by Sam Mariano
At that, she can’t help interrupting. “No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is.” I caress her face, too, before getting back to what I wanted to say. “I never stopped thinking about you. I lived on the other side of the world, you weren’t even part of my life anymore, but still… you were there. And I kinda knew it was crazy. I even convinced myself you were only preserved in my memory, that if I came back, it wouldn’t be like that, you know? You were almost a fantasy, like a book I never got to read the end of.”
Riley sighs, but she doesn’t interrupt me.
“And in my head, you’ve always been mine,” I tell her. “When I found out you were with someone, I didn’t know any details. I didn’t know if it was serious, if you loved him, if he treated you the way you deserved to be treated. I didn’t know anything, but I didn’t need to. I knew all I needed to know. Someone else might be taking up space in your heart, space that I thought belonged to me. I had to come back. I had to know if that connection between us was still there, or if it was some dead-end idea I just couldn’t let go of. I had to find out once and for all if you were mine.”
For this next part, I take her hand and cradle it in mine.
“But I needed the truth. I’m not someone who lies to himself. I don’t want to live like that. I’ve done it before, and it only leads to heartache and disappointment. You were there, you know I convinced myself that my mom gave a fuck about me, and that wasn’t true. I needed it to be true, but it wasn’t.”
Riley’s eyes fill with tears again. She pulls her hand from mine and hugs me.
I hold her close, running a hand down her back. “You’ve always been there for me more than anyone else in the world, Riley. You’ve loved me at my worst.”
She hugs me tight, then peels herself away from me. She looks up at me, her big eyes shimmering with tears she hasn’t shed yet. “Hunter, I don’t want to interrupt, but your pain is killing me. Can I just stop you here?”
I meet her gaze.
“I love you,” she tells me, almost desperate to end my suffering. “And you love me like… like I’ve never even dreamed of being loved.” Her blue eyes seem to brighten. Maybe it’s the tears or her belief that her next words will cure me of my sadness. “Hunter, I don’t want to break up.”
She looks up at me, anticipation written all over her lovely face. I know she’s waiting for my relief, my happiness, for me to grab her and squeeze her and give her one of many more kisses she’ll get from me.
Her brow furrows with confusion when none of that happens.
When I still look at her like she holds the answer to a question that hasn’t been asked yet.
“There’s more,” I tell her.
I don’t know how to say this next part. I don’t know how she’ll take it.
I don’t know how to explain I put her through pain she didn’t have to go through because I needed the answer to a fucking question. Because I needed reassurance that if I sunk everything into her, I’d never lose her, no matter what.
I roll my shoulders, trying to work out some of my growing tension.
I don’t know if she’ll understand.
Her voice tentative and filled with dread, she asks, “What… what do you mean, there’s more?”
I draw in a deep breath and let it out. I look into her eyes.
Then I tell her, “I was never really with Valerie.”
Chapter Seventy
Riley
I stare at Hunter, uncomprehending.
“What?” I ask, scowling.
He looks tense. Worried.
I don’t understand what he’s doing.
“We were never really together,” he tells me.
His words don’t make sense. On the face of it, simple.
But I was there. I know what he’s saying is absolute, utter bullshit.
Shaking my head, I look away from him. “Why are you doing this? I just told you I forgive you. Why are you lying?”
Hunter grabs my hand, pulling my gaze back to his. “I’m not lying. I never slept with her. I never even kissed her. We were never together like that. When you came to my house that day, when you told me where your line was, of course I wasn’t going to fucking cross it, Riley. I’m not an idiot. I had too much invested in you to throw it all away on something that didn’t even matter, but you gave me an opportunity to see if we could’ve gotten through it if I had. I didn’t have to actually betray you with her, I just had to let you think I did.”
My mouth falls open. Horror blossoms in my chest.
This is starting to make more sense to me.
“You… you faked it.”
He nods, watching me warily. “It annoyed her, but it was never my heart she truly wanted. She wanted me as her boyfriend; she wanted the status, the bragging rights. She didn’t really want me. Yeah, she would’ve been thrilled if I liked her, but it didn’t matter if I didn’t, as long as she could pretend to herself and everyone else that she had me. I put in literally no effort to convince her I liked her. I was openly hostile more often than not, it just didn’t matter. When someone locks on to use you, you don’t have to treat them well. It’s like having a leach on your body, they’ll stay stuck to you as long as you let them.”
My mind is racing. My heart, too.
“I… But I saw you kiss her. When we were posing for homecoming court pictures. You two were in front of me. You kissed her neck like you kiss mine. I saw you do it.”
Hunter shakes his head. “No, you didn’t. You saw me lean in like I was, but… I didn’t kiss her, Riley. I just wanted to punish you a little bit in that moment. You’d just said something to Anderson I didn’t like, I don’t even remember what it was now. Something about being a couple. I wanted to twist the knife a little, but I was always careful. I did what I did because I needed to see if I could get out of it, but I always made sure I left myself an escape hatch in case I couldn’t. I never did anything I knew you couldn’t get past.” His gaze drops. A flicker of shame darkens his features. “Well, that night Sherlock kissed you… I fucked up. I didn’t mean to do that to you.”
