Page 43 of 2204 Hunter Lane
The door flew open and Bambi appeared, red faced and puffy eyed. Her dark hair was wrapped into a wilted bun and she wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans.
“Hunter, oh my God –” she threw a hand over her heart, quickly turning away from me. Probably trying to hide the evidence of her tears.
“You scared me. What are you doing here?”
I swallowed back a snarky response and settled with what I came here to do in the first place. “I wanted to apologize.”
She looked taken aback, as if I’d told her I murdered someone or ran a fifty mile marathon in seven minutes.
“It’s um…” Her bottom lip quivered as she tried to conceal another wave of sadness. “It’s fine – can I please get by?”
But she already scurried along, making a B-line to the bathroom next door.
What the fuck’s happening right now?
I hung back near the wall, taking in the sound of more hushed weeping and sniffling. A pang of guilt flared in my chest.Did I do this? Was I really that bad last night?
I knew I was an asshole to her. She was right to think it was because of the big city nature she’d come from. Rebecca was a beauty and brains but also a manipulative bitch that captured my heart and let it burn.
A damn shame the city girls were always my go-to. The hookups were shameless knowing ninety percent of them were unattainable. Even if they wanted a relationship, I could chalk it off to the fact we lived in different states and it wouldn’t work. It was easy, and there was no commitment.
But Bambi was a rover in my life. Just when I thought I’d never see her again, she pranced right back in. Knowing she held the knowledge of my mom’s death, worked with Payton and Dad, fuck, she would be sticking around whether I liked it or not.
And right now, I didn’t want to live in the confined space of my own actions. I needed air, and judging from her rough morning, Bambi did too.
I stood waiting in the hall until she finally emerged from the bathroom with a light sweep of makeup over her face and significantly less eye bags.
“You’re still here,” she released, looking everywhere but me.
“Mhm.” I grumbled.
She forced the most painful smile I’d ever seen, attempting to move past me but I held an arm out, stopping her before she could hide again.
“How ‘bout I teach you some snowboarding today?”
This time she faced me, looking up with a downcast expression. “I can’t do those extreme hills, Hunter.”
“No, none of that.” I shook my head. “The kiddy hill.”
A light glimmer of amusement twinkled in her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“You said you wouldn’t be caught dead there.”
I shrugged. “At the risk of lookin’ like an idiot… could be fun.”
Her expression remained contemplative for a moment before she nodded in response. “Okay then, I’ll go get changed.”
She hurried into the guest room and shut the door, leaving me to my hopes and prayers that today’s snowboarding lesson wouldn’t ridicule me.
Please, God, don’t draw any little kids my way.
Chapter Nineteen
Marley
All the little kids were swarming around Hunter.
I don’t know why they liked him so much, but a whole horde of children camped around him like he was a superstar.
