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Roger nodded, and they kept walking. She was immensely enjoying the evening breeze. As they strolled past Lucy’s boutique, she spotted Lucy locking her door. Cheryse lifted her hand, and Lucy waved back.
Roger noticed the interaction. “Do you have your girls’ meeting tomorrow?”
Ever since Roger had met Hunter and gotten to know her beach crew a little better, including most of the Stones, he acted strange about her meetings. Did he think they were gossiping about him or something? It was weird, but she tried not to let it bug her. There were many positives about Roger, so she tried to focus on those. “I have lunch tomorrow with my beach crew.”
Roger nodded. “Have you run into Hunter since he’s been home?”
She faltered, slowing her pace. “I haven’t.”
Of course, she knew about his eye and that he was done with the SEALs now. It was a small town, and it seemed like every person who’d come to the salon in the past two weeks had told her something about Hunter, especially the part about the eye patch. At some point, she hoped Hunter would reach out to her and they could reconnect. Part of her still felt guilty for slapping him that night. It’d been an awful night and a crazy time for both of them, but she missed him. A lot.
“Weird.” Roger waved a hand dismissively in the air. “I guess that’s what it means to be in a small town, right? You two have a history that I will probably never understand, but I’ve accepted that. I just want a future with you.”
Her heart warmed with gratitude. “I want a future with you, too.”
Roger stopped walking and faced her. “Are you serious? Because I don’t think I could take it if you weren’t.”
“I’m serious. I know I have been dodgy about getting married, but there’s stuff about my past, outside of South Port, that you still don’t know.”
Roger frowned. “Okay. Do you want to talk about it now?”
Her stomach flip-flopped. She hated even thinking about those times. “No, but I promise we’ll talk about it when you get back in two weeks.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to wait,” Roger said, sighing.
A chair screeched against the pavement.
Cheryse looked over at the little sports bar they had stopped in front of, and the air whooshed out of her like she’d been punched in the gut.
There stood the man that she’d just been talking about: Hunter.
She was shocked by her visceral reaction to him. His hair was long, down to his shoulders, and he wore a tight black shirt and jeans. With his gaze locked on her, she had to admit the patch on his eye made him look terrifying.
“Oh, did I bother you?” Hunter asked, raising his hands. “Because I was just sitting here, and you guys stopped by my table, and … Well, I have to tell you, Reese, I don’t really want to hear about your potentialmarriage.”
“Gosh,” Roger said. He took Cheryse’s hand. “Let’s go.”
She couldn’t move. When it came to Roger, Hunter was a loose cannon. Over the past year, she’d heard stories about Hunter being reckless on missions and dating a stream of women. It was like Hunter had taken on all of Trent’s old jerk characteristics.
“You’re back.” It was all she could say. There were no other words. Humiliation burned through her. She couldn’t believe she and Roger had stopped right next to his table and discussed getting married. That was perfect.
The mockery on Hunter’s face eased a little. “I’ve been back for two weeks. You probably heard that, but who am I to think my old friend might stop over to check on me?” He pointed to the eye patch and let out a sardonic laugh. “As you can see, I don’t have an eye. You could have asked how I was feeling. The rest of the town does.”
“I should go.” Did she even know Hunter anymore? It made her sad to see the belligerent expression on his face. She pointed at the four beer bottles on his table. “You should probably go, too.”
Hunter smirked. He swaggered toward her and Roger, leaning on the gate between the sidewalk and the patio where he had been sitting. “You think I should go?” He looked around and laughed, like he was entertaining the whole restaurant. “She thinks I should go. Because the woman who used to be my best friend—the woman who hasn’t talked to me in over a year—the woman who hasn’t even made time for me since I’ve been back in town, thinks it’s her business to tell me to go.”
Cheryse couldn’t reply. Her hands went clammy.
“I don’t think you should talk to her like that,” Roger said in a low voice.
Hunter’s laser-like focus turned to Roger. “Whatyousay doesn’t count. Oh, or maybe it does because you owe me for not going to my brother’s funeral. Remember when you said that, dude?” He threw back his head and barked out an obnoxious laugh. “That was hilarious.”
Cheryse had seen this expression on his face many times when he and Trent had trash-talked to each other. “Hunter …”
“What?” He turned on her. “What do you want to say?”
The words died in her throat.
