“You’ve been hiding.”
“I have not.”
Felicity raised her eyebrow. “Really?”
I sighed and shut my eyes. “Fine. I’ve been hiding. I deserve to hide.” My hands went to my stomach. “I’ve had a lot to think about.”
Felicity took my hand and held it. “I know life threw you a pretty big curve ball, but you can’t let it stop you from living.” She grabbed my cell phone off the coffee table and thrust it into my hands. “Call him.”
Felicity was right. I knew she was. I hadn’t seen or heard from Hunter since the reunion. As fast as he’d bolted out of there that night, I was gone the next morning. Felicity had taken me in, and I’d moved into her new off-campus apartment. Hunter hadn’t so much as sent me a text message. It was time to move on.
My hand hovered over the phone, but I dropped my hands onto my lap. “I can’t go on a date with some random guy, Felicity.”
Felicity’s hand came to rest on my thigh and she gave me a sympathetic smile. “Okay, I get it.”
“Do you?” I raised my eyebrow. Felicity wasn’t known for her flexibility. Once she made up her mind about something, she was relentless.
“I do, but you do need to get out of this apartment.”
“I do?” I groaned. Felicity had already given up her matchmaking plans. She wasn’t going to leave me alone until I agreed to participate in some sort of social activity, though. I looked down at my sweats. “Does this mean I have to get dressed?”
Felicity grabbed my hands and pulled me to my feet. “Yes, and I get to dress you.”
“No,” I whined. Felicity had a special way she liked to make me look. She said it was glamorous, but I always felt like a tramp when she was done. I rolled my eyes as she dragged me into her room. “I want something that covers more than twelve percent of my body.”
“Relax, Summer. You’ll look like a million dollars when I’m done with you.”
An hour later, I followed Felicity down the street. True to her word, I looked gorgeous. She’d dug deep into her wardrobe and had dressed me in a polka dot blouse with a wide silver belt and a black skirt that hit me just above the knee.
“Where are we going, anyway?”
“A friend of mine is playing at Marquee tonight.”
“Isn’t that place almost impossible to get into?”
Felicity grinned and gave me a playful shove. “Not when you’re with the band.”
Half an hour later, I was settled into a booth. I sipped a soda and watched her grind on the dance floor. This was her idea of me being social. Ignoring advances from half-drunk nitwits and watching her get her groove on. Truthfully, it could be worse.
I leaned back in the booth and shut my eyes. At least the band was decent, and Felicity looked happy. She jumped up onto the stage and wrapped her arms around the guy on bass guitar. She kissed him long and deep, and the crowd went wild.
I felt a twinge of longing. I shouldn’t miss Hunter after what he’d done, but I couldn’t help myself. I pulled my phone out of my purse and stared at the screen. No missed calls. No unanswered texts. I wanted a drink, something strong enough to knock me on my ass. I didn’t want to think anymore. I took a sip of my soda as Felicity threw herself onto the seat across from me. She was breathless and flushed from her efforts on the dance floor and her tongue-swallowing act on stage.
She took a long swallow of her beer, then leaned across the table. She narrowed her eyes and studied my face. “You’re not having fun, are you?”
“I am.”
Felicity leaned back and crossed her arms in front of her. “You’re not. Admit it.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry, Felicity. I want to have fun, but it’s just,” I waved a hand, “this really isn’t my scene right now. I can’t drink, I don’t dance and I’m not into looking for some guy to hook up with.” The corner of my mouth upturned in a half smile. “But the music is good, at least.”
“I’m sorry I dragged you here, Summer.”
“It’s fine, Felicity.”
“Are you sure? Because you look miserable.”
“I’m sure. My misery has nothing to do with you.”
Felicity grabbed my hand. “Come on, Summer. I’ll walk you home. We can have a Netflix marathon.”
“That’s the best idea you’ve had all day.”
The sun was just sinking below the horizon when Felicity and I left the bar. The heat of the day had vanished and a slight chill blew in.
“We’d better hurry,” I said as I noticed the way the leaves turned over in the wind. Their light green undersides shimmered in the fading sunlight. “Looks like it’s going to rain.”
Felicity didn’t respond. Instead, she chewed her lower lip. It was something she only did when she was deep in thought.
“Is something wrong, Felicity?”
She glanced at me, opened her mouth, then shut it again. She looked away and kept her gaze focused on the street. She was silent for half a block before she finally answered. “You miss him, don’t you?”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter if I miss him. He obviously doesn’t miss me.”
“What if he did?”
“If he missed me, he’d call, he’d text.” I swallowed the knot of pain that clogged my throat. “He hasn’t done either.”
“What would you say if he did?”
It was my turn to not answer. The truth was, I didn’t know what I’d say if he called. Part of me wanted to believe that I’d be strong enough to quit him for good, but if that was the truth, I’d have done it already. The painful reality was that I wanted Hunter almost as much as I wanted the baby, our baby. I was pathetic, but if he wanted me, I’d take him back. Instead of saying any of that I told her I didn’t know.
If Felicity saw through my lie, she was a good enough friend to not call me on it.
Finally home, Felicity grabbed the doorknob, but didn’t open it. Her forehead creased and she bit her lip. “I did something that you might hate me for.”
She curled her fingers into a fist and banged on the door. Two loud knocks. She opened it and then stepped out of the way.
Balloons. Flowers. Our apartment looked like a gift shop had exploded in it.
“What’s all this?” I took a tentative step through the door, then stopped in my tracks. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter Fifteen
He looked like hell. His face was pale. The bags under his eyes told me he’d been sleeping about as well as I had been—not at all. He hadn’t shaved in a while and he looked as if he’d lost the eight pounds I’d gained.
He took a step toward me. “Summer, please. I’m sorry. I just want to talk.”
My brain told me to say no. I should make him leave, but before I could think, I nodded and dropped my purse onto the counter.
Felicity threw her arms around me and gave me a squeeze. “I’ll have my phone on if you need me, Summer.” She shot a sympathetic look to Hunter as she slipped out of the apartment. I twitched when the door clicked shut behind her.
Hunter reached for me, but I stepped back. “Why are you here?”
I crossed my arms and walked to the other side of the apartment. I’d forgotten the power he had over me. He’d barely spoken a word, but I wanted to wrap myself up in him. Despite my best efforts, I’d failed to hate him.
“I screwed up.”
I laughed. “Did you just realize this? How did you even find me?”