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All of a sudden, I hate everything about my job and I get the urge to end it. I start forwarding anything urgent to Mattie, letting her know that I would explain later what this is about. I know she’ll take good care of my clients.
I then open a new email, address it to my boss and start typing furiously. By the time I am done, my cheeks are flushed, and I worry that I am going to get sick. I debate if I should send it or not. Chloe’s bedroom door opening startles me, and my thumb drops on the Send button. With a gentle whoosh, the decision has been taken out of my hands.
I unplug the hair straightener which I don’t even want to use anymore, check on my light makeup, then grab my little bag and run to meet Chloe at the main entrance to our suite.
“Ready?” I call for her when I see that she is actually not in the living area yet but just walking out of her bedroom now.
“Yes, let’s have some fun, chickee,” she grabs me by the hand and pulls me out of the suite.
“Thank you for bringing me with you, Chlo,” I squeeze her hand back. “I…” But I can’t finish what I want to tell her. I am just so grateful to have her friendship.
“Are you okay, Slayer?” She calls me by the nickname my dad had for me as a kid. My heart clenches in my chest.
“I am moving back home. And I quit my job in New York.” I blurt it all in one breath, feeling like I am not myself anymore. I want to cry, but I don’t want to do it in front of her.
Chloe is looking positively panicked right now.
“I haven’t told my parents yet. So please don’t tell your mom or dad just yet.” Hell, it’s all still a surprise and shock to me.
Chloe continues staring at me like I fell from another planet. I would laugh if I wasn’t so tense. And now that I started talking, I feel like I owe her to confess the rest.
“I told Ridge, and he said I can stay with them if I need to.” Well, I didn’t tell him that I was jobless, but I’m sure he’ll understand. Maybe he’ll even give me a job at his company. My brother will take care of me, I’m sure.
How I went from wanting to be independent and pay my parents back for school, and now this, I don’t understand. I think I am having a mental breakdown. I am losing my mind, slowly but surely.
“You can stay with me too, Hunter.” Chloe finally snaps from her stupor and pulls me into a hug. She holds me tight for a few precious moments until I can pull my shit together.
“I’m sorry,” I let go of her. My eyelashes feel wet, and now I am worried about my mascara starting to run down my face. “I just wanted you to know,” I explain. “I’ve been dying to tell you.” I’ve been dying to tell somebody, that’s for sure. “Thank you again for bringing me with you on your adventure. I needed this. More than you know.”
“I love you, Hunter.” Chloe’s watery smile means everything to me right now. She trusts me and supports me, no matter what. “Thank you for trusting me with this, okay?” I bob my head, unable to utter another word. “Now let’s go have some damn fun. On me!” she yells. “Since I can apparently afford it now,” she laughs. “Can you believe this?”
“You’re gonna be my claim to fame, Chlo,” I tease her as we approach the elevators. The doors open and we get in. We’re both a little dizzy by the time we reach the main lobby.
“Wow, that was fast,” I press a hand to my stomach.
Chloe starts chattering something about a couple of old ladies who talked to us on our way down, but then, all of a sudden, she stops walking. Since she’s got a hand wrapped around my arm, when she stays still, she pulls me back, like a slinky of sorts.
“What are you doing, goofball?” I attempt to pull her back to me, but she won’t budge. My eyes follow hers until they find what she’s staring at. I feel my body tensing, and my fingers dig into her skin to the point where she flinches but doesn’t pull away from me.
Across from the mass of people milling around the lobby, there are two imposing figures looking at us like they’ve been waiting for me and Chloe to arrive.
One of them is Van Boyd, which doesn’t surprise me in the least. Like I said, I just know that he loves her and he’ll do anything to get her back.
The person standing next to Van though, he shocks me to my bones. I am not sure what to do, what to say. Will he cause a scene?
Zach Cavanaugh is here for me, there is no doubt.
CHAPTER 18
Tell me what?
Zach
“What’s going on with you and Hunter anyway?” Van eyeballs me all suspicious like. It seems that he knows something, but not enough to come up with a good scenario of it in his head.
My eyes are focused on the elevators. We’ve been waiting for these girls for quite a while now. I don’t understand what’s taking this long. Van paid someone to go knock on the door of their suite and make sure they were actually there. The dude came back to report that they were getting ready to come downstairs.
“None of your fucking business,” I growl at Van now. “That’s what I got going on with Hunter.”
