Page 52 of 2204 Hunter Lane
“Wow,” I stated. “This is… you built this?”
He nodded, setting his jacket on the couch before walking to the fridge. “All by my lonesome.”
This was incredible. It looked like every mancave I’d ever seen from past flings, only more elevated and less… trashy.
I crouched down to glance over the countless medals and inspected the bronze, gold and silver awards.
“Which sport?”
“Baseball.” He replied, taking a sip of his water. “I got a scholarship to play for college.”
Huh.“Do you still play?”
“Got no reason to.”
“But… you played it for school?”
“School’s expensive, sweetheart. Iowa State offered me a free-ride, would’ve been dumb not to take it.”
I couldn’t argue that. To this day, I was still paying off my student debt and it felt never-ending. Heck, if I got a scholarship to play curling I wouldn’t turn it down.
“Were you good?”
He shrugged. “Could’ve been. I dropped it after a year.”
My mind circled around why that could be. If he got a free-ride, he would’ve had to have some skill. And from all these younger photos, he seemed… happy.Drop it, Marley. Don’t pry.
“I’m gon’ take a shower but, remote’s on the table if you wanna watch Netflix or,” he pointed to the array of liquor bottles near the couch, “indulge.”
A laugh escaped my throat as I moved towards the alcohol inspecting his wide selection.
“Just don’t touch the Johnnie Walker at the bottom. I’m savin’ that for somethin’ important.”
My eyes glanced to the unopened scotch that sat hidden behind a bunch of other bottles with mismatched caps and peeling labels.
“What are you saving it –”
But he had already disappeared behind the bathroom door.
“…for.”Alrighty then.
My legs carried me back to the medals and picture frames, this time scanning the photos encased in the square shells.
There was a picture of a small blonde boy wearing elf ears, standing alongside a bearded man who I could already tell was younger Dex.
The next photo was a picture of Hunter in his baseball uniform, significantly older than the first picture.
But my eyes were cemented on the last frame that had a teenage Hunter wrapping his arms around a blonde woman who shared identical eyes.
It looked like a candid photograph where they sat atop a hill, the blonde woman wearing a tennis skirt and pink trainers while Hunter wore gym shorts and a blue t-shirt.
His smile was so bright. Brighter than I’d ever seen since knowing him. I thought the first time I saw him smile was the most precious thing in the world since he rarely did it, just like Dex. But in this picture he looked like a completely different person… like a boy whose world was complete.
This woman… she had to be his mom. They looked too similar for it not to be. The same eyes, the same smile, the same redness in their cheeks. Her hair was curled down past her collarbone and she held teenage Hunter like he was made of glass.
I felt my pulse quicken as a glossy hue swept over my eyes. This was Hunter’s mother… a mother he lost, right beside him. I never asked about how she passed and quite honestly, seeing this now, I don’t think I wanted to know. I didn’t want him to relive that moment, even if he wanted to tell me which was highly unlikely but still.
Fuck, how did he keep this photo here? I mean, if it were me and I saw a picture of my late mom and I… God, I don’t know what I’d do. I suppose it’s better to have this memory of them, a happy recount on display, but wow. Talk about heartbreak.
