Peyton’s hair is braided casually, and her yellow top and black pants are nearly outshined by her gorgeous strappy shoes. She looks nice and relaxed from her time away, so the opposite of how I’m feeling. I pick up the bag of food and invite them both to follow me into the kitchen.
“I’m not sure where to start,” I say as I take out plates from the cabinet. “Hunter and I have always been undefined. You both know that. Nothing’s changed there.”
“Nothing?” Peyton asks in disbelief. “You certainly look different from when I left.”
“What do you mean?” I glance down at my track pants and the red and gold Fire sweatshirt of Hunter’s that I’ve fallen in love with. “I’m messy. See?”
“You’re wearing your housemate’s clothes.” Peyton tugs at the hem of the sweatshirt. “Last I checked, people don’t normally do that unless…”
“Unless they’re fucking,” Ashley sums up with a wide grin. “Oh, come on, Winter, just kill the suspense already, would you? I’ve been ridiculously patient this past week while I waited for our bestie to return home.”
I take a moment to arrange the nachos that Peyton brought over onto a plate, which I then place on a serving tray I find buried in Hunter’s pantry.
Finger food is very important to have on hand during a hockey game. It helps keep me occupied while I’m stressing over who has the puck and praying the other team doesn’t score.
“Hunter and I…” I look up from the tray to find my two oldest friends watching me intently. “We kissed. More than that one time after the game.”
Peyton’s eyes brighten with interest. “So he’s not ‘just a housemate’ anymore.”
“Technically, he’s your employer,” Ashley says. “Right?”
“Yeah, that doesn’t sound very good,” I say. “I doubt the pet sitting agency had kissing in mind when they hired me to work here.”
“Don’t worry about all of that,” Ashley says as if I’m talking about a little rainstorm.
I carry the tray over to the couch, and the three of us sit down with our food.
“I feel like I’m missing something,” Peyton says to me as her dark eyes study me. “Am I?”
I let out a slow breath. “Yes. There’s something I haven’t told you. I wasn’t ready to share before, but I am now.”
I launch into what happened to me in New York, and I barely stop for breath until I’ve finished the story of my assault.
Peyton hugs me, and Ashley wipes tears from her eyes.
Peyton’s eyes are now blazing with anger. “I knew you were hurting over something. I should have come right out and asked you what was going on.”
“You practically did do that,” I say. “But I wasn’t ready to talk about it.”
“Oh, Win.” Ashley puts her arms around me. “How awful.”
And I know she gets it—it hits so close to home for her.
Ashley is a total badass, but she came from a home of abuse, so it means the world when she says she’s proud of me.
“The way you handled your home life growing up was so courageous,” I tell her. “It’s always inspired me.”
“You know what’s funny?” she says to me. “Hearing about your life in Manhattan and how successful you’ve been on your own helped me immensely. Moving there at eighteen was the epitome of courageous, Win.”
I laugh. “I think it was more the epitome of clueless. I honestly didn’t know any better. If I had, I probably would have been too afraid to go.”
“You’re so strong to have gone to the police,” Ashley says. “Especially after he threatened you.”
“I’ll need even more strength if I’m called to testify,” I say. “They’re trying to bring him to trial.”
“I hope that bastard gets convicted,” Peyton says with feeling.
“Did you tell Hunt?” Ashley asks.
