Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 125845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 419(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 419(@300wpm)
“Nothing. Just…ah, I’m an idiot.”
“No you’re not. But I’ll bite—why do you think you’re an idiot?”
I exhale in a rush, and then the entire story spills out. Hunter listens without a single interjection, visibly bewildered.
“I’m sorry,” I blabber on. “I’m not saying you did anything wrong, because you didn’t—it was an old picture. But when I thought it wasn’t old, my brain immediately jumped to you cheating on me. That’s where my idiocy comes in, because how could you cheat on me if we’re not even officially together?”
“Sure we are.”
I falter. “We are?”
“Of course. Just because we haven’t labeled this doesn’t mean we’re not together. When anyone asks, I refer to you as my girlfriend.”
“You do?” I angrily swipe at my wet eyes. “Why the fuck don’t you refer to me as your girlfriend when I’m there?”
He snorts with laughter. “I don’t know, why don’t you ever call me your man?”
“Because I didn’t want to rush into things.” I release a heavy sigh, trying to articulate the emotions swirling inside me. “I’m so embarrassed,” I finally admit. “I like to think of myself as level-headed and mature, and yet I immediately jumped to conclusions and assumed you were sleeping around. And it made me realize that Nico really messed with my head. I thought I was over it, but apparently I’m not. Apparently now any time anything even the slightest bit sketchy happens, I’m going to assume the person I’m with is sleeping with someone else.”
I finish with an anguished groan.
“C’mere,” he says gruffly. He moves toward the foot of the bed where I’m lurking and pulls me into his lap.
I rest my chin on his shoulder, inhaling a weak breath.
“You didn’t jump to conclusions, Demi. You saw a picture of me kissing another woman. Yes, it was taken last year, but you didn’t know that at first. Believe me, if I saw a picture of you kissing another man, I’d lose my shit.”
“You would?”
“Yes. Look, I know we kind of did this backwards. We didn’t have any of those big relationship talks, or set any ground rules, but…” Hunter captures my chin with his hands and lifts my head so we’re eye to eye. “I promise you, I’m not seeing anybody else. I’m not sleeping with anybody else. I’m with you, and I’m all in.” His voice cracks. “I love you.”
36
Hunter
No one has a harder job than the man who comes after the cheater.
To be honest, I’m surprised Demi didn’t experience a breakdown like this sooner. Yes, she had her violent breakdown, her fit of rage when she hurled Nico’s stuff out the window and clocked him in the face. But I don’t think she ever fully dealt with the emotional implications of what Nico did.
I know all about the aftermath of infidelity. I remember how my mom acted following the revelation of another one of Dad’s affairs. She’d be jittery and suspicious for weeks and months afterward. Whenever he bent over his phone, her shoulders would stiffen. Who is he texting? she’d wonder. Whenever he had to go to the office, anxiety would flood her eyes. Who is he going to fuck on his desk today?
I used to have a lot of sympathy for her, but over the years it faded away. People are in control of their own lives and their own decisions. They’re not powerless victims to some cruel overlord who keeps them trapped in a misery loop. Mom made the decision to stay with him. I can’t sympathize anymore, not when there are so many other solutions available to her. She doesn’t have to be miserable, afraid, distrustful. She doesn’t have to be a pushover. She chooses to be.
But Demi, unlike my mother, doesn’t want to be stuck in this situation. She came directly to me to seek reassurance, and I’m going to give it to her.
“You love me,” she echoes.
My pulse speeds up as I study her expression. It’s impossible to decipher. I don’t know how she feels about what I’d just said. Hell, I don’t know how I feel about it.
I’ve only said those words to one other person, a high school girlfriend. And if I’m being honest, she said them first and I felt awkward not returning the sentiment. Teenage boys are stupid cowards sometimes. I wasn’t actually in love with her, the girl from high school.
But this girl, the gorgeous woman in my lap—I’m definitely in love with her. I love everything about her. Her intelligence, her sassiness, her craziness. She has the most dynamic personality. There are so many different facets to Demi Davis, and the more I learn about her, the more I love her.
So yes, I’m going to take on this challenging task and face the brunt of the damage that Nico caused. I’m going to be patient and help Demi regain her trust in my foolish sex, which has been given a bad rap thanks to men like Nico and my father. I’m going to stick by her and shower her with assurances that I love her, until she realizes she doesn’t ever need to worry about what I’m doing or who I’m doing it with—because she’s the only one who matters to me.