I need some clarity.
I want to convince myself that I can get over Kaitlyn, but I’m afraid since it hasn’t happened already, it never will.
How pathetic is that? Destined to pine over my twin’s girlfriend.
“I’m sorry, Bailey,” he says, and an apology is the last thing I expected to hear when I joined Hunter.
A short, uneasy laugh escapes me. “What the hell do you have to be sorry about?” I mean, besides the way he betrayedmy trust and manipulated me, but I’m assuming that’s not what he’s getting at right now.
I love Hunter, but he’s not the perfect angel everyone thinks him to be.
Is it wrong of me to want to hear him admit how he was wrong?
“For the way I acted when you came back. I’m glad you’re back, and I shouldn’t have said what I did, but I was—Iamangry because you have no idea what it’s been like since you left,” he admits, correcting himself. I fight against the white, hot anger rising inside of me.
I will not get angry.
Nothing good ever happens when I let my temper rule my actions.
“It’s fine. I deserved it,” I say, opting for the safe answer instead of pouring gasoline to let the fire consume us.
“No, you didn’t.”
I don’t want to argue with him, so instead, I say nothing.
The night is filled with silence, and it seems we’re stuck in the same boat of not knowing what to say, despite there being so much left unsaid between us.
“You know, you’re different.”
“How so?”
I turn to look at him, and his green eyes meet mine, the truth reflected in them. “You’re quieter, less rash with your decisions. You listen more than you used to.”
“Is that bad?”
“It’s not bad. Just different.” Hunter clears his throat. “So Javi . . . how did you guys meet?”
It’s not a secret how I met him, especially since I already confessed to Mom and Dad, but I guess I thought someone would’ve told Hunter.
“He tried to steal from me,” I answer, my tone soft as thememory of that night plays through my mind. He was terrified and alone.
“What? How?”
“I . . . I was staying in a camp. He thought I was asleep, and tried to swipe my bag. It had everything left from here in it. His parents were dead, and his aunt and uncle saw him as a burden. They made sure he knew it too, so he ran away. Javi was by himself for two days before he found me.”
It hurts to think of the black eye he had and the fresh burns on his skin. It took Javi a couple of weeks to not flinch any time I turned toward him.
Hunter blinks, shaking his head. “I don’t understand. A camp? Like?—”
“A camp for the homeless,” I clarify, and a flurry of emotions pass over his features, ranging from shock to horror to disbelief.
“You were living in a homeless camp?” His voice breaks, and I look away, because I can’t stand the way he’s looking at me right now. “We were that terrible you chose to be homeless instead of coming back?”
It’s not that they were terrible—I was ashamed. I was a kid whose heart had been broken by lies and secrets. Even when I discovered the truths were actually manipulated lies? I didn’t know how to come home.
“Hunter, it’s really fucking complicated.” I sigh, dragging my hands over my face.So much for clearing my head.“I want to explain, but Ican’t.”
“Can you at least explain why JJ was the one you called?”
