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A new woman every night?
“Fuck you, Kade, I don’t see you putting a ring on anyone’s finger,” Hunter snarled.
And with that, all of them started shouting at each other, often hurling insults. The only good thing out of all this was my being able to see how the brothers interacted. I watched the show, feeling unsettled at being used as a hammer to pound Hunter into submission. He had issues, but his brothers didn’t help. In fact, based on what I was watching, Hunter’s coping skills were better than I’d have thought. How he hadn’t already exploded from anger and frustration at the way his brothers interacted suggested he had more control than I thought.
Me, I’d had enough. I brought two fingers to my mouth and blew, letting out a loud shrill whistle through the room. All four men stopped and jerked their heads to me.
“Can all of you leave so I can speak alone with Hunter?” I said, hoping that Hunter would give me a moment.
Chase started to open his mouth, but I stared at him, wanting to appear authoritative. I must have succeeded as he clamped his jaw shut.
Finally, he said, “Come on, let’s give them some time alone.”
“You sure it’s safe—”
“Shut up, Kade,” Chase said, pressing his hand to Kade’s shoulder to move him along.
I’d expected Hunter to follow them out the door. But when the door closed, he leaned against the wall, looking at me. He crossed his arms and legs, and his expression appeared bored, but there was no mistaking the irritation radiating off of him.
The office all of a sudden felt small. I was around a cornered animal that could strike out to protect itself. This wasn’t the first time I’d been in this situation, so I took a breath and composed my face, hoping that by appearing calm, he’d relax. Or relax as much as was possible for him.
“I’m sorry that was so hard. I don’t like to start out by blindsiding a client,” I said, sitting down so he’d find me non-threatening.
“I’m not a client.”
“Even so, I’m sorry for that. I can see your brothers could probably do with some therapy themselves,” I said, hoping that by acknowledging the dysfunction of the others that I could bridge some sort of connection. That he’d feel I wasn’t against him, but on his side.
“I liked it better when we all stayed the hell away from each other.” He stayed where he was, legs and arms still crossed, but the tension on his face lessened.
“Do you think your brothers really care about you or that this is some play to get you out?” I asked, wanting to know what his true perception of his relationship with his brothers was.
He shrugged. “We usually have each other’s backs, but there’s not any warm fuzziness between us.”
“You suggested that Chase wanted you out but didn’t have the balls to fire you. Can he do that?”
“Have balls?” He quirked a brow. “I’m not sure anymore. He’s gone soft with Sara around.”
“You seem to think he has a reason to want you gone,” I prodded.
Hunter’s jaw clenched. “He does.”
I wanted to know about that but knew now wasn’t the time to dive deep into Hunter’s psyche. “You must like your work.”
“Why would you say that?” he asked.
“Because a man like you would have left long ago. Something is keeping you here.”
He shrugged and moved away from the wall. He walked to an area where a small fridge sat. He opened it and pulled out a bottle of water. He held it up to me in offering. I shook my head no.
He opened the top and sipped, then he leaned against the desk like Chase had done before.
“I have nothing else to do,” he finally responded to my comment.
“So, you want to stay?”
His eyes narrowed. “What are you trying to say, Doc?”
I wasn’t a doctor, but I decided to ignore that for now. “I’m saying that if you want to stay, you have to do something to learn to manage your anger. I can help with that. We can meet a couple times a week to chat, which will keep your brothers off your back.”
“I thought therapists were altruistic. What is Chase paying you to work so hard to convince me to work with you? Is he fucking you too?”
Inside, I cringed at his words, but I hoped on the outside I remained unaffected. I wasn’t going to let his words rattle or affect me, otherwise, he’d win.
I’d hoped that by presenting our meeting as more of a chat and not therapy, he might get on board. Clearly, that wasn’t going to work.
“You can ascribe whatever motivation you want for my behavior, but if you don’t do this, your brothers are going to find another therapist or force you to take a leave of absence,” I said in a matter-of-fact tone. I didn’t want him to think I cared one way or another what he chose. This had to be all on him.
