Take My Breath Away (The Every Breath Duet Book 2) Read online

  But as quickly as those unforgotten sensations resurfaced, I had to will myself to summon the hurt he caused me—caused us. How he chose his gambling over me. How he left me, vulnerable and scared. How Sam erased all of that and promised to be the man Hunter was incapable of being.

  I blinked to keep my unshed tears from falling, but when I opened my eyes again it was impossible to not let my emotions run free. “But you did, Hunter. You did hurt me. You fucked it all up and then . . . you left.”

  “I had to,” he cried, gripping my arms to keep me from backing away again. “I had to let you go to make sure nothing happened to you.”

  I had no idea what he was talking about. There were a million questions I wanted to ask. It was obvious I was missing something, but it sounded like Hunter had some kind of secret plan in place. Only, what he failed to factor into that “plan” was that lots of things would happen to me in his absence. Including falling in love with my best friend. The same best friend who might also have a hand in this “plan,” based on Hunter’s mention of him.

  I shook my head and searched his eyes for answers. “I don’t understand. I need you to explain. None of this makes any sense.”

  “Sam really didn’t tell you?”

  “No.” I gulped, knowing I was keeping Hunter in the dark, too. I had to tell him about me and Sam, but I needed to know what he was talking about first.

  He inhaled and exhaled through his nose, his chest rising and falling before he spoke. Combing his fingers through his hair, he looked upward and then his gaze met mine again. Weary and lost, they still glistened with the same spark that used to ignite a fire within me. I ignored it, however, remembering that now someone else caused that fire to burn.

  “I hate what I did to you, London, but I couldn’t bring you down with me. The only way to keep you safe was to leave you. So, that night—the night you found out about the house, about my fuck ups—I called Sam. I told him what I had to do and I asked him to take care of you while I was gone. And now I can see . . .” He paused, appraising me at arm’s length, eyeing me from head to toe. “It’s clear he’s held up his end of the bargain, but I’m too weak, too lost without you to hold up my end. I couldn’t stay away any longer, baby. I couldn’t bear another second without you, and I’m going to do everything to keep my girl safe from now on. I’m going to make this right if it’s the last thing I do.”

  His confession rang in my ears, a resounding gong of lies that I could not bring myself to believe. Sam would never keep a secret of this magnitude from me. It was impossible. Absurd. If what Hunter said was true, it would mean that everything Sam and I built together over the last three months was based on lies.

  So, who was lying? Hunter or Sam? One had hurt me. The other had done nothing but love me from the day he met me. Based on that alone, I knew the truth and was furious that Hunter brought Sam into this.

  “There is no way Sam knew about this. He loves me and you’re lying!” I wriggled free from his hold and slammed my palms against his chest.

  “No, I’m not. I’m sorry I hurt you, but it’s okay now. I realize my mistakes. I know what I have to do. I can make it all better, London. I promise you.”

  “You’re lying!” I repeated, hot tears staining my cheeks. “He loves me. He’s my best friend, not yours. He would never do something like this to protect you.”

  “Of course, he loves you. It’s why I knew I could trust him to do this for me.”

  “Trust?” I shouted on a laugh. “Now there’s a word you have no right to use. You lost all my trust when you went behind my back and risked everything we had instead of coming to me and talking to me about it. Why should I trust you now, Hunter? Why should I believe a single word you say?”

  Falling to his knees, Hunter wrapped his arms around my legs and looked up at me from his position on the floor. “You have to believe me! Let’s call Sam right now and he can clear this all up. I’m sorry, Lon. I’m so fucking sorry. I’m willing to do anything to make it up to you. I fucked up. I ruined everything. But it’s not too late. Please tell me it’s not too late.”

  Staring down at him, my mouth hung open and the tears would not relent. Hunter was desperate for my forgiveness. Seeing him this way caused my heart to clench in pain for him. Had Sam really made this deal with him? Had Sam betrayed the both of us?

  There was only one way to find out.

  “When was the last time you spoke to Sam?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

  He shrugged, still grasping my legs. “It’s been a while, I guess.”

  “Do you know about . . . Bryce?”

  He shook his head and pinched his brows together. “No. