Page 10 of Baked

“Whoa, down boy.” His friend held up his hands. “Just tell me what’s going on. You gotta admit, I earned it. Especially after handling your skanky ass boxers. That’s real friendship right there, man.”

He had a point. He’d gathered Hunter’s stuff and brought it straight over. No questions asked.

“Fine.” Hunter gestured him over to one of the ratty old couches.

Skipping over a select few parts, he filled Luke in. Told him about Rachel’s scumbag dad, her black eye, and the guys the man owed money to. By the end of his explanation, his friend was fuming, his face red.

“You need anything, you just call me. You running late to pick her up, you call me. Anything. I’m serious. There is no way in hell any motherfucker is gonna lay a finger on her.”

Whoa. Hunter had never seen his friend like this before; he was pissed as all get out. Hunter didn’t know whether to be grateful or concerned.

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

They were both quiet for a minute. Until his friend asked, “You gonna tell her how you feel?”

That prompted a heavy sigh. “That obvious?”

Luke just rolled his eyes. “Come on, man. It’s been months. You think we’re all blind?”

Nine long ass months to be exact.

When he didn’t reply, his friend continued, “I know you don’t like to talk about it, but I think it’s important to note that Rachel’snotMadison.”

“I know that, dumbass,” he snapped.

“Do you though?” Luke let a single eyebrow raise. “Is there another reason you’ve waited this long to make a move on the woman then? Oranywoman, for that matter?”

Goddamn, this is another problem with having friends. They remember shit.

Shit he would much prefer to forget. Like Madison. His ex-wife. Queen of the fucking harpies. They were only together three years. Married two. But in that time, she managed to sleep with most of the male population of Woodvalley and the next town over.

“Look, it’s not that simple.” His friend didn’t get it.

“So break it down for me.” Luke leaned back into the brown cushions and made himself comfortable, his hands gesturing for Hunter to lay it all out for him.

Just thinking about Madison managed to kick up Hunter’s blood pressure. “You ever been cheated on, brother? You ever had someone who claimed to love you, lie to your damn face? For three fucking years?” Hunter felt his head shake as he squeezed his eyes shut. “You ever been so goddamn humiliated that you promise yourself you’ll do anything and everything to make sure you never,everfeel that way again?”

His friend stayed quiet. So quiet, it forced Hunter to open his eyes. When he twisted to look at the man beside him, he saw only sadness. Enough to make him stop and think for a moment. Enough for his anger to simmer down to a less flammable level.

He observed Luke scrub a shaky hand through his mop of brown hair, realizing for the first time how tired he looked. How dejected. It was easy to forget to check in with Luke. You could say he was the most closed off out of all of them. He was also the hardest to talk to. And when it came to talking about his past, like Hunter, he shut down. Completely.

“Cheated on, no.” His friend finally spoke. “Lied to my face by someone who claimed to love me? Yeah. Humiliated? Yeah. It ain’t fun. I get it. But you deserve to be happy, man. And you aren’t happy, are you?”

Pot, meet kettle.

“I like her,” he admitted, letting his head hang. “More than I have any right to.”

“That’s a good thing.”

“Is it?” He was the one pushing his hand through his spiky hair now. “Or is she the one who’s gonna break me? For real this time.”

He felt the couch move as his friend sat back up. A big hand came down on his back seconds later. “That, you gotta find out for yourself. But I have a feelingnottaking a chance is gonna leave you way more miserable than if you took one and got hurt.”

“You been watching Dr. Phil again?”

That earned him a punch on the arm. “Fuck off.” Luke stood. “Now, stop distracting me, I got shit to do.”

Hunter chuckled as he rose to his full height. “Yeah, yeah. You go play with your hose, buddy. You’re getting real good at it.”