She looked broken.
Beautiful and broken, like she couldn’t bear to look at the animal standing in front of her who was about to walk out the door after he had just had his way with her. She was disgusted by me, by what we had just done. She had never felt something like that and there was a reason. She was a good little girl. Good girls don’t fuck like we just did and good girls didn’t know what to do with someone like me. They couldn’t do anything but fall prey to whatever the fuck I wanted.
I walked back to the table by the window, picked up my bottle of beer, and drained it down. It was piss warm, but it tasted good mixed with what was left of Kelly’s * on my tongue and lips. I put the empty bottle down on the ring of water it had left and slowly made my way to the kitchen door.
Keep going, motherfucker. Don’t stop. Don’t look back and don’t stop.
I stopped. Just before the door. I stopped and I looked back.
You fucking dipshit, keep moving.
She was sitting there, arms crossed and sniffling.
You fucking did it now, pal. She knows who you are, what you’re capable of. You feel fucking good?
I didn’t feel good. I didn’t feel bad either. I felt nothing. I was good at that and had been practicing it all my life. People get close and then one hurts the other. No fairy tale, no bullshit. Reality. I knew it and Kelly was learning it.
“Listen, sweetheart, we’ll see each other around. This town has like four fucking people in it and I still haven’t had Grace’s famous breakfast. Maybe I’ll pop back sometime and try it out.”
“Yeah, sure thing,” she said, wiping her cheeks. I couldn’t tell if it was sweat or tears. Probably both. “I guess I’ll see you.”
“Yeah.”
You silver tongued son-of-a-bitch. No wonder the ladies fall for you and your wonder cock. You’re a complete asshole, Hunter, and you know it.
I walked through the kitchen door, down the hall, and out of her life.
Maybe it’s time to hit the fucking road, Hunter. Destroying one diner and one pretty little waitress seems like about as much as this town can handle. They weren’t ready for you, and you showed them who you were. Time to move on.
As I rounded the corner down the street, I could feel eyes on me even though I didn’t see anyone. I was like an animal in a cage to this town, but I was breaking out soon enough. I just kept walking past the auto shop. Denny wasn’t there. I knew he wouldn’t be. That shit at the diner was enough of a reason for the town to shut down for the day.
I lit up a smoke and felt the burn in the back of my throat. All I could think about was getting my hands around that bottle of Jack on my bedside table and pouring it over this fucking feeling in my gut until it disappeared. All I could think about was getting the fuck out of this place.
All I could think about, was Kelly.
Chapter 12
Kelly
YOU STUPID, STUPID GIRL. You stupid, idiot girl. What did you expect?
As I sat there, leaning against the wall, still wet from sweat and sex, I could feel tears streaming down my face. I felt completely exposed and totally vulnerable. In disbelief, but at the same time fully aware that this was exactly what was always going to happen. He wasn’t special, he wasn’t different. He was just another pig looking to get his. Maybe he was something worse. Or better. I didn’t know. I was left there wondering more than ever, who and what Hunter was, and what exactly it was that he wanted with me.
Why did I always screw up with men? Why was I so stupid?
All I wanted was what every girl wants. I wanted what Elle had gotten with Forrester when he’d appeared in the diner. I’d wanted someone to come into my life who would care about me, who would commit to me, who would step up to the plate and give me the love I so desperately knew I deserved.
Why was that so impossibly beyond my reach?
I stood up and felt all the blood rush to my head. I stumbled and caught myself on the fridge, leaning against it’s cold, hard surface with my hands and face. My fingertips told my brain it was Hunter’s chest and I beat my fist against it as I wept. It didn’t budge, and instead sent pain firing through my wrist and up my arm. It hurt, but that was better than the aching in my heart and the sickness in my stomach.