Chapter Fourteen
HUNTER HAD BEEN working on the sculpture for the competition since seven o’clock that morning. He was acutely aware of the days he’d lost before he’d found his muse, and now, with just thirty days left until the competition, the pressure was on. Grayson was out meeting with a supplier this morning, and by the time Clark arrived, it was after ten. Clark had gone to see Nina last night, and when Hunter had come home to an empty house, he’d assumed Clark had stayed with her. But he’d heard him come in around three in the morning and knew that couldn’t be a good sign. He didn’t mind cutting Clark slack while he was having a hard time, but the guy could have let him know he’d be late to work this morning.
He went up front to talk to him, and the sight of Clark’s disheveled clothes and messy hair worried him—until he got a look at his buddy’s puffy, bloodshot eyes. He recognized the look of a hangover when he saw it.
“Trouble with Nina last night?” He couldn’t temper his irritation. It was one thing to cut him slack for having trouble with his marriage, but he wasn’t going to turn the other way at Clark throwing his life into a bottle. He’d watched his father disappear down that liquid trail, and it had been a long, painful road back.
“Nah. She was fine. Sorry I’m late.” Clark sat heavily and rested his head on his palm.
“Have a few too many last night?” He crossed his arms, and when Clark lifted his eyes and met his gaze, Hunter leveled him with a serious stare. “Were you with Robert?” Robert was single and liked to party, but he was responsible. Hunter had a hard time believing that Robert would stay out until three on a work night and get flipping drunk.
“At first. He took off around ten.” Clark’s phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket, glanced at the name, and sent the call to voicemail. “Oh, man.”
“What’s going on, Clark? I know I’m your friend, but seriously, dude. I don’t want any part of you cheating on Nina.”
Clark pressed his index finger and thumb to the bridge of his nose. “I’m not cheating on her.”
Hunter lifted his chin in the direction of Clark’s phone. “Who called? The same chick who’s been keeping you up at night all week?”
“There’s nothing going on.” He scrubbed his hand over his face and sat back, his shoulders sagging. “I swear it, man. She wants there to be, but I’m not ready for that.”
“So don’t go there.” Hunter didn’t understand people who didn’t take control of their lives. It was so easy to do. Make a plan and make it happen. Like he was doing with Jana. Everything had changed for him over the last few days, and now he understood how Pete and Sky could have fallen so hard so fast for Jenna and Sawyer. He’d not only already spent more time with Jana than he had with any other woman, but he couldn’t get her out of his head.
He wondered if she’d slept okay last night, if she’d thought of him as much as he’d thought of her. If she was as nervous today about starting her own dance studio as she’d been last night. And if so, he wanted to be right there to help her realize she could achieve her dreams. All she had to do was get that stubborn mind of hers to listen. And last night? Wow, last night. It had nearly killed him to leave her, when what he’d really wanted was to follow her inside, take her on every surface in every room, and make her realize that she wanted everything with him just as much as he wanted it with her.
“She texts all the time,” Clark admitted. “She calls all the time. I’m not good at letting people down, and she listens, man. She really listens to every word I say.”
Seeing his friend struggle made him realize he’d been selfish. Clark had come to him in his time of need. He hadn’t gone to his family. He didn’t try to figure it out on his own. He’d come to Hunter, and what did Hunter do? He got so wrapped up in Jana that he let his friend fend for himself when he was clearly too confused to do this alone.
He set a comforting hand on Clark’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you. With all the crap you have going on, I should have made myself more available.”
“You did, Hunt. You even babysat for us. This isn’t your issue.”
“Yeah, it kinda is. If I were going through a rough time, you’d be there to listen so I didn’t have to turn to a stranger. You don’t need this chick listening to your life story. You need your best friend and, dude, I’m going to be there from now on. I promise. Starting right now.”
He picked up Clark’s phone and navigated to the messages but didn’t read them. He turned the screen toward Clark. “This her? Cherise?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re going to start by sending her a nice text telling her that you’ve decided to work on your marriage, that you appreciate her friendship, but you don’t want your wife to get the wrong impression, so you need to break off contact.” After typing all that in, he looked to Clark for approval.
Clark nodded. “Send it.” He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “Why did I need you to do that? What is wrong with me?”
“You feel like your life is spinning out of control. We’ve all been there, but it’s not, Clark. We just need to get you back on track. Take today off. Go back to my place and sleep. We’ll go out for dinner tonight and talk. Use me, man. I’m a great listener.”
“What about your girl?” Clark rose to his feet, looking beyond worn out but mildly relieved.
