Chapter 21 #2
Long after the food was gone and we were on our third round of drinks—iced tea for the guys and sodas for me and Saylor, the guys jockeyed to pay the tab first like it was some kind of contest. Ryker won, but only because I suspected he had a special in with our waitress.
As he signed the bill with a flourish, he smirked at Mal. “It gives me a special little tingle to be the one to provide for your wife. Now she knows what a real man looks like.”
“Fucker.” Mal laughed as he flicked his straw wrapper at Ryker.
Saylor just rolled her eyes and turned to me. “So things are going better with Beau?”
I groaned. “Until today. The Wicked Witch is home now and threw the biggest fit. Which he fell for. Again. She doesn’t want me here because apparently I’m breaking up their marriage—which, ew.
I now know way more about their bedroom activities than I ever wanted to.
” I paused and nodded at Saylor’s shocked expression.
“Yeah, it was a whole thing. But apparently she’s freaking out because one, he added me to his will, and two, they stopped trying for a baby once he found out about me. ”
“So essentially her whole problem is the fact that you even exist?” Saylor’s eyebrows went up. “That’s fucked up.”
“I mean, I didn’t ask for any of that. I avoid the topic of Phoebe if I can help it.
She’s made it clear she doesn’t like me, and honestly, same.
And not to be rude, but I don’t need Beau’s money.
Mom left me…” I had to stop and take a breath as grief punched me in the stomach again.
It was so fresh and close to the surface after my breakdown earlier.
I had to clear my throat before I could continue.
“Between her life insurance and what she left me with, I’ll have more than enough to take care of school and just, everything.
If I were to sell the house in Seattle, I probably wouldn’t even need to work again. ”
“That’s not why Beau added you to his will,” Ryker interjected, piercing the bubble between Saylor and me and reminding me that we weren’t alone here.
I looked around the table and found everyone’s eyes on us. Tears welled in my eyes, but I couldn’t really articulate why.
Mal gave me a sad smile. “He’s just trying to do right by you. I know it eats him up that he missed your whole life so far.”
“It’s not about the money.” Ryker paused and shook his head. “I mean, sure it is a little bit. But it’s also about acceptance. He’s saying that you’re his and deserve everything that comes with being his kid. And he meant that part about convincing you to move here.”
“Yeah.” Mal leaned forward with a magnetic smile that instantly made me relax a little. “We talked about it last week. He was just waiting for the right moment to talk to you about it. He wants you here, Izzy. He wants you in his life.”
“He has a piss poor way of showing it,” Hunter grumbled.
I gave him a nod. “What he said. Beau acts one way when it’s just me and him, but the second Phoebe shows up, he drops everything to dry her crocodile tears.
She was screaming at me. I honestly think she would’ve hit me but for Beau showing up when he did.
And then he just swooped down and carried her away. ”
“To be fair, he did defend you,” Ryker pointed out.
I scoffed. “That doesn’t mean anything when he walked away with her in his arms afterwards.
He clearly took her side—again. And we’ve been here—what?
Two hours? Three?—and I haven’t heard a single word from him.
He hasn’t called. He hasn’t texted. He hasn’t checked in to see if I’m okay.
It’s hard to believe that he really cares about me when he keeps falling for her shit and leaving me literally crying in the pantry like freaking Cinderella or something. ”
I sighed and pushed my empty glass away.
“Have you told Beau any of this?” Mal asked, his eyes studiously pointed at an empty part of the diner.
“I didn’t think I needed to.”
It was pretty obvious.
Wasn’t it?
“Not to speak on behalf of my entire gender, but men are pretty fucking clueless.”
I jerked my head back. As my gaze bounced around the table, I found everyone silently agreeing with Mal’s point.
Even Saylor.
She tipped her head. “If you only knew how much of our drama that could’ve been solved with some honest conversation back when we got together…” She sighed. “But it’s hard. I know it’s hard to talk about messy stuff.”
Mal traded a secretive smile with Saylor before turning to me with a shrug. “But he won’t change unless he knows what he’s doing wrong. And you’ll get there a hell of a lot faster if you just talk about it.”
“When did you get to be so grown up and responsible?” Ryker frowned at his bandmate.
“Around the time he met me.” Saylor beamed.
“Maybe a few hours later.” Mal pursed his lips. “I did assume you were flirting with me and tried to proposition you on an airplane when we first met.”
We all burst into laughter. Clearly Ryker and Hunter hadn’t heard that story before.
“Holy shit!” Ryker chortled. “And she turned you down?”
Mal just shrugged. “The first time. But I wore her down eventually.”
“Whoa.” Saylor waved a hand. “Only because he showed me what a caring, thoughtful guy he really was. And for the record, it was way later.”
Mal snorted. “Less than a week.”
Saylor glared at him, a threat of reprisal clear in her eyes. But Mal just looked back at her.
“All right. I need to go check on my Mom.” Ryker tapped on the tabletop. “Do you need a ride home, Izzy?”
“I’ll take her,” Hunter blurted out before I could even open my mouth.
Everyone jumped at the force of his words. After a beat, the guys exchanged dubious looks.
I winced. That wasn’t obvious at all.
“Just…you’re busy with your mom, and it’s out of Mal’s way and all…” Hunter’s voice trailed off.
“Sure, kid. That works for me.” Ryker pushed away from the table. “See you all tomorrow?”
“Yup.” Mal stood up and came around the table to help Saylor.
“Yeah.” Hunter avoided my eyes as we all headed to the door in a pack.
Saylor gave me a hug as the guys jockeyed for the door. “You gotta fill me in later on that.”
I chose to believe she meant about my conversation with Beau and nodded. But judging by her bugged out eyes, it probably wasn’t.
Hunter and I were careful with our body language as we all walked to the cars. We didn’t touch. We didn’t sway toward each other. Even though that was all I wanted at the moment. Just feeling his arms around me would help heal so much that was hurting right now.
An awkward silence reigned as he got into his Charger and pulled away from the diner.
“So what are you going to do?” Hunter finally asked as we idled at a red light.
I sighed. “I don’t know.”
“I’m not ready for you to leave.”
I couldn’t bear to look at him. Everything felt so heavy and just impossible.
My relationship with Beau. The secret Hunter and I were keeping.
Staying or going—there wasn’t an easy answer.
If I stayed, I’d have to have the hard conversation with Beau.
And I was afraid of how that would go. At the end of the day, I didn’t see him picking me, which after losing my mom, might just break me.
But if I left, I’d be breaking Hunter’s heart—and my own.
“Maybe after the vote goes down, I could go with you.” He winced. “That came out wrong. I just mean, maybe I could visit or something? Help you out since I’ll have a helluva lot of time on my hands.”
I moved my hand over the center console until it nudged his pinkie. “I’d like that.”
He linked his pinkie with mine and gave me a smile that made my heart skip a beat. And a lot of tension leached out of my body.
Because even if Beau broke my heart, it wouldn’t touch the part that Hunter already owned.