Hunter tried like hell to enjoy his final day with the Oxford crew. He really did.

He loved these guys. And women, since Penelope and Taylor, as well as all of the Stiletto girls, had shown up to send him off.

Everyone except the one who mattered most.

He hated how he kept looking at the door every time a new person entered the bar, waiting for a beloved blonde to come walking through the door. . . .

“Do you want me to call her?” a soft voice with a touch of Southern drawl asked.

He glanced down at Daisy Sinclair, who peered up at him with sympathetic brown eyes.

He didn’t bother pretending not to know who her was. After him and Taylor, Daisy was Brit’s closest friend.

No, he thought with a stab of remorse. Taylor and Daisy were her closest friends, period.

Brit had made it clear he was no longer in the running for top spot. She was right. The way he’d treated her . . .

Still, he’d wanted her to be here. Needed her to be here.

But he didn’t deserve it.

“Nah,” he said quietly to Daisy. “Thanks, though.”

She patted his arm in comfort, which had Taylor narrowing her eyes as she approached. “Daisy here might be willing to let you off easy, but don’t think I’m not ready to chop your balls off.”

“Hear! Hear!” Riley Compton said, clinking her glass to Taylor’s and linking arms.

Hunter stared for a moment at the two women with their black hair and light eyes, slightly alarmed. “You know, I never realized how alike you two are. Both in looks and, um . . .”

“Gentle temperament?” Riley cooed dangerously.

It was true. Taylor was slightly taller, her eyes slightly lighter and grayer than Riley’s bright blue, but they were both stunning . . . and scary. At least at the moment, when either or both seemed ready to shank him.

Riley’s husband, Sam, stepped between them and Hunter, giving the women a warning glance. “Now, ladies. Remember, we men can be idiots. We need time to sort it out.”

“Ouch,” Hunter said with a laugh.

Sam studied him. “Seriously, though. Is it true you didn’t tell her you were leaving until most of the rest of us knew?”

Hunter felt like a school kid being scolded. “Um. Yeah?”

Even kind Daisy looked disappointed in him.

He was saved by Lincoln, who appeared at Hunter’s side, draped an arm over his shoulder, and handed him a cocktail. “Here. Drink this.”

Hunter stared at it. It was fluorescent purple. “Do I have to?”

“Aviation cocktail. It’s legit,” Nick verified from his other side, giving him a thumbs-up in cocktail approval. And Nick would know. Hunter’s going-away party was taking place in the bar where Nick worked part-time.

He took a tentative sip of the drink. Not bad. More important, alcoholic. Maybe that would take the sting out of missing Brit. Out of the fact that he wouldn’t be seeing her for a long-ass time.

He wouldn’t be seeing any of them for a long time, and the reality of it hurt like hell.

Not that Hunter regretted his decision. He knew where he belonged right now. And that was in Kansas City with his family. What’s more, even as he was concerned for his brother, he was excited about the new job at the company.

Much as it pained him to admit, it was time for him to leave Oxford.

But, damn, he was going to miss it. And them.

“We know,” Grace Malone said, coming up beside him and resting her head against his shoulder. “We’ll miss you too.”

He glanced down with a smile at the pretty brunette. “Did I say it out loud?”

“No,” Jake Malone said, taking a sip of his beer. “But how could you not miss us.”

“Super true,” Penelope chimed in. “We’re the best.”

“Hey, hey . . .” Lincoln said, holding up his hands in mock offense. “You all say that like we won’t all be together soon.”

“You have a trip back to New York planned?” Penelope asked Hunter happily.

“Ah—no?” Hunter said with a questioning look. Eventually he’d return for a visit, but he had no firm plans. . . .

“Sure he does,” Lincoln said, clinking his glass to Hunter’s, purple cocktail to purple cocktail. “He’s coming back for Daisy’s and my wedding.”

There was a moment of stunned silence, and then everyone started talking at once—the women, as they charged for Daisy’s left hand, demanding diamond proof, then the men, as they gave Lincoln enthusiastic congratulations.

Lincoln caught Hunter’s eye and grinned, and Hunter smiled back in appreciation, knowing Lincoln had just given him a brief reprieve from the attention he didn’t quite want.

Almost. Almost a reprieve.

Ignoring the hoopla, Taylor Ballantine ambled over to him, champagne glass in hand, eyes watchful. “So. You never answered my question.”

“What question?” Damn, this cocktail was growing on him. He might need another.

Taylor touched his elbow, gentler that he would have expected. “Do you love her?”

Hunter looked at her in exasperated irritation. “Of course I love her.”

Too late, he realized that he’d announced it loud enough to cut through the excitement over Lincoln’s and Daisy’s engagement.

Everyone was staring.

“In love?” Cole asked.

Hunter glared at him. “Shut up.”

“It’s a fair question,” Jackson Burke said blandly.

“What does it matter? She lives in New York. I’m moving to Kansas City. And I hardly think she’ll agree to long-distance after three weeks of dating.”

“Maybe not,” Julie Greene said. “But she might after, what, six years of friendship?”

“I—” He stared at the pretty blonde, who merely shrugged as though to say, Just sayin’.

“Did you even ask?” Riley pretended to inspect her manicure.

Fuck. Fuuuuucccccckkkk.

What was he doing? What if he did have a chance to be there for his family and to make things work with Brit?

To find a way to have the woman he loved and the family he needed.

Hell. He’d never know if he didn’t try.

Blindly, Hunter shoved his drink at someone. Emma, maybe.

“I’ve gotta go. Move. I’ve gotta go.”

He bumped into a startled Cassidy, who was coming into the bar as Hunter was charging out. “Hey!” Cassidy said. “If I’m going to give my entire team the afternoon off for your party, you could at least be here.”

“Sorry,” Hunter said, not sorry at all as he walked backward to talk to his boss. “Got somewhere more important to be.”

Hunter turned away and ran. But not before he saw Cassidy’s approving smile.