36. Weston

I”m in a dark mood when I get back to Hunter”s room. My expression must say it all.

”Welcome back to the happy cou—oh.”

I don”t contain the glare on my face as I look at Hunter. I know I should—this isn”t his fault. Yeah, he stole from me and yeah, he didn”t say shit, but Molly and Renee are right.

I made my choices.

And now, she”s made hers.

”Sooo…” Hunter peers around me. ”Where”s Renee?”

”Not here.”

”She coming back or?—?”

”No, Hunt, she”s fucking gone.”

Guilt darkens Hunter”s expression. He looks away. ”Right. Sorry. Lots going on in West-Nay land right now.”

”That”s a stupid name.”

”Trying my best here, man.”

”Were you trying your best when you stole from me?”

Hunter”s head snaps in my direction. Fucker is lucky it didn”t sail clean off his neck. ”What?—”

”I know it all, man. I know it was you and not Renee. I know you”re selling my shit at auction. I. Know. Everything.”

He closes his eyes. When he speaks again, all the mirth is gone from his voice. ”How long?”

”Few days.”

”And you still came here?”

What kind of question is that? ”Why the fuck wouldn”t I?”

”I dunno if you noticed, but you tend to crank the vengeance lever hard. You made Renee hit the bricks in pretty assholish fashion.”

”And you let me.”

”Yeah, that”s not the point I”m making.” He frowns. ”You totally dropped her. Cold-blooded.”

”Yeah? And I shouldn”t have done it. Why would I repeat it with you?”

””Cause I actually stole from you. I lied. Let Renee take the fall. Broke you guys up, basically?—”

”Yeah, man, that was real fucked-up of you.”

Hunter shrinks away from me. ”I”m sorry.”

Here is the pivotal moment. The one I called Molly for to begin with.

”Don”t apologize,” I tell him. ”Take that shit and fucking stuff it. What I want instead is for you to get clean. That’s the only apology I’ll accept. Get clean and stay clean. Don”t ever lie to me again. Other than that, we”re square, you and me.”

Hunter looks at me like I”ve grown a cow head out of my skull. ”Wait—what? I thought—but with Renee?—”

”I made a mistake with Renee I”m paying for. I”m not doing that with you. Trust me: I”m still fucking pissed. Doesn”t mean I want you out of my life. Especially when you need me.”

Hunter is between waterworks and disbelief. He puts his arm over his eyes. ”Does Renee know?”

”She doesn”t know and she doesn”t need to.”

”I”m sure she”d think differently.”

I shake my head. ”Let me worry about Renee. You can worry about you.”

Hud clears me for time off, so I stay at the hospital with Hunter. I end up well-acquainted with the crotchety head nurse and the pair of super newbie nurses who are developing a serious crush for Hunter”s “charm.”

As long as they don”t puck bunny their way into his life, I”m content to watch Hunter flirt like the irrepressible player he is.

When day three hits, he gets the go ahead to bounce—though not before he gets an armful of rehab pamphlets, information about safe needle-sharing facilities, and a shit ton of contact info for docs that specialize in addiction treatment.

I make him take every last one of them. We”re going to get this guy clean and back on his feet if it kills us.

He plays it off like it’s all fine and fucking dandy. It”s only when we get closer to actual leaving time that he starts to get nervous.

”So, uh. Where am I staying?”

He looks so much like a kid again. He won”t look me in my eyes, suddenly super interested in what”s outside his hospital window.

I snort, grabbing the plastic garment bag of his street clothes from him and slinging it over my shoulder. ”You”re staying with me, obviously.”

”Seriously?”

Hunter shoves his hand into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled set of stapled papers. It”s his care plan. I”ve already read the whole thing. ”This is a lot of shit to keep track of?—”

”That”s why a stipulation for you staying with me is you getting a personal nurse. I can do a lot of shit, but I ain”t a doctor. Also, I have a job.”

Hunter eyes me suspiciously. ”You already got a nurse, didn”t you?”

”Sure fucking did.”

”You”re something else.”

”I”m your best friend. Shut up and let”s go. Your nurse is already at my place.”

That perplexes Hunter even more. ”When did you have time to?—”

“Didn’t I just tell you to shut up? Now, c’mon, idiot—I’m double-parked.”

By the time we get back to The Palais, Hunter is placated with his own pepperoni and mushroom pizza. I got a meat lover”s for myself and a plain cheese for Hunter”s “nurse.”

The fact that the cheese pizza didn”t give it away amuses the hell out of me. I”ll chalk Hunter’s lack of noticing up to the fact that he just did a hefty shift in the hospital.

After all, there”s only one person in our circle psychotic enough to eat a plain cheese pizza.

We shuffle down the hallway and I do my damndest not to let my gaze linger on Sutton’s dark, silent door. I unlock my own unit, kick it in, and shout, “Yo, Mols, you here yet?”

Hunter blanches next to me. ”M-Molly? She”s here?”

”Yeah,” I say casually. ”She”s your nurse.”

He goes another shade whiter. ”Oh, fuck you. You’re pulling my?—”

Molly comes out of the guest room. She looks at me for a tiny fraction of a second, smiles, and then turns her gaze to Hunter—and that smile goes away with a fucking quickness.

Before either of us can process what’s happening, she marches across the distance between us and slugs Hunt in the chest as hard as she possibly can. She does kickboxing four days a week, so I know that shit hurts.

He yelps and recoils, rubbing his pec where she whacked him. ”The fuck is that for?” he grunts.

”For not telling us you needed help before this!” Molly snaps. She smacks him in the head. He blocks it, mostly, but I know that one hurt, too. ”You know better, Hunter. You know Weston and I have your back—always.”

Hunter lowers his eyes in shame. ”Yeah, I know.”

”So that means next time, you come to us when you get to a place that deep and dark, right?”

He nods sheepishly. “Yeah.”

Molly folds her arms over her chest, nodding and temporarily satisfied. ”Good. Now… which one of you assholes has my pizza?”