“Cute enough we can go surfing?” I ask, giving him a sweet smile.
“Will it just be us, or . . .” Hunter trails off, his face shuttering when he answers his own question.
He rolls off me, pulling away both figuratively and literally. I don’t want to fight with him about Bailey again, but I think if they just talked, the twins would be able to work out whatever it was that happened between them.
“Or Mira, Bailey, and Javi are going to join us?”
It might have been better if JJ and Marley were here to be an additional buffer, but my mom told me this morning they were driving to Charlotte to grab some of Thalia’s portraits from storage.
“I don’t want to.”
I have never heard those words come out of Hunter’s mouth before. I swear, normally I have to drag him out of the water, and I’ve even wondered if he’s actually part fish. The only reason he doesn’t want to is because Bailey will be with us.
What the hell happened between them? Could it have really been so awful?
“Babe, please? It’ll be fun, and if it’s not, then we can come back inside,” I promise, sitting up to look at Hunter as he closes his eyes.
I feel awful for pushing him to talk to Bailey. I know Hunt better than anyone, which is how I know if Bailey leaves before they have a chance to talk, he’ll never be able to forgive himself without the closure a conversation would bring.
“You can’t avoid him forever.”
“Except I can. I’m sure he’s planning on leaving the second that kid is fixed. He made it pretty fucking clear it’s the only reason he came back.”
My mind is churning, regretting having never asked Hunter if something happened between him and Bailey. I think I’ve been afraid to know the real reason Bailey called JJ instead of his twin, but I’ve never wanted to ask. I hate hearing Hunter talk this way about Bailey when I know all he’s asked for the last few years is for his brother to come home, but this isn’t adding up.
“Does it matter why B came back? He’s here now, and for the time being, he won’t be going anywhere.”
Hunter sits up, a long exhale escaping him. “I’ll gosurfing, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to talk to him,” he says, his gaze slow to meet mine.
“Sure, whatever you say,” I agree, unable to help my wide smile from forming. It still hasn’t faded by the time Hunter’s changed into his board shorts, and shows no signs of budging as we approach the shed behind the house where their surfing equipment is stored. It’s more like a separate garage, but we’ve always called it the shed.
“So can you do cool tricks?” I hear Javi ask Bailey when Hunter opens the door for me.
“I used to. Guess we’ll find out if I still can,” he answers, and I can practically feel the tension radiating off Hunter as Javi and Bailey glance at us.
“I was starting to wonder if you’d ever show up,” Mirabelle says, her bump far more noticeable in a swimsuit. She’s had a rough go of it with morning sickness so far, but I’m happy she’s feeling well enough to go out on the water with us.
“I can go back to bed if you’re going to complain,” Hunter says, his tone lighter than I expected.
This is going to go great. I know it.
I move toward Javi after grabbing my board, while Hunter helps his sister by carrying her board out for her as she puts on sunscreen. I don’t miss the way he glances at Bailey. “Javi, do you know how to swim?” I ask, crouching down in front of him.
“No.” Javi lowers his gaze to the ground. It’s such a drastic change in his demeanor from when I first got here, but I don’t know what I did wrong.
Bailey’s arm brushes against mine as he mimics my position, and I hope the breath of air I inhale is subtle enough for him to miss it, as my body jolts from the fleeting contact.
“What’s wrong? You couldn’t stop talking a few minutes ago,” Bailey says, and Javi shrugs.
I try not to focus on the scars scattered across his arms and the sadness they make me feel for him. “He doesn’t like me,” he whispers, and the only possibility is Hunter.
“Everything okay?” Mirabelle asks, noticing something’s wrong. Bailey rests his hands on Javi’s shoulders, turning the little boy to face him.
“Buddy, it’s not you he doesn’t like, okay? It’s me. He’s mad at me, but not at you,” B reassures him, but Javi doesn’t appear convinced, based on the wariness I can still see lingering.
“Is he one of the people who hurt you?” Javi asks, and I swear my heart stops beating for a few moments.Is that what Bailey told him? That we hurt him?
Bailey goes as still as a statue, and I try to wrap my head around the kernel of information I’ve just gathered.
