Chapter Forty Three
Camille
The ride back home was filled with less chatter than the drive out.
The radio hummed softly in the background, sunlight spilling through the windshield, catching on the edge of Hunter’s beard. He looked steady behind the wheel, one hand resting casually at the bottom, the other on the console. Every so often, his fingers brushed mine, a silent check-in.
I kept glancing at him, trying to read him. Trying to put words to everything that had changed between us in just one night.
Because something had changed.
Last night hadn’t just been about us crossing a line of intimacy. It was about the way he’d let me in, really in. I’d seen the nightmare claw him awake. I’d seen the shame in his eyes when he realized he’d scared me. I’d seen the vulnerability.
And he hadn’t pushed me away afterward.
But now, doubt whispered all over again.
How did I not recognize it? What if he closes up again? What if you’re not strong enough to handle the weight of his past on top of your own?
I traced circles on my jeans with my thumb, stealing a glance at him. He caught me looking and gave a crooked little smile, the kind that always felt like it cracked straight through my walls.
“You okay?” he asked, his voice low, steady.
I nodded too quickly. “Yeah. Just tired.”
He didn’t press, and part of me was grateful, part of me disappointed. I wanted to talk about it, and I wanted to tell him how much it meant that he trusted me with the parts he’d shoved down. I was also terrified. Of saying the wrong thing. Of making him regret opening up.
A bag of snacks Hunter had picked up for the kids sat piled in the backseat, a reminder of the world waiting for me at home.
My chest tightened with guilt and relief all at once.
I’d missed them. Every mile closer felt like a knot unraveling.
But another knot had formed too, one tangled in Hunter’s hand brushing mine, in his nightmares, in the way I’d felt safe in his arms even when he was shaking.
I watched him out of the corner of my eye, my chest tightening.
To anyone else, I might have looked restless.
But to me, it was more. It was the echo of battles I didn’t fully understand but could feel in the way he carried himself.
And the part that undid me most was that even through his quiet storms, he still looked at me like I was something worth pouring into.
I wasn’t sure where this road was leading. I just knew I wasn’t letting him walk it alone. And I could tell that he felt the same way for me.
By the time we pulled up, I was half buzzing with anxiety, half desperate to scoop my kids into my arms. My mom met us at the door, her smile wide, the twins already wriggling in her arms, Zeke darting out with a hundred questions.
Any guilt I held melted away the second I kissed their cheeks, breathing them in like I’d been gone for a month instead of a night.
Hunter stayed just long enough to help carry my bag inside and give me one of his signature grounding smiles and a quick kiss before heading out. He didn’t push. Just squeezed my hand and murmured, “Call me later,” before disappearing out the door.
And then, of course, Dani showed up.
She didn’t even knock, just breezed in like she always did, plopping onto the couch with her iced coffee. “Well? Spill it.”
I groaned, flopping into the armchair. “Hi, Dani, how are you? Yes, I missed you too.”
“Cut the polite crap,” she said, grinning like a cat who already knew the answer. “Overnight trip. Hotel room. Tell. Me. Everything.”
My mom chuckled from the kitchen. “I’ll leave you two to it. Don’t let her downplay it, Dani. She came back glowing.”
“Mom!” My face burned.
Dani gasped dramatically. “Glowing?! Oh, honey, we’re skipping straight to chapter twelve of your romance novel!”
I buried my face in a pillow. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, dragging out the sound, her grin pure mischief. She took a long sip of iced coffee, eyes gleaming over the rim. “So you mean to tell me you went all that way, stayed overnight with a six-foot-something former Marine with that voice, and what—played Uno until bedtime?”
“Dani!”
She lifted one brow. “What? I’m asking the important questions.”
I rolled my eyes, but she wasn’t wrong. My reflection in her oversized sunglasses probably gave me away: my curls tousled, skin flushed, that stupid little smile I couldn’t quite hide. A soft happiness that sneaks up on you after years of survival mode.
I hesitated, peeking out from behind the pillow. “Okay, first of all, you’re impossible. Second, it wasn’t… that kind of night.”
Dani leaned forward, all faux innocence. “So… it was a night.”
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it. “Yeah. It was a night.”
That was all it took. She squealed, grabbing the throw blanket from the back of the couch and waving it like a victory flag. “I knew it.”
“Okay, fine,” I admitted, sitting up and hugging a pillow to my chest. “It was… amazing. But also terrifying. I kept thinking, what if I don’t fit? What if his friends look at me and see a mess?”
Dani arched a brow. “Beautiful, smart, hilariously self-deprecating, you?”
“Messy, overthinking, single mom me,” I corrected.
She smiled while rolling her eyes dramatically. “And?”
I gave Dani a rundown of the party. How Hunter never made me feel out of place. How he just kept a hand on the small of my back, a grounding reminder that he was there with me. The way I fit into his world, talking with the other wives and girlfriends and meeting his friends.
Dani’s expression softened even more. “Cam…”
I shrugged, trying to keep my voice steady. “His friends were kind. Loud, but kind. They teased him like brothers do, but you could tell there was love behind it. And one of them, Logan, had his little girl there. She was this sweet, wild-haired kid who had me out there dancing with her.”
Dani laughed. “Leave it to you to befriend kids at adult parties.” She said teasingly.
