Stolen Memories: A Novella

by Alyson Reynolds

  “Baby, no. It may have started out that way, but it doesn’t matter now.” Hunter tried to get me to look at him, but I couldn’t. I thought he was in love with me, not that he loved me like a friend. All my hope for a future with him was gone.

  “You lied.”

  “I never lied. I just didn’t tell you everything that happened. The doctor said—”

  “I don’t give a fuck what the doctor said,” I spat at him. “We were going to get divorced as soon as it was safe. It all makes sense now; everything except how you kept that part from me when I started remembering things. You should have told me that when my memories started coming back, but you didn’t. You told me the story about the rings and our beach wedding. You made me believe that we were in love and decided to elope. That’s why nothing made sense.” I shook my head. “Holy fuck, Hunt, were you waiting until I remembered to file the divorce papers? Or is that what you wanted to talk to me about before you left?”

  “Can we talk about this alone, please?”

  “Answer me, do you want the divorce?”

  “Of course not, Megan. Things changed for me while we were in Georgia. I have always loved you, but I didn’t want to admit, even to myself, that I was in love with you. When we got married, I thought maybe you felt the same way,” he trailed off. “I wanted to talk to you about it after we got back, but you lost your memory. What was I supposed to do?”

  “You love me?” Disbelief rang in my voice. “You have a really funny way of showing it, Hunt.”

  I backed away from him slowly, afraid that if I took my eyes off of him I would start to cry.

  “You let me believe a lie. You had more than enough time to tell me how you felt. If you did love me, you should have told me sooner. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I finished in a whisper. Tears finally fell from my eyes and I didn’t bother to wipe them away. They scalded my face as they streaked down my cheeks.

  I turned and ran up the staircase to our bedroom, slamming the door behind me and locking it quickly so he couldn’t follow me. Right now I didn’t want to talk to Hunter because I was so in love with him that I might just believe any lie he told me. Everything I wanted I had, but it was all fake. Just like my marriage.

  I woke up a few hours later with my head pounding. When I turned on the lamp next to the bed, I winced and rubbed at my sore, swollen eyes. Hunter sat in a chair next to the bed, asleep with his head resting in his hands. He looked like his heart was broken. My first instinct was to touch him, wake him and reassure him that everything would be okay, but I remembered why I was so hurt and suddenly I didn’t want to offer him anything.

  Self-preservation told me to run and to protect myself. Throughout the years I’d watched him break the hearts of so many girls when he decided he was done with them. He had mastered making women feel like they were his entire world, until they weren’t. The reasons he gave me when he broke up with them were ridiculous and I had told him as much. I wasn’t going to make the mistake to think I would be the one to finally change him.

  Slowly, I edged to the side of the bed furthest from Hunter, careful not to wake him as I climbed out from under the covers. My bare feet quietly padded along the floor as I walked to the closet we shared. The clothes that hung in there were all items he knew I loved. He had gone back to my apartment and grabbed my things without telling me he was even going to do it. They just magically showed up one day. I never expected him to be so thoughtful; thorough, yes, but thoughtful never occurred to me. The gesture was almost romantic.

  I pulled a bag down from the top shelf and started throwing everything of mine in there as quickly and quietly as I could. The last thing I wanted to do was wake up Hunter. He would try to stop me from leaving, and right now all I wanted was some space to figure out how to fix the mess I’d caused when I married him. My fingers trembled as I opened the door to the hallway.

  I quietly closed the door behind me and leaned back against it while I sobbed. Pain like I’d never felt before filled me and I knew that losing my best friend was going to be the hardest thing I would ever go through.

  The air in my apartment felt heavy and a shiver ran through my body as I remembered the feeling of terror when I opened my door last time. My hair stood on end as I walked from room to room to make certain the apartment was empty. Luckily, the door to my bedroom was open and I could see it was empty before I went in. I was pissed off that the asshole had made me terrified of my own home. Anger was probably a better emotion than fear anyway.

