With that, I walk away with my head held high. This time, Caleb’s laughter is louder and I’m smiling.
Damn it.
Chapter 24
Beau
“You’re quiet tonight,”Hunter murmurs, pulling me deeper into his body.
“I have a lot on my mind,” I respond, watching my fingers create invisible trails on his chest.
“You want to share?” he asks as I look up at him.
“Did Izzy calm down?”
“Some, yeah. Dad pulled strings at the college. They’re going to allow her to do some of her class tests via teleconference. It will be oral exams and Dad had to donate a buttload of money to the college, but it calmed Izzy.”
“Good. She’s worked too hard to get behind.”
“Yeah. Now, are you going to tell me what’s really on your mind, sweetheart.”
“I’m tired of the way our relationship is going, Hunter.”
I see real fear on his face, then it slowly morphs into pain. I frown. At first, it doesn’t occur to me how it sounds—probably because I know what I want to say. I move my hand to caress his cheek, but before I can say a word, he speaks.
“You’re not walking away Beau. Whatever you don’t like, we’ll work together to fix, but there’s no going back for me or you.”
“Can you let me speak before you piss me off and this becomes a fight instead of a?—”
“I can’t. Jesus, woman. I know I fucked up after our first night together. If you don’t realize that there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t repeatedly kick my own ass, you’re wrong. I do. I regret it more than you will ever know. It wasn’t you. It’s all on me. I was so fucking jaded and despite how long it had been, I still felt the burn and bitterness of the shit Robin pulled. I couldn’t see what was right in front of me. I see it now, though. I saw it from the moment you began to walk out of my room that day. I know I can’t go back and fix everything, Beau. All I’m asking is that you give me a chance to fix whatever has you worried right now. I can’t lose you. I love you. My son loves you and whether you admit it or not, you love us both. This thing between us is too perfect to walk away from. We were meant to be.”
Hunter’s words hit me like a ton of bricks. I wasn’t expecting them. I know he cares about me. Despite everything, I do know how much he regrets the way things went down after our first night together. He sits up in bed, pressing his back against the headboard and pulling me up with him. His hands go to the side of my face. “Hunter?—”
“Don’t throw us away Beau. Please, God, just give me?—”
“Hunter, stop. You didn’t let me finish explaining. I don’t want to break up with you,” I finally manage to get out, my hand curled around his neck. I can feel the way his pulse is pounding from my hold. I’ll be honest, I doubted his declaration of love as he said it. Yet right now, listening to him, watching his reactions, and hearing the panic in his voice, those doubts bleed away.
“You don’t?”
“No. I know you kind of strong-armed your way into my house, but if I truly didn’t want you here, you wouldn’t be.”
“I wouldn’t?” he questions, as I fight not to smile.
“No, you wouldn’t. And as much as I love Ty?—”
“You love my son.”
“He’s a very easy kid to love, Hunter.”
“He is. It’s just the fact that you do that makes my heart feel at ease for the very first time in fucking forever.”
His words make my eyes sting with unshed tears. To push them back, I lean up and kiss his lips gently. He tries to deepen the kiss, but I pull away slightly, needing to finish what I want to say. “What I was trying to tell you is that as much as I love him, I wouldn’t have spent all this time decorating his room and turning it into his space if I didn’t want you both to stay here and build a future with me.”
“Then, why aren’t you happy. I don’t understand. Is it this bullshit with Robin? Fuck, if you want, the three of us will leave. Ty would hate it at first, but he’d understand. We can start over anywhere you want, far away from that crazy bitch.”
“We’re not leaving our home because of that skank.”
“Then—”
