"Hush."
"What is it?"
"Shh!"
The tiny peephole afforded only the tiniest of glances into the hotel lobby, but Amanda had her pupil straining against the miniscule pane of glass. Hunter stood beside her, his ear pressed firmly against the wood of the closet door. All around them were pillows and sheets and towels in the pristine hotel white.
Hunter had to force himself not to laugh as he heard Amanda breathing heavily. She closed her eyes suddenly and leaned her forehead against the wall, letting out a sigh that turned into a quiet chuckle. She sank down to sit on the floor. Hunter breathed a laugh and dropped into a squat.
"Amanda, why don't you just admit you like him?"
He heard her hair swoosh against the wood and imagined her shaking her head. It was dark as pitch, save for the strip of light coming from the half-inch crack at the bottom.
"I don't like him, Hunter."
He rolled his eyes. He definitely did not believe that.
"Amanda, come on. You freak out every time you see him! You definitely have a thing for him!"
They had been leaving the hotel after returning a puppy they had found in front of the Atlantic Records building in Nashville when Amanda had spotted her friend, Markob Jakobie, coming in the front door with his ever-present sunglasses turning his world into a shadow. Amanda had pulled him into the closet before he could even finish poking fun at her for the way she had initially reacted. He doubted he would ever forget the way she had trailed off in the middle of her sentence and let her mouth hang agape.
"Fine," she groaned. "I like him."
"Ha! I knew it!"
She grunted again. "Oh, shut up. It's not like I can do anything about it."
He lifted an eyebrow quizzically, though he knew she could not see him. "What do you mean? Why not?"
A moment passed in silence, and then Hunter heard her getting up, so he rose, too.
"Come on, Hunt. Let's get out of this closet."
They walked out, squinting against the sudden, harsh light and acting like they had every right to have been in there.
When they had finally made it out of doors, Amanda linked her arm with Hunter's and pulled her sunglasses off her head and pushed them onto the bridge of her nose.
"Markob is...well, I think he's pretty much perfect for me. He's tall and handsome and he's intelligent and...well, he makes me feel like a girl again." She laughed, and Hunter grinned at her.
"So why don't you go for him?"
Amanda shrugged. "I don't know, Hunt. It's just complicated, I guess. If you want to know the truth, I'm a little nervous to start anything with him because...well, before Matt was thrown in jail...Markob was one of his best friends."
She winced and peeked at her companion's face as he stopped and searched her face. His mouth gaped open and she could feel his heart hammering in his chest beneath his smooth black shirt. Her own heart accelerated.
Hunter's heart clenched in fear for her. He had met Markob Jakobie three times now, and he had never given him any impression that he was a bad guy, but he knew better now than to trust his first instinct. Amanda, too, had fooled him thoroughly not but a little over a year before. To find out now that Amanda's new love interest was a close friend of her last? Matt had been a horrendous influence on her; what if he had the same influence on his friends?
"Amanda..." he tried to find a way to phrase what he was thinking. Could he come between her and her happiness simply because he had a vague inclination to believe Markob could be bad? How fair was that? To assume that he was a horrible man simply because he kept horrible company?
Yet, Hunter could not seem to stop himself from judging him that way. He wanted Amanda to be safe more than he wanted her to find love with Markob Jakobie. He decided to be honest with her. That was what a true friend would do.
"Amanda, I think you need to be careful. I don't want you to get hurt again."
She nodded, worrying her lip between his teeth but using her arm, which was still linked with his, to propel him into a walk again.
"I know, Hunter. That's been my problem. I want to trust Markob, because he and Matt never really seemed like...well, I never really understood why Matt was friends with him. He always seemed...I don't know...not Matt's type, I guess? Markob was always so happy, and Matt was always so...angry. You know? I didn't really pay that much attention, but even now, I don't think they were ever very close. I know Markob knows what happened with me and you and all of that, but he hasn't ever mentioned it. He's never once said anything about Matt. Which makes me think...maybe he's good after all?"
She sighed and pinched the space between her eyes. She groaned and smiled wearily.
"I don't want him to be bad, Hunter. I really, really like him. So...would it be totally insane to ask...would you mind? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to but...Hunter, would you hang out with him? Get to know him a little? I think he's a really big fan of your music so you'll have a lot to talk about. I just want your honest, unadulterated opinion of him. I'll set everything up, I swear. I just want you to get to know him and tell me what you think. You know, honestly."
Hunter took a deep breath, refusing to meet her eyes. He knew his own limits. He was definitely not very good one-on-one. Especially if it was a man, and a man he hardly knew at that. Could he really be objective now that he knew what he did?
He sighed and nodded at Amanda. She had been a good friend to him in these months without Beth, and he felt he owed her. Whether or not that was true, he had to pay the debt.
"Okay, Amanda. But I'm going to be brutal. No holding back."
She smiled widely, and a giggle escaped her lips. She turned in and hugged him fiercely around the neck, throwing a kiss onto his cheek and then another on his shoulder as she hugged him again.
"Thank you so much, Hunter! Your opinion means a lot to me."
She pulled away and took a deep breath.
"God, I need a smoke," she commented, scrounging around in her purse for her pack and lighter.
Hunter shook his head. "Amanda, you really need to stop smoking. It's disgusting."
She laughed. "I know, I know. I swear I'll quit."
"When?" he challenged. He crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow at her.
She hung the cigarette between her lips and lit it with her other hand, returning his challenge with her eyes.
"How about this?" she said, blowing out a puff of smoke. "I'll stop smoking when you stop missing Beth."
Hunter's mouth popped open. Just as quickly, he pressed them into a straight line and turned away from her.
I will never stop missing Beth.
"Oh, come on, Hunt. I didn't mean it that way!" Amanda called, catching up with him and putting a restrictive hand on his arm.
"Hunter, come on. Please! Stop, okay? I'm sorry!"
He stopped. He knew he was being ridiculous. He just could not seem to handle it when people mentioned Beth. He missed her uncontrollably.
"Here, I have something for you," Amanda continued. "Will you hold this for me?"
She thrust her cigarette into his hand and searched through her purse again. He held it awkwardly, pinched between his first finger and his thumb, hating the smell and the feeling of Amanda's lipstick on the tip.
"Here it is!" she announced triumphantly, pulling a guitar pick from her massive shoulder bag. "It was signed by Frank Sinatra before he died. I found it on eBay! Can you believe that?"
Hunter fingered the pick in astonishment.
"Wow, Amanda. This is amazing! Thank you so much!"
He hugged her again and she took her cigarette back, taking a huge pull. A moment of silence passed between them, in which they just stared at each other, both with a face full of gratitude for the other.
Finally, Amanda bumped him with her elbow and said, "All right, rock star. Let's get you back home."
Hey, look at that! AN UPDATE!! :D AND IT'S ABOUT HUNTER!!
I am about to be very busy. Even more so than I've been. I swear. But...after that, I'll be moving and hopefully I'll have slightly more time to write. This book is going to be awesome, I swear it.
As it is, I really appreciate you guys sticking around. How am I doing? Do you like this book?
Vote, comment, give me a shout out! I noticed that I've gotten a few hundred reads this week, which is AMAZING! You guys RULE!
Anyway, as always, God Bless and Happy Reading. (: