Chapter 10
DON’T HOLD BACK
HUNTER
I’ve been hanging by a thread all night, trying to play it cool. She said one drink, and hearing those two words is like a lifeline to me. My pulse hammers, my chest tightens. To her, it’s just one drink, but to me, it’s hope. Fuck, watch me screw this up.
I move on autopilot as we close for the night.
From the outside, I probably look like I’ve got my head screwed on.
Restocking fridges, wiping down the bar, and helping Connor stack chairs onto tables.
Routine. Controlled. Inside though… I’m a goddamn mess.
Every sound feels too loud, my hands can’t stay still, and my stomach twists.
Bending down, I flick the switch at the wall, and the neon sign dies with a soft hiss, the jukebox going silent a second later.
The room dips into a calm that I can’t feel.
Anxiousness invades me, and my mind keeps spiraling into all the what-ifs.
What if I say the wrong thing? What if I lose her all over again?
My heart’s beating so hard, it feels like it might punch its way out of my ribs any second now.
“Hey, man,” I call out to Asher. “Help me check the kegs and lock the bathrooms.”
If anyone can help me out here, it’s him.
Crazy how things turn out. Never in a million years did I think I’d be turning to Asher for girl advice.
He’s always been the quiet, broody type.
The guy who’d rather bottle everything up than talk it out.
But Halle changed that. She pulled the fight out of him, made him face the shit he tried so hard to outrun.
When he first showed up in Sunlit Cove, he was an asshole.
Young and stupid, carrying a past that ate at him.
Hell, he thought he killed our mom. Didn’t know back then that he and his cousin were the ones who sold her the pills that ended everything.
The ones that broke Halle. Broke us. When he figured it out, after Halle told him everything on Mom’s anniversary.
He ran. Thought we’d hate him. That we’d blame him.
But that’s not how we do things. We don’t turn our back on family.
Now he’s here, steady as hell. The guy who’d move heaven and earth for my sister and I’m proud as hell of him, proud to call him my brother.
“You doing okay?” he asks, locking all the doors.
“Fine. Madi said she’ll stay back for a drink tonight.”
“Yeah?” He shoots me a knowing smile.
“What if I fuck this up?”
“You won’t. Just be honest with her, dude.
Remember when I told you that Halle was better than me, and you said I deserved this?
Happiness. Someone who would keep me guessing, someone who makes me want to do better, be better.
Yeah, well, same thing, my man. Sure, you’ve fucked up, but don’t we all at some point?
It’s the way we come back from that fuck-up that matters most. Talk to her, but show her you mean what you say.
Ask her what she needs. Don’t just fucking assume. ”
“Alright, who made you the relationship guru?” I tease.
“Your sister, man.” He says it with a half smile.
“Speaking of my sister, her birthday’s coming up. You got any plans for her?”
Asher grabs the clipboard off the wall, that same half smile still lingering as we move toward the kegs. We fall into a quiet rhythm, checking taps, logging numbers; the sound of our breathing, and the pen scratching fills the space. It’s easy, familiar, normal.
“She’s made me promise I won’t make a fuss out of her birthday.
I was just planning to keep it simple. She loves it when the whole crew gets together for a barbecue and movie night.
Pretty sure Connor will insist on a cake, and the girls will want to make a fuss out of gift giving.
I don’t want to go crazy big for her. She’s a little scary when she’s mad. ”
I chuckle, shaking my head slightly. “Yeah, she kind of gets that from our mom.” A small smile pulls at my lips, remembering the fire in Mom’s eyes whenever I crossed the line.
“It’s the first birthday I get to celebrate with her since she was a kid,” I say, taking the clipboard from him and hanging it back up. “And since I’m not the one who made the promise to not make a fuss—”
“Whatever you want to do, I’m down for it,” he says quickly with a wide smile.
“Okay, that was a lot easier than I thought.” I laugh, clapping him on the back.
“So, what are you thinking?”
“When we were kids, we used to go to the arcade. Halle loved it there.” I smile faintly at the memory.
“I never had the money for us to play the games, but the atmosphere, the lights, the sounds, she ate it up. It was right before I took off… I promised her one day, I’d take her to an arcade, and we’d spend the whole day there.