My stomach hollows out, hearing him reference what happened that night. It’s not something I’m hung up on or anything I hold against him, but I don’t like him bringing it up.
He goes on. “I hadn’t accounted for him. I thought I had everything under control, I thought if all of my attempts to get close to you again failed, I’d just come clean. I’d use the escape hatch I left for myself and I’d bail us out. But then I did start making progress with you. I did feel like I might be able to get you back, to get us back on track, so I didn’t use it. And I understand that now… that escape hatch has become more of a trap door. We got on stable ground, but we’ve built some of it around a lie. And not only that, I’ve… I’ve let you suffer when you didn’t have to just to satisfy my own fucking curiosity. I almost told you the truth a few times, but at a certain point I felt like I’d gone too far to turn back. I was afraid if I came clean, I might actually lose you over it. I’m still afraid of that.”
He looks down, shaking his head. I can tell he feels bad for what he did. All of what he did.
“You manipulated the fuck out of me,” I say.
He raises his turbulent gaze to mine. His brown eyes glint with remorse I know is real and he nods. “I know.”
I stare at him for a long moment. He doesn’t look back up.
I reach over and push my fingers through his hair.
That gets his attention.
He looks up, almost startled by my tenderness.
I smile softly, then I let go of his hair and climb onto his lap.
“Whoa,” he says, looking up at me, still a little lost.
My smile widens into a grin. I lock my arms around his neck and gaze into his eyes. “You wonderful, wonderful man.”
“What?”
I don’t answer him. I crush my lips to his, moving on top of him and pushing him back on the bridge. I pull up my dress, reaching u
nder it to shove my panties down.
I am going to fuck him right here, right now, and if he gets a splinter, I’m not even sorry.
With all the shifting around I have to do to get my panties off and my body properly situated on top of his, I knock something out of his pocket.
Hunter looks down, his eyebrows rising slightly, but he doesn’t grab for it urgently, so I don’t think much of it until my gaze hits it.
My stomach drops.
It’s a fancy-looking jewelry box, midnight blue with HW engraved on the lid.
“Is that…?”
Smiling faintly, he says, “Good job. You wrecked my proposal.”
I gasp, my gaze jumping back to his. “You’re proposing to me?”
“I mean, I was going to.”
“Yes!” I grin, lying on top of him and throwing my arms around his neck.
Hunter grins up at me, settling an arm around my waist. “You didn’t even see the ring yet.”
“I don’t need to see the ring. I’ve seen the groom. You could propose with yarn and I’d say yes.”
Hunter shakes his head, looking at me with a mix of awe and pleasure on his gorgeous face. “I’ve gotta say, this is going a lot better than I expected it to.”
“You didn’t sleep with Valerie Johnson,” I state. “Do you know how happy that makes me? A million rings couldn’t make me as happy as that.”
To say he looks relieved would be a massive understatement.
And I get it. He did manipulate me.
But I’ve always known Hunter was a touch manipulative. It’s not news to me. Honestly, hearing him explain it the way he did, I’m not even entirely shocked that he took advantage of a unique opportunity to squelch one of his own fears about the durability of our relationship.
I understand wanting to know we could get through anything. I didn’t need that myself; I had enough faith in us without needing cold, hard proof, but… well, Hunter and I are different people. Complementary people. Two halves of a perfect whole.
Threading my fingers through his hair, I look down at him lovingly as he lies on the bridge and looks up at me. “Just so we’re clear, you can never do this to me again.”
“No,” he agrees. “No reason to. I got the answers I needed.”
“Is it weird that knowing you did this… kinda turns me on?”
He cocks an eyebrow. “Does it?”
I nod, letting go of his hair so I can unbutton the top button of his shirt. “It’s kinda brilliant, in a diabolic sort of way.” I move to the next button. “Kinda hot.” I’m straddling him, so I have to shift my hips to get to the button underneath me. “I could only be more impressed if you had a back-up plan to keep me captured even if I would’ve been pissed off instead of relieved that you lied to me.”
“Well…”
My eyes brighten with horrified delight. “Did you?”
“Remember how excited you were when you got your Harvard acceptance letter, but how nervous you were about taking out loans for the tuition since your mom can’t afford it?”
I nod, smiling.
“I figured if this all went bad and you rejected my proposal, I’d offer to pay your tuition and rope you into another exclusivity agreement. A four-year one this time. Surely at the end of five years you would’ve relented. And, hey, if not… maybe it would’ve been time for a baby.”
It’s a rather dastardly thing to find amusing, but I laugh anyway. “You’re the best.”
He smiles up at me, his arm tightening around me. “I’m glad you think so.”
I sigh, leaning down so I can kiss his perfect lips. “I can’t wait to spend my life with you.”
His hand slides up my thigh, catching the fabric of my dress and dragging it up my hip. The warm, early summer air hits my bare butt since I already removed my panties.
“I can’t either,” Hunter says, cupping my ass and squeezing.
Heat spreads through me at his touch. At the gleam of affection in his beautiful eyes.
