Chapter Seventeen
Jillian
Four years later
Iglanced down at myphone. Where the fuck was Jo? She was supposed to have been here half an hour ago to pick me up. My texts had gone unread, unanswered, and now I was starting to get pissed. She knew exactly how I felt about coming back to Ocean View even if it was for her wedding. I glanced around the now deserted airport terminal as a burning rage began to build inside me. My only feasible option was to book an Uber now. I grabbed my suitcase and started toward the exit as I hit my sister’s name on my phone. Great! Straight to voicemail.
I hadn’t been back here in four years. That was, of course, my own doing. I had fallen for a man I had no right falling for, and then I had up and left him without saying goodbye. I never spoke of him to Jo, and the one time she dared mention his name, I told her if she did again it again, I would disown her. I’m sure Hutch hated me, although I didn’t hate him, but I couldn’t blame the guy after what I did to him. I told him I loved him, told him we could make our relationship work, and then disappeared without telling him why.
I was an asshole of the biggest kind.
Just as I began to scroll through my phone looking for the Uber app, I heard a soft cough, and glanced up. Standing in front of me was the one person I had hoped not to see for at least a day or two. He had his arms folded across his massive chest, his biceps looking bigger than ever, his blond hair styled to perfection, and his dark brown eyes narrowed into angry slits. The scowl on his face was one I hadn’t seen in years, but he had every right to direct it toward me. After all, I had broken his heart when I promised him that I wouldn’t.
“Hutch, what are you doing here?”
“Let’s go, Jillian.”
What the hell? “Why would you be here for me?” I gripped the handle of my suitcase as he reached for it. “Jo was supposed to pick me up.” Why did I sound so lame right now?
A growl escaped his chest. “Because she has some dumb idea that we’re going to get back together, which”—Hutch ripped the handle from my hand—“is never going to fucking happen because I hate you with every fiber of my being.” He sounded so angry, so dark, that I wondered if I had sent him back to where he had been before I had known him. Back to when he was so mad at the world, he wouldn’t even look at anyone. “Let’s fucking go, or I’ll leave your ass here, which honestly, is what you deserve,” Hutch warned.
I had to run to keep up with him. His legs were a powerhouse of muscles as he strode out the sliding doors to where a truck was parked. He whipped open the passenger door so he could shove my suitcase behind the seat. “Get in,” he grunted, “or you’re walking.”
I had never seen Hutch this angry before. Not even when Knox taunted him at the carnival or when I came to see him unannounced at the shop. I climbed up into the truck, making sure to hook my seatbelt into place when I shut the door behind me. I glanced over at Hutch to find him white-knuckling the steering wheel and glaring at the windshield like it told him his mother was a whore.
“Don’t say a word,” he hissed between clenched teeth.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Don’t stare at me like that either.”
I had hoped for more time to prepare for this. Not that I had any idea what I would tell Hutch when the time came because he would never understand. I had never wanted to hurt him. I loved him, I still did, but what I did was wrong, and he didn’t deserve to be hurt that way.
“You...you...fuck.” Hutch slammed his fist against the steering wheel. “I shouldn’t have picked you up.” He shook his head as he looked over at me. “This was a fucking bad idea.” His nostrils flared. “I should drop you back off, and you can call a taxi.” He started to slow down, but then seemed to change his mind. “Someone might hurt you. It’s late and dark outside,” he argued with himself. I reached my hand out to touch his arm, but Hutch pulled away. “Don’t you fucking dare, Jills,” he seethed.
The nickname caused my hair to stand up on my neck, and I pulled my legs up to my chest to curl up into a ball. “I’m so fucking sorry.” I choked back a sob. I pressed my face into my knees and tried to make it all disappear.
