46. Tyler

Iwoke up more times than I could count, just to watch the rise and fall of his chest. Jamie even crept in a couple times to do the same, giving me a knowing look before retreating back to his bed. If Hunter seemed the slightest bit uncomfortable I adjusted him, hoping to make it even a little better.

Hunter's face when he opened that office door was etched into my memory. I'd seen Hunter smash men twice his size like a bug. But that look of pure fear as he tried to escape the grasp of his father… Fuck. I wish I'd one more than punch the fuckhead in the face. It took every last bit of restraint to not strangle him for what he'd done.

I found myself playing with the soft strands of Hunter's hair like it could keep him safe with me. "Mm, never stop doing that." His breath tickled my collarbone. Never. Despite everything, my lip quirked. I stayed quiet, but did as he requested.

Hunter lifted his head, letting my hand fall to his back. Hunter winced as he attempted to roll so he could see me. I pushed him to lie down and lifted myself on one elbow to look down into his honey-toned eyes.

Hunter's finger traced the outlines of my tattoo. "I've been curious about this…" ‘What fire does not destroy; it hardens" 2.2. 2021' Oscar Wilde, right?" I nodded, watching him trace every curve of the script.

"Dad was a volunteer firefighter; he lived by those words, though they can be interpreted very literally. He always thought about how a fire affected the community. In times of trouble, people band together and become stronger in the face of destruction. I suppose when he died, the fire didn't destroy our family—not completely. It hardened us. We only got stronger and did what we needed to survive together."

Hunter looked up to me, bringing his hand up to cup my face. "You were stronger for your family, baby. You were hardened by what happened and made sure those you love were safe and cared for."

Part of me wanted to say, "Fat lot of good that did."

Logically, I knew I couldn't have saved Mum, but that ridiculous part of my brain spun with all the what-ifs.

What if I'd seen the signs sooner or pushed to see more specialists. "What if, what if, what if."

Then there was Hunter. I knew his dad was bad news—I'd seen the evidence. And yet, I didn't do everything I could to stop him from spending Christmas there. The bruises that spanned the majority of his body were proof of that.

Most frustratingly, he read every thought that ran through my mind like they were tattooed on my forehead for him to see. "Baby, unless you magically could become a cancer-curing doctor before the age of seventeen, there was nothing you could have done for your mom. And there's no way to make my father a better man—except maybe a lobotomy. I'm the idiot for giving him so much control."

I growled. Yes, fucking growled, like some deranged Tasmanian devil, "He's your father, and your only family, you're not an idiot for giving him the time of day."

Hunter laughed, then winced. "Even if he hit me every time I was with him? You don't have to baby me, Ty. I'm an adult. I'm weak. Until I met you, I never considered following my own dreams. It was you who made me strong—strong enough to sign that contract and actually get away from him."

I blinked. Hunter's eyes widened.

"Contract?"

I pulled back in an attempt to read his features better. He scrambled in a mass of awkward limbs as he fought to get up, only to give in to the pain. Though it did nothing to quash the anger boiling my blood.

"I was going to tell you…"

I felt myself blinking at him, a kangaroo in the headlights, wondering if I stand my ground or get the hell out of the way or if I jump to the other side.

"It was after you slept in my dorm, before I came here for the game night. I saw Bellamy, and he got me signed to the farm team. I wanted to be free, to be a hockey player even if it isn't the NHL…"

I knew I looked like a blubbering fool, doing nothing but stare as I counted every time we'd seen each other leading up to Christmas. He never told me.

"Wh-where? When?" Hunter made to grab my hand, but I dodge just out of reach. I felt like I was back in that living room, dodging another flying sock on April Fool's.

I am not entirely sure if he paused before he responded, or if time simply slowed. But when he spoke, I heard him loud and clear: I had half a season with him, then he would be in Canada. I nodded, torn between being sad for myself and happy for the person I lo—liked. The person I liked very much.

I did the math: we would have until April.

Four months.

Fifteen weeks and five days.

One hundred and ten days.

But who was counting?

More than a summer fling, yet it was less than half a year.