” I shrug, a small amount of doubt creeping in.
“You want to take her to the arcade for her birthday?” he asks, amusement lighting in his eyes.
We round the counter to the bar where Madi and Connor are standing.
“Yeah. I think it’d be epic. I’ve always wanted to give her that day, and what better way to do it than on her birthday?”
“Are we talking about Halle baby’s birthday coming up?” Connor chimes in.
“Don’t call her baby,” Asher snaps at him, his tone sharp.
Madison snickers, her eyes landing on me, and I can’t help the smirk that pulls at my lips.
I swear, Connor does it just to wind Asher up, and it works every time.
Her laugh hangs in the air, cutting through the tension that’s been building all night.
She looks more at ease now, and I hope like hell that when these idiots finally clear out, that calm doesn’t disappear.
Shaking my head, I point at Connor. “Stop teasing him. And yes, I was thinking we could road trip it out to Ashfalls. Hit their arcade for a few hours, then grab burgers and milkshakes at that diner before heading back.”
“Hell yeah, I’m so down for that. Their burgers are so bomb,” Connor says, leaning an elbow on the bar.
Asher’s mouth twitches as his hand drags over his jaw. There’s a shift behind his eyes, something I can’t read, but it’s gone before I can make sense of it.
“There’s also that art store she loves in Ashfalls,” he adds after a beat. “She’d probably want to hit that up too.”
“I’ll work out the details and let ya’ll know, but it’ll just be us and maybe Sarah and Remi.”
Connor straightens at the mention of Sarah, the lazy grin slipping for half a second before he catches himself.
I arch a brow at him in question when Asher nudges my shoulder, glancing toward the door, and back to me with a look that says, Time to go.
I nod with a silent thank you. Reaching out, he grabs the back of Connor’s shirt and tugs him toward the exit.
“Dude, what the hell?” Connor yelps, stumbling after him.
“We’re heading out,” Asher says, tone casual, his eyes dart briefly to Madison. “Have fun, you two.”
“Alright, alright, keep your pants on,” Connor grumbles as Asher keeps tugging him.
I chuckle at the sight. They’re not making this awkward at all.
“Wait!” Connor calls, twisting in Asher’s grip, and I send up a silent prayer. “Call and scream if you need me, Queen.”
The door swings shut behind them, Asher’s faint “you idiot” echoing on their way out.
Silence settles over the bar, the low hum of the fridges the only sound left.
My pulse kicks up when Madison’s gaze finds mine again.
There’s something in her eyes, uncertainty, hesitance, and it knocks the air from my lungs.
She has no idea what she does to me. How my skin heats under her stare, how every inch of me aches to close the space between us.
To touch her. To earn back the right to.
It’s raw, instinctual. She’s it. She’s my future.
“They couldn’t have been less subtle if they tried,” she says with a laugh, the sound light and teasing.
Fuck, I can’t screw this up. That laugh…
I need to hear it again and again. I need it to be the sound I drive home to, the sound I fall asleep to.
This is my one shot to start making things right with her, to explain myself.
If that makes me desperate, so be it. I have no shame in letting the whole world see just how much I need her.
My fingers tighten around the stem of the glass, a small tremor running through my hand. “Wine?” I ask, lifting the glass.
“One drink, Hunter,” she warns with a look that shoots straight to my core. “That’s it.”
“Well then,” I reply with a smirk. “I’d better make it a big one.”
Tipping the bottle, I watch the wine swirl and climb to the brim. The rich red catches the light, shining between us. I steady the glass with a careful hand and slide it toward her, careful not to spill any.
“You’re impossible,” she murmurs, but there’s no heat in her voice, just the faint trace of a smile she tries to hide behind her glass.
I round the bar, my hand grazing the back of her stool—fingers brushing lightly against her spine—before reaching for the one beside her and pulling it out.
Her breath hitches, soft but sharp, as I slide onto it, close enough to feel the warmth radiating off her.
I take a slow sip of my whiskey, the burn grounding me, my eyes never leaving her.
She fiddles with the stem of her wine glass, tracing the rim with her thumb, her chest rising and falling heavily as her eyes look anywhere but me.
“Madison,” I drawl, angling my body toward hers.
“Hunter,” she shoots back, voice low and teasing.