Chapter 60
KADENCE
Iwoke up to Blaize crawling back into the bed and wrapping her arms around me. She nuzzled her face into my neck as she traced soft circles on my hip. Something was wrong. I turned in her arms and faced her, cupping her cheeks. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I want to protect you,” she whispered. “I’m failing because I’ve had a traitor under my nose for years without even realizing it.”
“Who?”
She sighed, burying her face in my neck. “Everly.”
My body tensed. Everly betrayed Blaize? She was the one who killed Layla and shot Fallon? Did she pretend to be my friend? It was a game. Everything. Everly was the reason Blaize… “She set it up?” I whispered. “S-she made you hurt me?”
“I don’t know how she did it, princess, but I am going to find out, and then I am going to kill her. I’m so sorry. If she was never here, it wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t have fractured our relationship.”
I caressed her cheek. “Hey, the fracture wasn’t your fault. Well, it was, but not fully. You reacted based on the evidence you had planted by Everly. I’m not angry or hurt anymore, not with you or Hawke.”
“I’m angry, Kadence,” she said with more fire in her tone. “She did this, and I didn’t catch it. She caused so much pain. She…I don’t know how Hunter will handle this betrayal.”
I pressed my lips together. “Did she love her?”
“Hunter won’t admit it, but yes. I’m assuming in the three years they’ve been scening together, Hunter fell for her, which meant she trusted her with her trauma and darkness. Hunter doesn’t let people in.”
“She let me in. Maybe I could talk to her and see if I could help her?”
“If you want to try. I need to go and see Damon. Now that we know who it is, I can show them her picture and find out if they know anything.”
I leaned forward and kissed her softly. “Be safe and come home to me. Okay?”
When Blaize left, I decided to get out of bed and find Hunter.
She was there for me after everything, and now it was my turn to be there for her.
Hunter was…I didn’t know how to describe Hunter or our relationship.
I liked Hunter, but I knew there would be more to us than being friends.
Although I knew relationships were out of the picture, it wasn’t a relationship I desired with Hunter.
Was it appropriate to have a friends with benefits thing with my girlfriend's best friend?
Did that make me a horrible person? It would be something I talked to my therapist later when I told her about the attack and betrayal from Everly.
Hunter was downstairs at the bar with a bottle of top shelf tequila.
It was barely ten in the morning. She didn’t need to put herself in a hole because of a woman, but I also wasn’t the poster child for that topic.
I pulled out a barstool and sat down next to her.
Hunter’s blue eyes were blood shot, and she already looked like she was drunk.
“What do you want, Kadence?”
“You need to talk to someone, and the tequila doesn’t count.”
“So what are you? A therapist?” There was a snark in her voice I’d never heard before.
I grabbed the bottle of tequila from her and I saw rage flash across her eyes. “Stop moping over a woman. Everly doesn’t deserve you.”
Her fingers flexed as she stood up. “Kadence, I’m not playing this game with you.”
“What did you tell me before?” I prodded. I wanted her to know she had a friend. She didn’t have to bottle up her emotions or drown them in liquor. “Cry about it? Well then, fucking cry.”
“You’re being a brat,” she seethed.
“What are you going to do about it?”
Everything happened in a blur. Hunter grabbed me by the neck and pushed me back until my back slammed against a wall before she covered me with her body. “This is not the game you want to play, Kadence,” she hissed my name. “I’m not a fun person when I am pissed.”
“Then talk to me,” I snapped back. “What? Do you think you deserved to feel betrayed? To be hurt? You can cry. Scream.” But I knew that wasn’t how she coped. It wasn’t how Blaize coped, either. “I want to help you Hunter. Any way you need it.”
Her fingers flexed against my throat, and this was the start of some homoerotic fantasy.
Hunter’s tattoos were on full display, and she was rocking the stereotypical masc-lesbian fit with a white tank top and cargo pants that sat perfectly on her hips.
The way the pants dipped, I could see more artwork lower.
I wondered what scars she covered with her ink.
Blaize’s tattoos covered most of her scars and told me her story. What would Hunter’s body tell me?
“You don’t know what you’re asking for, Kadence.” Her voice was softer this time.
“Then talk to me, or talk to Blaize. She knows you better, but I also know how heartbreak and betrayal feels like. I’m not going to judge you or your trauma, Hunter.”
She shook her head, removing her hand from my throat. “Maybe one day, but not now. I need to clear my head. Tell Blaize I’ll be back later.”
“Hunter, wait.” But she was already gone.
“Fucking hell Kadence, you should’ve just let her fuck you to feel better,” I muttered to myself before walking back upstairs to get ready for my therapy session. Dr. Williams had a shit ton of things to catch up on.