Page 53 of Enemy Games

Hunter cocked back his arm, but Ethan grabbed him and pulled him back. “Stop dude, it's not worth it. Let's just go.”

“Just because I was never interested in you, doesn’t mean I don’t like all men. You were rude and misogynistic, and it looks like nothing’s changed. Even if I was gay, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t define a person and it certainly doesn’t give you the right to treat them poorly.” I tugged on the back of Hunter’s shirt and pulled him out of the house, where the rest of our group was waiting for us on the sidewalk.

“I ordered a car,” Reid announced, and I thanked him then turned away, not wanting to meet anyone’s eyes.

Hunter reached for my arm, and I turned to face him. “What was that all about?”

I stared at the cement. “Nothing. TJ used to mock me in high school. He thinks all female athletes are gay. His favorite thing was asking me where my girlfriend was.”

It was stupid and beyond immature, but he couldn't seem to let it go.

“Why would he do that?”

As if I understood the brain of that jerk. “I don't know. I don't care. It was nothing to be embarrassed about. It just wasn't true.”

Chris looped her arm through mine. “I'll be your pretend girlfriend anytime.”

I smiled at her and hoped that Hunter would let it go, but he was staring back at the house.

“How long did he do that?”

I shrugged. “All four years.”

His gaze darkened.

“Why does that bother you so much?” It didn’t make sense.

“He shouldn't have said things like that.”

“Don't worry,” I interrupted. “By that time I reached high school, I had pretty tough skin.”

I left unsaid that it was because of him, but he seemed to put that together.

“I'm really sorry.”

I stepped back, a little too shocked to take in his words. “You're sorry?”

He rubbed his face then dropped his shoulders. “Yeah, I'm really sorry about what I did. When we were younger, I knew better than to just participate in bullying, but I still did. I let my friends dictate what I did and what I said rather than thinking for myself.”

I wanted to accept his apology and leave it at that, but I had one burning question that wouldn't go away. “Why?”

He's shoved his hands in his pockets. “Why what?”

“Why did you stop being my friend?”

He stared at the ground then over his friends, and took a few steps away before answering me. “My parents got divorced around that time. I was living with my dad a lot, and he was filling my head with some pretty messed up stuff. He didn't like or respect women, and at the time, I just wanted to be like him. He was the one that said women shouldn’t play hockey, and I listened and repeated it. When I was with my mom, things were better. But for a while, they were in a custody battle.” He swallowed. “I was spending too much time with him. He was toxic. And I was young. I didn't realize how messed up he was for a long time. That's not an excuse. But that was the reason why I stopped being friends with you. He wouldn't let me be friends with girls. He wouldn't let me go to your house anymore. I could only play with the boys in my neighborhood or from the team.”

I didn’t expect him to admit all of that. I thought I would get some vague answer that didn’t really explain anything. We’d stopped carpooling around the time he turned on me, but I thought it was because he was on a different team. I didn't realize that was when his parents got divorced. So I stopped seeing his mom around the same time he did.

“I'm really sorry, Hunter.”

He stepped back. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. It was me. I wasn't strong enough to stand up to him. Not then, at least.”

A van pulled up to the curb, and Benjamin called out, letting us know it was time to go.

We stared at each other for a moment. Things had changed between us. It wasn't just like he apologized or explained what happened. It was that I finally saw him as more than just the bully from my childhood.

He wasn't a two-dimensional figure anymore that I could hate. He was a person with his own struggles, his own battles, his own bully.