Page 36 of Under the Texas Sky
“What is this?” I can hear the anger in my voice, and I regret it. I don’t want to be mean to him, he doesn’t deserve it. His face flames red, and I know I’ve messed this up but my temper can’t be controlled now.
“I bought them for you. It’s–” He pauses, trying to find a way to explain himself. As if I don’t know what today is.
“Are you dumb? Seriously, Trent, why would you do this? We don’t have the money.” I’m pleading with him because I know today is important to both of us, and it’s been four months since we’ve been officially referring to each other as boyfriends. It’s a big deal.
I start to talk again, to take back calling him dumb. He’s not dumb, he’s anything but dumb. But he doesn’t give me the chance.
“It’s not we, it'sI.Idon’t have the money. Since I’m the one working while you gallivant around at school all day, because I actually want you to be able to do something with your life.”
Ouch.A knife plunging itself into my chest would hurt less than the words he just spoke aloud. Is that really how I’ve made him feel?
“Just forget it.” He snatches the presents from my seat and chucks them in the back without any further care. His face is closed off while I stare at him, nibbling on my bottom lip to keep myself from crying.
I get in the car, holding my backpack in my arms and feeling the outline of the box I was so excited to give to him. He doesn’t try to grab my hand, and I don’t offer it up. We ride in uncomfortable silence until he pulls into the gas station.
Trent gets out and opens the back door, snatching out the flowers and the chocolates as I watch him. I cover my mouthwith my hands, trying to force down the sob that’s climbing up, while he throws them into the trash can.
He walks inside, and I quickly get out and grab the flowers and the chocolates from the trash, stuffing them in my bag as soon as I get back in the car. Before I zip the bag up, I take in a deep breath of the floral scent.
I love them.
I love him.
CHAPTER 33
TRENT
It’s our second day at the resort, and Hunter is back to feeling one hundred percent. We enjoyed breakfast in bed this morning. A full spread of eggs, bacon, fruits, and bagels with cream cheese. Lying in bed in our pajamas and taking turns feeding each other bites from our plates was peaceful.
Before this trip, I would have believed that I could wake up each morning like this and it would be as close to perfect as life could get for me. But now, I’m not sure. Seeing Kian, in the flesh and not through a screen, is messing with my mind.
I need to tell Hunter that I saw him. It’s not going to do me any favors if I wait until we run into him again. I need to warn Hunter, because if Kian sees me, he’ll probably cause a scene. Not that I don’t deserve it after everything I put him through, but I would rather Hunter didn’t see that.
“Hey, baby?” I say.
He hums, acknowledging me, and lifts his dark eyes from his food to look at me.
“I have to tell you something.” I swallow the nerves.It’s not a big deal, I tell myself. Everyone runs into their exes at one point. It's a normal occurrence.
Hunter puts his fork down and takes my free hand in his, rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
Why is it when people ask what’s wrong, it’s always so hard to fight back tears?
“Yeah, everything is okay–” I pause and take a deep breath. “Actually, I don’t know if everything is okay. I don’t know…” I trail off, breaking eye contact.
“Hey, whatever it is, you can tell me,” he says. He’s so fucking sweet, and he doesn’t deserve someone like me.
“Kian’s here,” I murmur, keeping my eyes downcast at the white comforter.
His sharp inhale lets me know that he’s heard me.
“Do you want to leave?” he asks me.
Fuck, how can he ask that? Do I want to leave this luxury resort that I spent an arm and a leg for? No, it was supposed to be an amazing surprise for my boyfriend for Christmas. I don’t want to leave because I saw my ex who I haven’t seen in two and a half years. Of course I don’t want to.
I don’t. I’m a grown man and I can handle seeing my ex. I can.
“No, of course not, baby. I want to be here with you, but I wanted to tell you. No secrets, remember?”
