Page 56 of Well That Happened

It’s Hunter.

Of course, it’s Hunter.

He doesn’t say anything at first. Just stands a few feet away, arms crossed, eyes on the yard like he’s trying not to burn a hole through the grass.

“You gonna give me grief too?” I ask, not turning.

“No,” he says.

I blink. Glance over. He’s not looking at me, exactly. Just past me.

“But,” he adds, “I told you I don’t want you hooking up with my teammates.”

I scoff. “Sorry, Dad.”

He turns then, eyes sharp. “What the fuck were you doing with Caleb upstairs?”

“That’s none of your damn business,” I snap.

He steps closer. “Happening right under my own roof… you’re kind of making it my business, Ri.”

My breath catches.

He’s close now. Too close. The porch light hits his cheek just right—jaw tight, dark stubble, a faint smudge of someone else’s blood on his shirt.

“You don’t have to like it,” I say, voice steady. “You don’t have tolikeanything I do.”

His jaw ticks. “That’s not how it works.”

“No?” I challenge. “Then how does it work, Hunter? Do you get to control me because you made some promise to my brother?”

He says nothing.

“Because I’m not yours to protect.”

“Iknowthat.”

“Do you?” I step forward, chest brushing his. “Because you’ve been acting like I’m a bomb about to go off, and I’ve got news for you—I’m not your responsibility.”

He exhales hard, gaze flicking to my mouth.

“Don’t look at me like that if you don’t want something from me.”

“I don’t,” he says. But it’s a whisper.

And a lie.

I see it in his eyes.

Then—

Footsteps.

The door opens.

Someone stumbles out, laughing too loud.

And just like that, it breaks.

---