stick to poke at a small group of leaves rather than respond.
“I didn’t mean anything by that,” I offered lamely a few minutes later, the silence unnerving me. “I know it’s not fair to cast aspersions given ... everything. I just think you could do better. I can’t pretend otherwise.”
Amusement curved his lips. “Oh, yeah? Do you have anyone specific in mind?”
The question caught me off guard. “No, I ... no.” He didn’t think I was suggesting we get together, did he? That would be mortifying when he turned me down. “I was just talking in general terms.”
“In general terms, huh?” Now he really did look entertained. “Well, in general terms, I very much doubt Monica will be around much longer. While she’s a perfectly nice woman, our lifestyles don’t exactly mesh.”
That was a relief, though I couldn’t show it. “You should take some downtime,” I suggested. “You know, really think about things before you date someone else.”
“Is that what you’re doing? Taking downtime, I mean. Tristan would’ve taken you to fifty fancy restaurants if you’d shown him the slightest interest.”
I scowled. “Tristan is the last person I’d date. He’s so full of himself. He’s the star in all his stories. He looks pretty good shirtless, but that’s hardly the sort of thing you can build a relationship on.”
Now it was Hunter’s turn to be annoyed. “When did you see him shirtless?”
I pressed my lips together at his expression. It was one part annoyance, two parts fury, and one part jealousy. It was the last part that made me feel a little better, even though I knew it was only a conditioned response. “When I went to the basketball court looking for Bobby. I found Tristan ... and he likes to flex while talking. It’s pretty gross.”
“Oh.” Hunter relaxed, if only marginally. “I guess that makes sense. He’s still a turd.”
“You never liked him. That’s a holdover from high school.”
“You’re right. Do you know why?”
I shook my head. “No. Other than he’s an entitled little jerkwad who lives off his father’s money rather than work for anything himself, I mean.”
That was enough to elicit a true smile from Hunter, and it was devastating in its beauty. He could light up a room — or in this case an entire valley — with one expression. It almost made me think he was magical, too.
“I didn’t like him because he wanted you,” Hunter replied softly.
My heart skipped. “No he didn’t.” Honestly, that was absurd. “He didn’t even notice I was alive when we were kids. He was into the rich girls, or the two well-to-do girls who lived in town. He didn’t want someone who constantly smelled like French fries while wearing off-brand canvas shoes.”
“No, that’s what you saw,” Hunter countered, eyes somber. “You never saw yourself the way you really were. You only saw the negative, never the positive. Tristan was hot for you ... and it drove me crazy.”
“It drove you crazy?” I was intrigued. “Why?”
“Because I needed you.” He was earnest to the point of pinching my heart. “You were all I had most of the time. You listened ... and we dreamed ... and even though none of it happened, you saved me back then. I didn’t want to lose you to anyone, but especially not to him.”
I found myself suddenly choked up. “You were never going to lose me. Don’t you know that I was as infatuated with you as you were with me?”
“But I did lose you.”
Tears pricked the back of my eyes. “I ... .”
“Don’t.” He waved his hand to cut me off. “Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. It took me a long time to see that. I was bitter after we broke up, but even as it was happening I knew I couldn’t keep you.
“You had dreams that were bigger than this place,” he continued. “You wanted to see the world. It was fun to dream that I could go with you, but the realities were different. I was never going to have the money to go to college, and asking you to stay wasn’t fair to you. I wasn’t always the smartest boyfriend, but I knew you would come to resent me if I tried to hold you back.
“I had to let you go, so I did. I regretted it every day for a long time. It hurt to think about you. Then, one day, it didn’t hurt quite as much. I still missed you, but I knew I did the