Bury the Hatchet

Chapter Fifteen - Bury the Hatchet

TALLIE

The garage door was already opening, and I had yet to come up with a plan as to what I would—or wouldn't—say to Hunter. He was home, and I was still nuttier than a five-pound fruitcake following my afternoon visit with Kade.

Trying to sort out my thoughts and keep my emotions on an even keel, I slipped on my oven mitts and removed the aluminum takeout containers from the oven. Then I placed them on trivets so they wouldn't burn his brand-spanking-new countertops. I was taking out some dinner plates from the cabinet overhead when he came in.

He stopped on the other side of the bar, dropping his keys there and raising a brow in question. "I guess we're staying in tonight, then."

"I didn't feel like going out. I need a break."

"It's all right," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm not upset by the idea. I'd actually like having a night in, too."

Had I bitten off the words or something? I must not have done a very good job of calming myself down before he'd come in.

What I'd said wasn't the whole truth, but it was one hundred percent true, what there was of it. I couldn't keep up this charade we were putting on for the world every time I turned around. All the nights we'd spent out groping each other in public had long since started taking a toll on me in countless ways.

But the bigger issue right now was Kade. Or maybe it was all the things Kade had revealed to me about Hunter.

I wasn't even sure I could put my finger on what, exactly, was bothering me so badly at the moment. I just knew I couldn't handle a night out acting like Hunter could possibly be in love with me. Not now that I knew about Carrie.

Kade had called them fuck buddies, but I doubted that was entirely accurate. The better explanation, as far as I could see, was that Hunter was in love with her. It would explain a lot, actually—why he wouldn't take things further with me and why he was so determined to keep me separate from the important things in his life, like his family and the team he was playing for. It could explain everything I'd had such a difficult time understanding in the last few weeks.

The way that Kade had laid it out for me was obviously meant to hurt. I got that. He might have thought that I was getting too close—I had been pushing him to reveal things that Hunter had been keeping under wraps—and so he'd struck back at me with deadly accurate aim. Just when I'd started to realize I might be falling for Hunter, his brother had made it clear Hunter would never be able to return those feelings.

Yeah, I definitely needed a night or two of staying in, away from all the media and the people who would gossip about us. In fact, I might need more than just a night or two.

I wasn't sure I could keep going with this at all. We'd said it would be for a year, and we were only about six weeks in at this point. How could I get through another ten months of this? I should have tried harder to keep my heart out of things, but it had proved to be too difficult. Damn Hunter for being so good at our game that he'd even fooled me.

"Well," Hunter said when I remained silent, stewing in my own thoughts, "it smells great." He came around and took a plate from me, brushing his knuckles against my hand in the exchange.

I refrained from flinching, but barely.

"Did you have a good day today?" he asked, spooning out a serving of lasagna for himself.

I opened a bottle of wine. I hadn't had much to drink since we'd returned from Hawaii, remembering all too well the humiliation my overindulgence had led to, but tonight called for it. "It was fine."