“That’s my line.”
His lips curve up as he lies down and rolls onto his side. “Well, tonight it’s my line.”
“There’s not much to tell. I went to work, even though I didn’t want to. And then when I got home, I came straight to bed.”
He hums. “Yeah? Anything interesting happen at work tonight?”
I shake my head but then stop. “Well, someone won on a scratch-off ticket.”
Hunter grins. “Big winner?”
“He wishes. It was only $100, but he acted like it was the best thing that had ever happened to him.”
Although I guess $100 could probably help me right now too, so who am I to judge?
“I’ve never played a scratch-off ticket before.”
My eyes nearly bug out. “Really?”
He gives a one-shoulder shrug. “No. They don’t really have any place around here that sells them. And I never cared to drive into the city to get them.”
“What do you consider ‘the city’?” I ask.
“The town next to us.”
“What’s the population there?”
Hunter smirks. “Dunno, like seven thousand or so.”
I nearly laugh. Not quite, but almost. “That’s a city to you?”
“Sure. How many people are there where you live?”
“More than seven thousand. Probably a hundred thousand.”
It doesn’t feel like it, though. There are so many people and not a soul around. It’s just me, living on my own, breathing on my own, existing on my own. Except for the few minutes of each day I get with Hunter. He’s the only person who makes me feel seen.
I can see hundreds of people a day, but no one notices me like he does.
He hums. “Not sure I’d want to be around that many people.”
“It’s lonely,” I say without really meaning to. “You wouldn’t think it is, but…”
Hunter sobers, his eyes softening. “That makes sense. All those people and no one really sees each other. No one really knows each other.”
I nod. “Exactly that.”
My eyes are drooping now, and I can barely keep them open. Hunter must notice because he grins. “Why don’t you get some sleep? Text me when you wake up, okay?”
“Alright,” I say, finally losing the battle with my eyes as they fall shut.
“Goodnight, Theo.”
“Goodnight, Hunter.”
The last thing I hear before sleep takes me is the chime of my phone as he ends the call.
Chapter 15
