Page 45

HUNTER

It’s been two days since Peyton left New Jersey.

Beside me, my mom sits bundled in a thick scarf one of her salon clients crocheted for her as a Christmas gift. Her cheeks are pale, her eyes a little sunken, but she’s awake, alert, better than she was when she collapsed in the kitchen. I grip the wheel tighter, my knuckles whitening.

Now Peyton’s gone. And I’m still trying to figure out if I let her leave or if she just walked away without giving me a say.

"You’re quiet," Carly says softly, her voice still raspy from the hospital air.

I nod. "Just thinking."

What I don’t say is that Peyton’s voice keeps echoing in my head.

Maybe this is the right move for you.

She said it like it was a kindness. Like she wasn’t cutting herself out of the equation entirely. She didn’t ask me to stay. She didn’t ask if I wanted her to.

And yeah, maybe I’m pissed. Not just at her. At myself too. Because I didn’t fight her on it. But what could I do? We agreed to temporary.

My phone buzzes in the center console. I glance down and see my agent’s name.

"Mind if I take this?" I ask my mom.

"Go ahead," she says.

I hit the button on the steering wheel to answer.

"Hunter, hey," he says. "Got a second?"

"Driving Ma home from the hospital, but shoot."

"I won’t take up a lot of your time, but you’re not going to believe who called me just now.”

I glance over at my mother—both our curiosities piqued. “Who?”

“The head lawyer for the New Jersey hockey team, and get this…Mrs. Richards.”

“Bethany Richards?” I ask.

“Nope. The real original Mrs. Richards—Kevin’s mother. Turns out that the New Jersey team is part of a family trust that Kevin’s father set up years ago—Kevin doesn’t own it. In fact, he owns very little, as it turns out."

“You’re kidding,” I say, though I’m now not sure what this means for the trade offer that Bethany made to me if Kevin doesn’t own it.

“Mrs. Richards was furious and divulged more information than she might have done otherwise. I told her that I was surprised to hear from her since I was under the impression that Bethany and Everett Kauffman were working this trade deal.”

“And what did she say?”

“She said a lot. Mostly about how she didn’t know about Kevin giving Bethany half the rights to the team in their prenup.

She only found out since Kevin asked for more money from the trust to hire an investigator to prove that Bethany has been unfaithful, which would void her prenup.

She gets nothing if she cheated on Kevin, and from what his mother says, they have surveillance of Bethany sleeping with every player on the team… inside the stadium.”

I glance over to my mother, as if to say, “This is the woman you keep telling me to forgive.”

My mother says nothing, but I can see her mind running a mile a minute. This is the kind of stress I didn’t want her under right now.

“So what does this mean for my trade deal?”

“It means that not only was Bethany never entitled to make that deal since the family trust owned the team and not Kevin, but that Bethany isn’t getting anything in the divorce at all.”

I blink. "She’s not getting anything?”

"Not besides the jewelry and clothes he bought her—nope. Her car was purchased through the trust as well.”

I say nothing. The road blurs a little.

"Why would she call and tell you all of this?”

"Because Mrs. Richards wants you back on the team. She is willing to make an even better deal with Everett to get you. And from my conversation with Mr. Kauffman this morning, he’s only willing to make the deal if you want to go because of your mother’s health.

It’s all up to you. What do you want to do? ”

I grip the wheel tighter and then glance over at my mother who doesn’t look happy. "I don’t know. Maybe."

“Well, give me a call…soon. We need to work this deal asap if this is something you want to do.”

“I will. Thanks for calling.”

The call ends, and it’s quiet in the car for a moment.

"One of your clients is a realtor in the area, isn’t she? You think she has listings available nearby?"

She shoots me a glare. "Are you seriously thinking about moving back?"

I shrug. "You need help. You need someone checking in on you. I can’t do that from Seattle."

Her voice sharpens. "Hunter, no."

"What?"

"Don’t make life decisions out of guilt. And don’t use me as an excuse."

I say nothing.

She turns fully toward me. "Is this about Peyton?"

I don’t answer.

"Hunter."

"She left, Ma. Said I should be here. That this was the best move for me. That we got what we wanted from the arrangement, and we should be done."

My mother lets out a disbelieving scoff. "That girl is in love with you."

"She didn’t act like it."

"Bullshit. I don’t believe that for a minute. Before you make a huge decision like this, you need to go home and talk to her first."

“There’s nothing to talk about. It was fake for her the entire time. It’s fine—I’ll move on. And being here to make sure you go through treatment is more important.”

I can’t even look at her.

"Don’t take that damn trade," she says firmly.

"Why not? It would fix everything."

"No, it wouldn’t. It would just be easier. You were happy in Seattle. Don’t throw that away because you’re scared."

I want to argue. I want to tell her it’s more complicated than that. But maybe it isn’t.

We ride the rest of the way in silence.

When we get home, I settle her on the couch with a heating pad and a movie. She dozes off within minutes, and I finally let myself breathe.

And that’s when my phone rings again.

Aleksi.

"What’s up, M?k?"

"You tell me. I just ran into Peyton. She was dropping your stuff off at your apartment. Cammy had the spare key."

My stomach drops. I told her to do whatever she wanted with my things, but I didn’t think she’d find a way not to see me again. Subconsciously, maybe I thought I’d have an excuse to see her one last time before I moved back to New Jersey.

"She left it all inside. Boxed up."

I sit down hard on the armrest of the chair across from the couch.

“I thought you two were dating now.”

“It didn’t work out.”

She really meant it.

She’s really gone.