Chapter Sixteen
Hunter
The car barely has time to come to a stop before I am climbing out and heading straight for Brooke’s front door. I don’t bother ringing the doorbell I just walk in. Seeing the sadness in Lucy’s eyes when she told me she thought last night was a mistake, because of this bullshit demand of my sister’s, broke my heart, and enraged me. Lucy is it for me, and I am not going to let my sister get in the way.
I find Brooke in the kitchen with Matthew on her hip, and they are singing while Brooke stirs something on the stove. The floor creeks under my feet and announces my presence. Matthew looks in my direction. “Hi Hunner.” He still can’t quite get those t’s.
“Hey big brother, what are you doing here?” she asks, setting Matthew back down on the ground. He runs over and hugs my leg.
“Hey buddy.” I kneel down and give him a hug. “I need to talk to mommy for a minute, why don’t you go watch TV with Ella.” He says okay then runs for the living room. Once it’s just us, I turn my attention to Brooke.
She tilts her head to the side studying my face. Brooke knows me better than anyone else, so she knows the look on my face means shit is about to get serious. She walks around the island and takes a seat on one of the bar stools. “Hunter what is going on?”
“Normally, I respect your opinions and actually care what you think. Like how to decorate my apartment, or what books to read, but my love life is off limits. You don’t have the right to tell who I can and cannot date.” The frustration pours out.
“Hunter where is this all coming from?” she asks.
“Lucy and I slept together last night,” I admit. The room goes silent for a moment and I brace myself for the wrath of hell that Brooke is about to unleash on me. But I’m ready for whatever she dishes out, and no matter how pissed off she is, it won’t stop me from being with Lucy. Brooke opens her mouth, and instead of fire and fury, she bursts into boisterous laughter. Now that I was not expecting.
“Well it’s about damn time, I thought I was going to have move to plan B and lock you two in a room until you tore each other’s clothes off.” My brain can’t process what she just said. Did she really say it was about damn time?
“Wha, wait, what the fuck?” I’m more confused than ever.
“Come on Hunter, of course I wanted you and Lucy to get together. You two are perfect for each other. I knew it the moment I met Lucy,” she adds.
“Then why the fuck did you tell me to keep my distance?”
“Hunter, I know you better than you know yourself, and I knew if I told you, ‘Sure, go ahead and hook up with my best friend,’ it would have only lasted one night. But if I told you to stay away, it would give you the push to change and be the man I knew you could be. You had to get the one nightstands out of your system and see Lucy as something more than a piece of ass.”
My head is spinning, and I need to sit down. I slump down on one of the bar stools. “You sneaky bitch, you played me.” I rub my hands along my face. After all these years, Brooke still knows how to manipulate me.
“Like a fiddle big bro.” She pats me on the shoulder. “But this time it was for good. Lucy is the type of girl you dreamed of before you became an emotionless pussy hound. I get why you closed yourself off after mom died, I did too after Jake passed away. But it was time for you to open yourself up to the possibility of love and being with a woman who wants to be with the real Hunter McCoy and not the world-famous photo-journalist Hunter. Lucy is that girl. She’s everything you wanted, beautiful, smart, with a touch of goofy. And I knew Bailey wouldn’t be a problem for you, because you love kids and they love you because you are basically a giant child. And Bailey adores you, especially since she found out you’re a Potter Head. I just had to do something to get you to see all of that and I did what I knew would work.”
“I can’t believe that fucking worked.” I shake my head. She is right about everything. If she had never told me to stay away from Lucy, I would have fucked Lucy at the wedding and never saw her again, thus continuing down the destructive road I was on. And I would have hurt both Lucy and Brooke. Brooke threw down the gauntlet and it gnawed at me every moment of everyday. It made me question why Brooke thought I wasn’t good enough for Lucy. I saw myself for the first time since my mom died. I lost sight of who I was. With Brooke’s voice in my head telling me no, it made me want to change and be that man again.
“It works every time. How do you think you got the idea to move to New York?” She maniacally grins.
“Fucking seriously.” Damn it, she’s good.
“But this is my best work yet. I’m sorry I manipulated you into this, but I didn’t know of any other way that you would actually listen.”
“I’m not the one you need to apologize to. Lucy is beating herself up about last night. She is saying it was a huge mistake because you didn’t want us together,” I say.
“I fucking suck. I was trying to get you to go after Lucy, I never thought what it would do to her. Okay, let me call Lucky and have her watch the kids and we are going to go talk to Lucy. I don’t want her thinking I’m going to hate her for wanting to be with my brother.” I help Brooke off her stool and she calls Lucky. I feel relieved that Brooke wants Lucy and I to be together. I just hope she can change Lucy’s mind.