I smiled at the memory. “You should’ve seen Hunter with her. I’ve obviously seen him with the kids, but it was different to see him with her. I could tell it was genuine. He knelt down, tied her shoe, and he even sat there sneaking her cookies. She calls him ‘Uncle Hunt’. ”
Dani fanned herself. “Oh, that’s domestic fantasy fuel right there.”
I laughed, but the sound wavered. “It was nice, though. Seeing him like that. He’s always so… contained. But around them? He was loose. Happy. Confident. It was like seeing a version of him that belonged, and he still kept looking for me across the room — checking that I was okay.”
Her eyes softened. “That’s not casual, Cam.”
“I know,” I whispered.
Silence stretched between us for a beat, comfortable and heavy with meaning. I picked at a loose thread on the pillow, remembering the smell of the bonfire smoke, the way Hunter’s laugh rumbled low in his chest, the teasing between him and his friends that spoke of years of history and loyalty.
“Okay, spill it!” Dani said suddenly, eyes glinting.
I blinked. “What?”
“Come on. That little pause in your voice? That’s the sound of a woman who saw her man go caveman.”
I bit my lip, smiling despite myself. “There was… this guy. Sean. One of Hunter’s friends. Not a bad guy, just—”
“Flirty.”
“Persistent,” I corrected, though Dani’s grin said she knew better. “He was talking to me in the kitchen, leaning a little too close, and before I could even figure out how to sidestep, Hunter was just there.”
Dani’s eyes widened. “Oh, there there?”
“Yeah,” I said, heat crawling up my neck at the memory. “He just slid an arm around me, calm as ever, and said, ‘Careful, Sean. You’re talking to my girl.’”
Dani gasped, “My girl?! Oh, my. I need a moment. Do you realize how hot that is?” fanning herself dramatically.
“Dani!”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t like it.”
I tried to fight a smile and failed. “Okay, maybe a little.”
“Maybe? Cam, he basically claimed you in front of a room full of Marines, and you’re telling me you didn’t immediately combust?”
I laughed, face burning. “I might have short-circuited a little.”
She smirked, clearly satisfied. “And did you make him pay for that later?”
I threw the pillow at her. “You’re awful.”
She dodged, giggling. “I’m invested! So what happened next?”
I sighed, softer now. “He leaned down, and he said it wasn’t about jealousy.
That I just looked too good for him not to notice when someone else did.
And Dani, he meant it. There was this tone in his voice, like he was still half surprised I was even with him.
It wasn’t possessive. It was… protective.
It made me feel safe. Like I could breathe again. ”
Dani’s teasing melted into enthusiasm. “That’s big, Cam. After everything you’ve been through… It’s good to see you letting someone show up for you.”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “It is. He’s different. He’s not scared of the messy parts.”
“Good,” she said, smiling again. “Then maybe you can stop running from the good parts, too.”
I thought about that—the quiet drive home, the way he’d brushed my hair behind my ear before kissing me goodnight, slow and steady like he was afraid to rush something sacred.
I looked at Dani, a small laugh breaking through.
“You should’ve seen him at the end of the night.
Standing there with his friends, beer in hand, it hit me that I wasn’t seeing the careful, quiet version I usually get.
This was his world, and he looked at home in it.
But he still looked for me. Every time I moved across the room, his eyes would find mine, like he was checking in, making sure I was okay. ”
Dani smiled, soft but mischievous. “That’s not just attraction, babe. That’s a man choosing you, even when he doesn’t have to.”
“Yeah,” I said, voice barely above a whisper. “And that’s the part that scares me.”
For a moment, my mind drifted back to that night, the part I hadn’t told Dani about.
The night I woke to Hunter thrashing beside me, his breath ragged, his eyes wild and far away.
The way he’d snapped awake, gasping, and how fast he’d pulled back, murmuring sorry like it was a reflex.
I hadn’t pushed him. Just placed my hand on his arm, slow and steady, until he came back to me.
He never told me what the dream was. And I never asked. It wasn’t my story to demand.
Dani’s voice broke through my thoughts. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said quickly, forcing a smile. “Just thinking.”
She tilted her head but didn’t press. That was the thing about Dani, she could read me like a book but knew when to let a page stay unturned.
I exhaled, “You should’ve seen him at the end of the night,” I said quietly.
My thoughts drifted back to the barbecue.
Hunter standing there with his friends, beer in hand, that low laugh of his, it hit me that I wasn’t seeing the careful version I usually get.
This was his world, and he looked at home in it.
But he still looked for me. “Every time I moved across the room, his eyes would find mine. Like he was making sure I was okay.”
Dani’s smile turned soft. “That’s not just attraction, babe. That’s someone choosing you.”
“Yeah,” I said, voice barely above a whisper. “And that’s the part that scares me the most.”
“Why?”
“Because,” I said slowly, “I want him to stay. I want to believe he will.”
Dani was quiet for a long moment before bumping my shoulder. “You know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think he’s got you by the heartstrings.”
I groaned. “Don’t say that.”
“Too late. It’s written all over your face.”
She grinned again, playful. “So, was he at least good at Uno?”
I threw another pillow at her. “Get out!”
The pillow hit her square in the chest, and her laughter filled the room — wild, bright, alive. And somewhere under it, mine joined hers.
It wasn’t the brittle kind of laughter that used to break under its own weight. It was lighter. Freer.
And beneath all the teasing and fear and hope tangled inside me, I realized the truth.
Hunter Bennett had started to become the quiet in my chaos, and I didn’t know if that terrified me more than it saved me.