He’d sent Jana a text when he’d arrived at work. Had a great time on our date. Looking forward to the next one. He’d heard the snarky tone of her voice when he’d read her response. There may not be a next one if you don’t put out. “She’s fighting being my girl, but no worries. I’ve got that, too.”
They agreed to meet for dinner later. After Clark left, he zipped off another text to Jana. We’re going to be more than bed buddies. You might as well accept it.
IT WAS ONLY one o’clock, and Jana had already met with Brock for her workout, taught three dance classes, and spoke to the local newspapers about ads that Marco wanted to run offering discounts for the next cycle of classes. Their classes ran in eight-week cycles, and he made a heavy marketing push a few weeks before each new registration period. Or rather, Jana handled the marketing push. Not for much longer, though. The thought comforted her enough to carry her through the busy afternoon ahead.
She’d been going back and forth about opening her own studio. Hunter and the girls made her feel like she could do it, but handling all of Marco’s work plus teaching classes, she wondered how it would be any different if she owned the studio.
She’d already been through the pros and cons a million times, and she knew there were more pros than cons, but still she wavered.
Her phone vibrated, and she didn’t have to look at it to know it would be from Hunter. She’d never answered his text about being more than bed buddies. What was so wrong with being bed buddies? Her stomach twisted. Why was he suddenly affecting her this way? The one thing she’d always been sure of was her sexuality. It was the one area she could control in her life, and she’d used it well, to clear her head, to handle her emotions. Now Hunter was trying to take that away from her and make her not only say she wanted him, but if she was reading him right, he wanted her to date only him, too.
She was perfectly happy being bed buddies, and then he had to go and turn all nice and romantic. The Wicked Oyster? A walk? Mind-blowing kisses? She should be leaping off of cloud nine directly into his insanely muscled arms. Instead, she was beginning to panic. She wasn’t dealing with Marco, who deserved a swift kick in the rear. She couldn’t even commit to opening her own studio. Her mind flip-flopped like a fish out of water. How could she move forward with a relationship with Hunter? She couldn’t commit to him until she could at least commit to herself.
Hours later, after teaching three more classes, dealing with an annoying mother who always tried to hurry her daughter out of class early, and answering the studio emails, Jana finally checked her phone messages.
After seeing that the earlier text wasn’t from Hunter, but from Bella, and a message from Leanna shortly thereafter, she clung to a thread of hope as she opened Bella’s message.
Bad news. Theresa looked over the bylaws for Seaside, and apparently we’re not allowed to rent out that space. It can only be used for community gatherings.
Jana’s jaw dropped open. Tears burned in her eyes, and a lump of sadness clogged her throat. She hadn’t realized that she’d been clinging to the hope of renting the space as desperately as she must have been.
She pressed her lips together, unwilling to fall apart over something she hadn’t even seriously considered doing a week ago. It was a silly dream.
She forced back the tears and responded to Bella’s text. That’s okay. I knew it was a long shot.
Wiping a tear that slipped free, she opened a group text to Harper and Sky. I need to go out. Meet me at Undercover?
She was contemplating texting Hunter, when her phone vibrated with a text from Sky. Of course. What’s up?
As she sent her response to Sky—Rec center is a no go—she received one from Harper. Just wrapped up my work. Meet you there!
She forced a smile as more unwanted tears tumbled down her cheeks. She could always count on her sister and Sky. She tried to regain control of her emotions and reread Hunter’s text from earlier: We’re going to be more than bed buddies. You might as well accept it.
She considered answering him honestly—No, Hunter, we’re not. I’m a mess, and right now I need a bed buddy more than ever. After last night, she figured if Hunter read that response, he’d want to know why, and why wasn’t something she could understand, much less make him understand.
Instead, she texted an answer he couldn’t argue with. We make great bed buddies. Why mess with perfection? She bit back the pain that caused, which was made worse by the guilt threatening to strangle her over the blatant lie. But how could she offer him anything else?
She was working through administrative paperwork for the ads she’d scheduled when he responded.
Exactly. We’re perfect together.
Yeah, they kind of were, but how long would Hunter really be happy with just one woman? She wasn’t sure she even knew how to be someone’s girlfriend anymore. She sent him a response that she hoped would end his pursuit for more. She wanted to be with him, but her life was complicated enough, and what they’d had before she’d been dumb enough to challenge him to be romantic wasn’t complicated at all. They had hot sex. No questions, no strings. It was perfect.
Last night was fun, thank you. But I think I liked you better when you promised me sunsets and gave me pleasure.
She turned off her phone, crossed her arms over her desk, and rested her forehead on them. Jana hated liars, and she hated people who hurt others.
Right then, she hated herself most of all.