  I absentmindedly wondered how much I could get if I sold this place. My father couldn’t touch my trust fund, but he would leave my mother penniless if given the chance. Cassie and I would take care of our mother, but I was positive she wouldn’t want to depend on us. The woman was too stubborn and proud for that. First thing tomorrow I was going to put the apartment on the market and look for a new place to live.

  I went to the kitchen and pressed the button to start my coffee maker. As it brewed, the smell of coffee filled my kitchen. It was a small sense of comfort. Momma made tea, and I made coffee.

  Carrying the cup to the living room, I decided to get more comfortable here before tackling my bedroom. I wrapped my hands around the mug and sank down onto the soft leather sofa. My nerves were still on edge, but it was getting easier to be here. The tension finally left my body as I settled down to watch some mindless television.

  A knock at the door an hour later startled me. I slowly walked to the door, nervous about who would be on the other side. My hand shook as they settled on the door so I could look through the peephole. Hunter stood on the other side of the door looking incredibly rumpled and especially miserable.

  I stood there waiting for a moment, trying to decide if I wanted to talk to him or not. My eyes still burned from the tears I had shed only a few hours ago.

  “Just open the door, Megan.”

  “How did you know I was standing here?” I asked through the door.

  “I’m your best friend; I know you better than you know yourself. Please, just let me inside. I don’t want to talk to you like this, but I will if I have to.”

  I hesitated for a few seconds before I finally opened the door. As soon as he walked in, he shut and locked the door behind him. The memory of the attack must have been fresh on his mind too.

  “Why did you leave?” he demanded.

  I sighed and walked into the living room with him right behind me. He was so close that when I stopped walking he ran into me.

  “Hunter, I don’t want to be a charity case. Michael is gone, so there’s no need for us to stay married. The only reason we did it in the first place was so you could keep me safe and fuck me without any guilt. It’s no big deal that we end it now.”

  Before I get my heart trampled into little pieces.

  “It’s no big deal?” he echoed in disbelief.

  “No, so if you want to walk away go ahead. You’re free. I told you we didn’t have to do this anyway.” I twisted the ring off my finger and handed it back to him. “You must have paid a fortune for that, so you might as well keep it.”

  He took it from me instinctively, but stared at the gorgeous ring as it sat in his hand. I turned away so he couldn’t see the tears gathering in my eyes. The hurt that showed in his was bad enough.

  “Megan, when I told you I loved you, I wasn’t lying. Whatever is happening between us is real. And this is your ring. I’m not taking it back, no matter what happens between us.”

  He put the ring back on my finger and caressed where it sat. I closed my eyes and tried to block out the things he was saying that would hurt me further and make this harder than it had to be. “We both know you don’t do relationships. I need to learn to take care of everything myself and not lean on you so much.”

  “Megan, damn it. Listen to me.” His hands wrapped around my arms and turned me around so I was facing him. Soft fingers wiped at my eyes, brushing the tears away. “I fucking love you, and I don’t want to lose you. Tell m
e what I need to say to get you to understand that you’re my wife and I’m not letting you go.”

  “I’ve watched you run away from every relationship you’ve ever had. Why am I different? Why is this different?”

  “Because I love you. I’m in love with you. You’re the only girl that has ever fought back; most women would just roll over and do whatever I wanted. That’s not what I want and that’s definitely not you. We’ve known each other our whole lives and I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  His lips met mine and I kissed him back for just a second. I wanted nothing more than to let him kiss me, drag me to the bedroom and make love to me, but I couldn’t. I wanted to believe him, but the thought terrified me. I broke the kiss and took a step back from him.

  “Hunt, I’ve been in love with you for a long time. I always pretended what I felt wasn’t there because you were my best friend and I couldn’t lose you. Right now, I need some time to process everything. You lied to me.”

  “I didn’t—”

  “Maybe you didn’t lie, but you sure as hell didn’t tell the whole truth.”