I know Hunter Maxwell loves me, maybe more than anyone has ever loved another person. His admission hasn’t harmed my ability to trust him; if anything, it has made me trust him that much more.
When his cock sinks inside me, I close my eyes and arch backward. I ride him with abandon, feeling fuller than I’ve ever felt.
And I am.
Full of him.
Full of love.
Full of hope.
My heart, like my body, is full to bursting. When my body explodes with pleasure, my heart does, too.
Breathing hard, boneless and vulnerable, I lie on the bridge next to Hunter. His arm is wrapped around me protectively, his free hand playing with mine as it lays splayed across his toned abdomen.
I can’t get close enough to him even though I’m practically on top of him.
In a way I can’t explain, the whole world feels calmer now.
I didn’t consider our life or our love especially chaotic before, but there’s a stillness now… it feels so strong, so solid. So comforting.
I wonder if he feels it, too.
I tip my head back to look up at him. “What are you thinking?”
His lips curve up wryly. “That I already want to fuck you again.”
I chuckle, burying my face against his chest and kissing his taut skin. “Insatiable.”
He pulls his arm around me a little tighter, snuggling me closer. “I’ll never get enough of you.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
His assurance is nice, but I didn’t really need it.
I know Hunter will love and protect me until the end of time. I hope he knows I’ll do the same for him.
I fell in love with the boy on the bridge a long time ago, but now I know for sure…
I’m his.
He’s mine.
We’ll never let each other go.
Epilogue
Riley
The man in the black suit stands there, holding a case that is handcuffed to his wrist. His face is stoic, his eyes hard. I don’t know if there’s a holster with a gun beneath the expensive fabric of his suit, but everything about him makes me think there is.
“You can sit, you know.”
My gaze gravitates to the sound of Mom’s voice.
She’s sitting on a velour couch in a white floral dress. The couch looks comfy enough, but she’s sitting on the edge. It’s not easy to relax with a man like this standing here all grumpy and imposing, like he’s guarding crown jewels.
Well, I guess he is.
All around us, the bridal shop is bursting with puffy white dresses intent on making the woman in them feel like a princess, but inside that case handcuffed to the guard’s wrist is an actual crown.
Today is my appointment at the bridal salon to pick out my wedding dress. I’ve already picked which crown I’ll wear on our big day, so Hunter’s family sent it so I could try it on with the dress. Don’t want it to clash, after all.
I don’t know how valuable the piece of jewelry actually is, but I know that Hunter’s father flew an armed guard over with the crown just so I could try it on, and tonight he’s flying him back to Italy.
So, it’s clearly very valuable.
The guard’s expression doesn’t change. He seems reluctant to speak at all, but my mom is a hard woman to ignore, so he finally says, “I will stand.”
Mom smiles. I think she just likes hearing his thick Italian accent. “I love listening to Europeans speak,” she tells me. “I should’ve married one. Not a man fluent in English, though. We should never understand anything one another says. Our marriage would be long and happy.”
I crack a smile, stepping forward and running my hand down the length of a satin gown. “Your marriage will be long and happy,” I assure her.
She’s not actually married yet, but Ray took a page from Hunter’s playbook. They figured out that while my mom and I are shy about boyfriends, we’re just fine with fiancés.
I told her she
should schedule an appointment after mine and we could try on gowns back-to-back, but she didn’t want to. She said today should be just for me, and she’ll try on wedding dresses some other time.
“Hi,” the consultant says, approaching me with a big smile on her face. “I’m so sorry about that wait. My last appointment ran a little long.”
“Oh, no problem,” I assure her, turning away from the gown I’m looking at.
Mom stands and walks over to me, a hand resting casually on her rounded belly.
Another reason she doesn’t see any point in trying on gowns today.
She and Ray aren’t getting married until after my baby brother is born.
I resist the temptation to rub her belly and focus my attention on the bridal consultant.
“So, which one’s the bride?” she asks.
I raise my hand.
She clasps her hands together. “Perfect. I should have guessed—you’re glowing. But you both are,” she says, with a pleasant smile at my mom’s protruding tummy.
“This is my mom,” I tell her. “She’s here to help me pick out my dress.”
The consultant nods, then turns her bright gaze on the somber guard we have with us. “And is this Dad?”
“No. Um… my fiancé’s family is loaning me a piece of jewelry to wear for the wedding. They wanted me to be able to try it on with the dress, but… it’s quite valuable. It requires a guard. It can’t leave his sight.” I grimace. “Is that okay?”
Probably because this is an upscale salon with an illustrious clientele, she isn’t fazed by the news. “Of course, that’s perfectly fine. We only have to find a dress that pleases Mom, then? No one else is coming?”
“My bridesmaid and flower girl were supposed to meet us here. Unfortunately, the flower girl woke up with a fever today, so they had to stay home. It’s okay, though. I expect this to be an easy appointment. I’m pretty sure I already know what I want.”
“And I’m super easy,” Mom assures her. “Whatever Riley wants, I’ll love. No drama with us.”
“Oh, well, that’s perfect, then. You already have your eye on a certain dress?”