Again—who was counting?

Would I stay and fall more in love with him?

Or would I be nothing more than a teammate and let him go so he could follow his dreams?

"Baby, we said through whatever happened…" Hunter reminded me of the conversation we had the morning he signed that very contract. But, all I could see after those one hundred and ten days was him in Canada and me in Boston. He'd be playing professionally, and I would be here, still trying to prove myself. I barely had time to take a shit, let alone manage a long-distance relationship. Hunter had wedged himself into my life now. In a perfect mold of sex before sleep, and sex before training. I knew it was so much more than just sex, but we'd gotten to know each other in between the heat and the passion. Again, I was stuck in between the what-if"s of the future and the man before me.

I needed a break. I dressed in my running gear and grabbed my water bottle. Hunter followed me to the kitchen, wearing nothing more than his briefs—which was awfully distracting. Cal entered the room, eyes wide as he took in the muscular, bruised god trying to get my attention that I was somehow ignoring. I could be childish just this once, right?

"Can we please talk about this?"

I grunted, trying and failing to sound unaffected. "What is there to talk about, Hunter? I am happy for you, This is everything I wanted for you."

"What about us?" Hunter's voice was practically begging, and I almost halted. Almost.

"What about it? We have the rest of the season, then you'll be in Canada. From there, only time will tell." I shrugged, and I tried not to take note of his hurt expression because the moment I caught a glance of it, my chest constricted.

"You going for a run?" Cal interjected, and I hoped he saw the relief on my face at the interruption.

"Yeah, want to come?"

Cal rushed back into his room to change and I prayed to whatever higher power was listening that he wouldn't take too long.

"Baby…"

"Hunter, there's nothing to talk about."

Hunter assessed me, nodding but not looking any more dejected. He walked back to our room, ass looking annoyingly perfect in those undies.

"You are not going to lose him too, Tyler." I looked to Jamie, who'd silently watched the scene unfold from his bed. I wanted to protest because I felt like I was on a tightrope about to fall the moment Hunter was gone. My body reacted, the threat of tears imminent. I used to be able to push back emotions, but the more time I spent around Hunter, the more those walls crumbled.

Cal thankfully chose that moment to reappear fully dressed. I saluted like an idiot to my brother, not even bothering to call out to Hunter.

Don't judge me— I never claimed to be emotionally smart.

I was grateful that Cal waited for me to run out my tension before he gave me the third degree.

"Jamie isn't wrong, you know. Hunter isn't going to leave you."

Each heavy breath I took misted in front of my face. "I've never done any kind of relationship before, much less long distance. I just don't know—"

Cal slowed to a stop and reached out for my arm. "Ty, I've been in a lot of shitty relationships. I've spent every single one of them wishing I had something like what you two have. You two are Hawk and Skippy—in a more appropriate era the Jack and Ennis. You are the great love story that——"

"You just listed characters who either died from a hate crime or never got to be together because one was married to a woman."

My brain took that thought and ran with it. What if Hunter fell in love with a woman in Canada.

"That's not what I meant. You two have what most people can only dream about. But you don't have to work with an archaic timeline."

"It's not particularly inclusive either."

"Oh, shush. You two can be best friends for the cameras. There have been questionable friendships in professional sports since the dawn of time."

"That doesn't change the fact that he's leaving and I'm not."

"No, but I saw that bruised, broken man with the adorable puppy eyes and those tiny little briefs—that left nothing to the imagination by the way—who wanted you and only you. For now, and forever. God, that could be a Taylor Swift line. Maybe I should call her agent. Oh, maybe I'll tag her in a TikTok and hope she comments back!"

I burst into laughter and Cal smiled, his ridiculous rant having its desired effect.

"Ugh, I'm just waiting for the inevitable heartbreak, Cal. I'm holding on by a thread here and losing him… I don't think I could—"

Cal squeezed my arm with sympathetic eyes. I gave him a warning glare when he held on a little too long. He only gave me a wide smile in response. "Hunter will hold onto that thread for you, that's all I'll say, Ty."

And by God, did I want to believe him.