  “What do I need to do to get you to forgive me, baby?”

  “Give me time to figure this out. I don’t think you really love me; I think you’re swept away in playing the knight in shining armor, like always. You do have a complex about that you know,” I said, trying to make a joke. The expression on his face told me it fell flat.

  “Megan, don’t do this. Please. This isn’t some game that you’re convinced I play. I finally admitted to myself that the reason none of those other relationships worked was because they weren’t you. It took me too fucking long to realize what I had right in front of me. Please don’t push me away.”

  “When I asked you what you got out of marrying me, you said, ‘I finally get to fuck you.’ I don’t have some magic pussy that made you fall in love with me. It doesn’t work that way, Hunt. I’m sorry. Sex, even amazing sex, isn’t going to make this last forever.”

  I looked into his beautiful emerald eyes and I felt my heart shattering. He might think that he loved me, but in a few years, if not sooner, he would regret his white knight decision. I didn’t want to be in this even deeper and get hurt any worse than it was hurting now.

  “We need to just take a step back. I’m safe and you saved my sister, which I’ll be forever grateful for, but I’m afraid you’re going to regret your decision to try to make a life with me. What happens if, in three months, you get the same urge to run like you do with all those other women?”

  “That’s not going to happen,” he growled.

  “We don’t know that. It might,” I whispered. “Give me a day or two and I’ll get my mother and sister out of your house.”

  “They aren’t leaving and neither are you. You’re my wife, damn it.” God this man was stubborn.

  I smiled at him through the tears in my eyes.

  “I just need some time.”

  The next morning, I ventured out of my apartment even though I felt like I had been run over by a bus. My dark sunglasses hid my red-rimmed eyes, but they didn’t explain my red nose. I worked out a cover story in my head that I had a cold from hell if anyone actually asked me what was wrong. I was craving bagels from the coffee shop down the street, and I hoped I could make it there and back without running into anyone I knew.

  Luck wasn’t on my side, though. One of my old sorority sisters stood waiting in line to get her morning coffee. Even worse she spotted me as soon as I walked in the door.

  “Megan! How are you doing?”

  “I’m good, Samantha. How are you? It’s been a while.”

  “The last time I should have seen you, you didn’t show up.”

  I winced. I had forgotten she was invited to the wedding.

  “About that,” I started. She grabbed my hand and squealed.

  “Your ring is gorgeous. Did you guys end up eloping? Michael looked pretty mad that you had left him at the altar all by himself, but I guess you guys reconciled. You never were one for pomp and ceremony.”

  “No,” I said quickly. “I definitely didn’t marry Michael.”

  “Then who in the hell did you marry?”

  Shit. I should have thought this through first. Leaving my apartment was a horrible idea.

  “Um...Hunter and I eloped on the night I was supposed to marry Michael.”

  To her credit, Samantha didn’t look surprised; instead, she looked elated. “Oh, thank goodness. You guys needed to be together. I’m glad you both wised the fuck up.”

  Huh? What the damn hell?

  “Come again? I’m sorry; I thought you just said that Hunt and I needed to be together.”

  “Yeah, I did. It was obvious to everyone but you that he was completely in love with you. I didn’t think he would ever admit it, even though he wanted to kill any guy you ever went out with. He even threatened a few of them. I’m so happy he finally told you how he feels!”

  The woman was giddy. She bounced back and forth on her heels as she spoke.

  “Oh.”

  Dumbfounded. I was completely dumbfounded.

  “You two were so fucking dense. It was right there and neither of you would just go for it. You kept dating the worst assholes you could find and Hunt went through girls like they were water. It drove us all crazy.”

  To my horror, I started crying in the middle of the coffee shop. Not just tears streaming down my cheeks, but big gasping sobs that took away my breath and made me feel like my whole world was falling apart. Samantha took my arm and led me out the door. She leaned me against the brick outside the building and patted my back soothingly.

