Page 46 of Oliver

The next day

HUNTER

I’m behind the counter at work, wiping down a glass when I see a familiar reflection through the mirror on the wall in front of me. My heart stutters at the sight of him, and then his gaze meets mine.

“Hello, Hunter.” I turn and take him in. He’s wearing a button up shirt and shorts and he’s gotten a nice tan since the last time I saw him. One that tells me he’s been in the sun quite a bit, and not just during our trip. His hair is more wild than usual, and his eyes are bright, but wary, hands in his pockets.

“Hello, Oli,” I reply. “Can I get you anything?” Fuck, I’ve missed him so much I want to jump over the counter and collide with him, touch him, taste him, feel him against me and make sure he’s real. But I don’t. Because I’m wary, too.

He steps closer to the counter. “I was hoping we could talk,” he says, in a more hushed voice.

“I’m working,” I reply, and start to walk away, even though I have nowhere to go. There’s one other person here right now and they’ve been taken care of.

“I quit my job,” he blurts out, making me stop in my tracks and turn around. He’s biting his lip and shuffling from foot to foot and it’s so damn adorable that I can't stop my lips from quirking into a soft smile. He’s running his fingers through his hair, eyes darting to the floor and then back to me. “I, uh, I just wanted you to know that.”

“You came all the way here to tell me you quit your job?” I say, and he flushes. God, I love teasing him.

He clears his throat. “Well, not just to tell you that. I…” he looks around, and even though he seems nervous as hell it doesn’t keep him from speaking. “I wanted to try and get you back.”

“Does Mom know you’re here?” I ask, frowning.

He nods. “She told me to find you.”

I gape. “She what?”

“She knows, Hunter.”

My heart thrashes. “You told her?”

He shakes his head. “She found your note.”

Holy fuck. No wonder I haven’t heard from her in a while. I talked with her the day after I got back to my apartment from Scarsdale but that was the last time. “Fuck, she must hate me,” I say, running my fingers through my hair.

“She’s upset and hurt, but I don’t think she could ever hate you,” Oliver tells me. “I think she needs time.”

I nod. I never wanted to hurt her. And I’ll always be sorry that my actions did hurt her, because I would never want to cause her pain, but I also know I can’t apologize for being with Oliver. No matter how bad of a person that makes me. I don’t know if that’s something she’ll ever be able to understand or forgive me for.

“You quit your job?” I ask, and he nods, a grin splitting his handsome face. God, I’ve missed that smile, my beautiful Oliver.

I scoot closer. “You said you wanted to try and get me back?” My voice is lower and more sultry and his cheeks flush again. He nods.

“Shoot,” I say.

“Fuck, you’re going to make me work for this, aren’t you?”

I grin, and it grows wider when he says, “I told my parents about you. I told them I’m gay.”

“And?” I ask, when all I really want to do is leap over the counter and kiss him. Fuck, yeah, Oli.

“They didn’t take it well.” For some reason that makes me smile wider.

“And what did you tell them about me?” I ask.

He looks me straight in the eyes and says, “That I love you, Hunter Price. That I was going to do my bloody best to get you to forgive me because I can’t imagine my life without you. That you are the best thing I’ve ever known. That you gave me the courage to be me, for the first time in my life, and to put myself first. That you taught me to love who I am.”

Tears sting my eyes as my chest tightens. “You really said that?”

He nods. “Well, maybe not all those words exactly, but the general idea.”

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