Page 50 of Shades of You

Hunter stood beside me, his gaze fixed on the deer with a softness that mirrored my own awe. For a moment, we simply stood there, sharing this magical moment.

“Move quietly,” I said, tiptoeing in front of him and heading toward them. “If we’re quiet enough, we can getclose.” I placed my steps with care, barely daring to breathe. But hearing nothing behind me, I scowled.

He’s not coming with me?

I’d thought he was as entranced as me, but maybe I was wrong. Unable to help the irritation flickering through me, I spun around with a huff.

And smashed right into a solid wall of hard, male flesh. I squeaked, a high-pitched sound that sent the deer bounding away.

“Dammit, Hunter!” I tried to scold him, but my annoyance melted as soon as I saw the surprise on his face.

“Sorry,” he said with a sheepish grin. “I wasn’t expecting you to stop like that. You need to hold your fist up and give me a little warning, okay?”

Several military and action movies flitted through my mind. Scenes where the characters had done exactly that to warn each other. “Oh,” I said, regaining my composure. “I didn’t realize you were such a ghost.” Which brought another realization. He’d been behind me, completely silent, the whole time. The man was contradiction after contradiction, all wrapped up in an intoxicating, utterly handsome bundle.

Hunter’s smile turned sly, and his dark eyes glinted with mischief. “It was part of my job to move quietly. Being light on my feet has its advantages, you know? Such as crashing into beautiful women.”

The humor in his tone was infectious, and I laughed. It was a reminder of how much we had both changed, yet the connection between us felt as warm as ever. “Guess you still have some bad-boy tricks up your sleeve,” I teased, and my heartbeat quickened at his proximity. His black shirt was sleeveless and showcased his huge, tattooed arms.

“Only the useful ones,” he said softly, and the way hisgaze lingered on mine sent a clear message—that he’d picked up on my inventory of his assets.

We resumed our walk along the sandy path that wound through the scrubby habitat. Hunter joined me to walk alongside as the track widened, and above us, the cry of a lone osprey pierced the serene sky. The sound of waves grew louder as we headed toward the shore. Now that we’d scared off the deer, I searched for another topic and settled on the obvious. “How did it go with Evan? The catch session?”

A wide, unguarded smile broke across Hunter’s face, lighting up his eyes. “It was good. Better than good.” He kicked at a small shell on the path, sending it skittering into the brush. “I mean, there were a few moments when it felt like the old days.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. There was this one pitch…” His expression turned wistful for a second as he recounted a fastball Evan had thrown.

My heart unfurled at his obvious relief. As if with every word he spoke, Hunter was rebuilding the bridge between his present and the past he’d tried so hard to outrun. Which brought me to the other subject I’d wanted to broach since the day he’d walked back into my life. Now was the perfect time, though this topic was sure to eliminate the happy smile on his face.

As we passed through two stunted pine trees, we emerged onto a shelly, coarse beach. “Can I ask”—I paused to swallow before pressing on—“about that day with Evan. The diving accident. I’d like to hear your side if you’re okay talking about it.”

Sure enough, the smile plummeted off his chiseled face, and for a moment, I regretted asking. But that daywas also an ordeal he needed to work through if he was ever to move past it. He nodded. “Yeah. Let’s sit down.”

We found a driftwood log that time and tides had smoothed, nestled on the fringe where beach met thicket. As we settled onto the sun-bleached wood, the rhythmic lapping of the gentle waves played a soothing, contrasting backdrop to the silence stretching between us. I held my breath, waiting for him to fill it with his truth.

“The whole thing was supposed to be a surprise for Evan. He was expecting to make his Major League debut that season.” Not looking at me, his fingers toyed with a splinter on the log. “I wanted to give him something special, you know? Something to show how damn proud I was.”

I studied his profile, the way his jaw tightened. There was so much love there, mixed with an ache that seemed to stretch across the years. “So I had this MVP trophy made at a local shop. Shiny and grand, just like Evan’s future was supposed to be.” A bitter laugh escaped him, and he finally met my eyes. They were filled with so many shades of regret. “I gave it to this guy I knew, Bruce, who did commercial diving, and we set up a plan. He was to place it in the deep room of theBensonwreck for me. Evan and I loved diving that thing, and I’d always wanted to enter the deep room at the stern. Bruce and I figured out the day he’d place the trophy, and I scheduled the trip on our backup boat,Indigo Heaven, for the following day with Evan. During the dive, I was going to present it to him. Like a secret celebration beneath the sea, just between us.”

The image painted itself in my mind—the two brothers, suspended in the silence of a wreck I’d dived many times myself, sharing a moment of triumph. It should have been perfect.

“But that’s not what happened,” Hunter said, his voice hushed and tight now.

The weight of those words hung heavy in the air between us. I felt it in my chest, a pressure that made it hard to breathe. The pain in Hunter’s expression was raw, and it cracked something open inside me—something warm and fierce. I reached for his hand, threading my fingers through his. Rough and calloused, they closed around mine with gentle strength.

“Hey,” I said softly, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’m here for you.”

He turned his hand to clasp mine fully, his thumb brushing against my skin. His defenses eased to reveal the boy I once knew—the one who had both a shy, caring nature and a devil-may-care attitude. But I also saw the man he had become, the one multiple tragic experiences had shaped.

And with stunning clarity, I realized I was falling in love. Not with the boy from my memories or the idea of a second chance. I was falling for the real, flawed, incredible man in front of me.

“We reached the deep room… but the trophy wasn’t there.” Hunter’s voice held a note of bewilderment, even now. He lost himself in the memory, his free hand idly working a stick around his fingers as he stared at the horizon. “I looked everywhere, Brenna. It was supposed to be right there and easily visible. That deep room is over one hundred fifty feet down, so Bruce made a point to tell me our air would go quickly and we needed to grab the trophy and get back out. But all I found was empty space and the eerie, dark quiet of the wreck.”

“Then what?” I urged gently, my heart beating a steady, fast rhythm.

Hunter eased out a long sigh, still weaving the stickaround his fingers. “I went deeper into the ship, thinking maybe Bruce had put it somewhere else. Hell, I don’t know what I thought. Evan followed. But the farther we went, the more twisted the corridors became. Before I knew it, we were lost.”

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