  “Breath, Meg. Honey, you have to calm down.”

  I nodded and tried to catch my breath. Having a panic attack was not how I wanted to start my morning. When I finally caught my breath, I looked at Samantha wearily.

  “I bet you want the story behind that, don’t you?”

  “In the end, it doesn’t matter,” she said, waving it off. “Do you love him?”

  I hung my head in defeat.

  “Yes, more than I should and it scares the hell out of me. Things aren’t exactly simple when it comes to my relationship with Hunter.”

  “Trust him then. He’ll figure it out. That man is gaga over you. I’m surprised he didn’t interfere with your relationship with Michael.”

  “He was out of town for most of it. He spent two weeks in China, then New York. Everything did happen rather suddenly.”

  She rubbed her hand on my arm comfortingly. “It’s all going to be okay, honey. He loves you.”

  “I’m not so sure he’s the one that needs to figure it out,” I said softly.

  She gave me a long look like she wanted to say more, but instead she grabbed my hand and tugged me back towards the door.

  “Come on, let’s go get you a coffee and I’ll tell you all about my fucked up love life. It all comes together with a misguided, drunken swipe and horrible date that I regret with every fiber of my being. Never Tinder and drink; it’s a bad combo.”

  I barked out a laugh and followed my friend back into the coffee shop to get my coffee. When I emerged an hour later I felt a little better. Being around my friend had helped raise my spirits. Samantha had also unknowingly given me information that might just save my marriage, and I would owe her forever if it actually worked.

  Running was the therapy I planned for today. I needed to figure out what was real and compare it to what I thought might have happened, but wasn’t sure. If I had all of my memories back it might help me make the decisions I was putting off, but I didn’t want to ask Hunter for his help. He wasn’t the only one that could be stubborn.

  A few miles would probably help me clear my head. So I shoved my earbuds in and took off. My body was still sore, but it was time for me to start getting back to normal. Running was part of my normal. Thirty minutes later, I felt so much better; my mind was clear and I felt focused for the first time in almost two weeks.

  I c
limbed the stairs to my apartment with a renewed confidence. I had a plan and it was ready to be set into action. First things first, I needed a shower. As I turned the corner to my door, I did a double take. Hunter leaned against the door to my apartment.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see my wife. I also didn’t want to scare the hell out of you, so I decided to wait out here.”

  I brushed past him to open the door. He followed me as I walked into the kitchen to drop my keys and phone onto the counter.

  “Okay, you came to see me. What do you need? I told you I needed time.” I crossed my arms over my chest and his eyes immediately went to my cleavage. He tried to recover, but I liked knowing that I had an advantage.

  “Damn it, Megan. Can you just talk to me? Since when do I need anything to see you?”

  He crossed the room and stood in front of me. I took a few steps back before getting pinned in the corner. He took another step closer with a smirk covering his handsome face.

  “Nowhere to run to now, baby.”

  His fingers brushed along my collarbone and neck and a shiver ran up my spine.

  “Stop that,” I hissed, brushing his hand away.

  “Just admit that want me. Your body can’t resist me no matter how much your head says no.”

  Damn it, where was my upper hand when I needed it? He had taken control of the situation and I didn’t like it.

  I didn’t respond, but he knew he was right. It pissed me off to no end that my body was betraying me. Before I could push him away, his lips were on mine. My fingers threaded in his hair and I moaned as his fingers tugged at my nipples through my sports bra.

  I started to unbutton his shirt, but when my fingers fumbled awkwardly, I gave up and ripped the fabric open. Buttons popped all over my kitchen, and Hunter groaned into my mouth as he picked me up and placed me on the edge of the counter. He tugged my bra up over my head and threw it behind him. Before the bra landed, his mouth and tongue were already sucking at my breasts. As he sucked on my nipples, I reached down between us to unfasten his pants. I used my toes to push his pants down his hips.