Hunting Cheaters | ✓

7 | Gone

"That old dog of yours, sitting on the porch, waits for you to come home. Little does he know that you won't be walking through that door. I just leave him alone 'cause letting go don't come that easily. Most of the time, I can get by. It's just a little hard on me"

~ Used to You (Luke Combs)

HUNTER

To say I was worried about Olivia would be the understatement of the century. She kept quiet the entire ride home, staring out the window into deep space. By the time we arrived at my place, she was so quiet, I'd assumed she had fallen asleep.  I killed the engine and turned to look at her. Her head was laying against the window, her hair falling across her face. 

Something about her looked so peaceful and I couldn't stop staring for the life of me. 

When she stirred, I snapped out of my daze and shook my head. My mind was still fuzzy, clouded by thoughts of tonight and how Olivia had fit in it. It made no sense why I was thinking this way, because, in the end, she didn't fit in my life. We agreed on almost nothing. We could probably argue about the color of the sky or whether one plus one was really two. 

I shook my head once more, actually clearing my head this time. I opened my door, planning on carrying her inside.  

"Hunter?" Her voice was quieter than what I was used to when she spoke up and it almost startled me.

I turned to catch her eyes in the dark, slowly sinking back into my seat. "Hey. I thought you were asleep."

She shook her head. "I was just lost in thought, that's all."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Is everything okay?" My thoughts were going insane and I couldn't bite my tongue anymore. "What did Curtis say?"

"Why do you think he said anything?"

I let out a harsh breath. "I saw you two talking. Your entire aura changed after that and I can't guess why."

She closed her eyes for a second and sighed. "I just want to apologize; I have been awful to you since the night we met."

I blinked, baffled. I couldn't get quite a grasp on her words no matter how many times they replayed in my head.

I guess I was quiet for too long because she spoke again and when she did, I had to strain to hear her clearly. "Say something, Hunter, please."

"I don't know what to say to that, Liv." I took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "I didn't take you as a person who stares their mistakes in the eye and apologizes." When she opened her eyes at my response, I caught them in a questioning gaze. "What did Curtis tell you, Olivia? Be straight with me."

She shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes. "Why can't you just believe I truly feel this way on my own?"

"Well, did my attempts work? Do you not believe in what you believed about men before meeting me?"

She inhaled sharply and looked away from me. Finally, she exhaled a small "no".

"Exactly. Curtis told you something and it's making you act differently. What did he say?"

"What makes you think you have a right to know?"

The sass in her voice almost made me smile. But there were still tears in her eyes and she looked utterly sad. It was almost as heartbreaking as it was confusing.

"I never said I have the right," I said, forcing calmness into my tone to try and soothe her. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."