even imagine what it feels like to know neither of your parents wanted you.
It was hard enough thinking my father didn’t want me most of my life. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if my mom didn’t want me either.
“They’re the ones who encouraged me to skate and play hockey. I’d played in Colorado but mostly recreationally. I loved it. They’re the ones who noticed. Who paid for private coaches, traveling teams. I wasn’t even their son but it didn’t matter to them. I wouldn’t be here without Amanda and Mark.” His voice trails off and he clears his throat.
Fuck.My heart breaks for him. “That’s rough, Hunter. I can’t even imagine. I don’t—“
“It’s okay.” He pulls me closer. “We should go see your aunt. She’s expecting us.”
“Yeah, okay. Thank you for telling me. And for listening to me.” I stand, putting my hand out for Hunter. He takes it and gets to his feet.
“Always. I’ll always be here if you need to talk.”
We keep holding hands as we make our way to Judy’s.
Friends hold hands, right?
Maybe I need to stop overthinking and see where things go because for the first time in a long time, I feel relaxed and settled.
Like I’m right where I’m supposed to be.
Which strangely enough doesn’t scare me.
Chapter seventeen
