“What did he say?” I asked.
Hunter’s mouth curved, but there was no humor in it. “That he still wants to punch me.”
“That sounds right.” I nodded, and a hint of a smile curved my lips.
“He also said he won’t stand in your way, whatever you choose,” he added.
My eyes burned.
“He said if you choose me, we’ll figure out the team side after. With Tatum. Dr. Patel. Wren. Boundaries. Whatever needs to happen.” Hunter swallowed. “But only if you choose it. I’m done making decisions for you and pretending it’s protection.”
I looked away because if I kept looking at him, I was going to cry again, and I was tired of crying. “I was so angry at you,” I blurted.
“I know.” He looked completely and utterly defeated, like he knew what I was referring to, but I pressed on anyway.
“You walked out and left me there with my parents and all these impossible choices, and I felt like you had decided for both of us that it was too hard.”
“I did.” His voice was low. “Not because I didn’t love you. Because I did. I was scared you’d look at the damage this relationship caused and realize I wasn’t worth it.”
My throat ached.
“Hunter, I’m not her. I’m not Amy,” I said softly.
His eyes closed for a second. When he opened them, something raw looked back at me. “I know you aren’t, Catherine.I’m sorry I let old fear make choices in a relationship that had nothing to do with her.”
I wrapped my arms around myself.
Hunter’s hands flexed at his sides, but he still did not reach for me.
“I love you, Catherine,” he said.
The words landed differently out loud. In the letter, they had felt impossible. Here, with him standing in front of me, they felt terrifyingly real.
“I love you,” he said again, quieter. “I love you enough to face your father. I love you enough to do this properly. I love you enough not to ask you to lose yourself so I can keep you.”
The tears came then. One slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.
“I love you too,” I whispered.
His breath left him like I had hit him.
“But I need you to understand something,” I said, my voice shaking. “I can’t be with someone who disappears when things get hard. I can’t spend my life waiting to see if fear wins every time there’s a cost.”
“It won’t. I can promise I won’t choose fear for both of us again.”
Hunter met me halfway. His hand came to my waist slowly, like he was giving me time to change my mind. My fingers curled into his shirt, and for one second, we just stood there breathing the same air. Then he lowered his head and pressed his lips to mine. This time, he felt familiar. He kissed me softly at first, muttering how much he missed me. I ran my fingers through his hair, missing the soft strands beneath my fingers. Then the kiss grew deeper as hunger built low in my belly. I made a soft sound into his mouth, and his arm tightened around me.
“Catherine,” he breathed.
“I need you,” I whispered.
His forehead rested against mine. “Are you sure?”
“No,” I said, because it was the truth. “But I choose you anyway.”
The green and gold in his eyes swirled together into an intoxicating deepness that reeled me in. He kissed me again, and this time, he moved us back toward the couch. He touched me like he had missed me with his whole body. Like every inch of space from the past week had been something he needed to erase carefully, with his hands at my waist, my back, my face. I kissed him harder.
That was all it took for the hunger to take over. He took off my cover-up as I moved my hands to the hem of his T-shirt. I pulled it over his head as he pulled the cover-up over mine. We both paused for a moment, taking each other in. I took in every ripple of his muscles.
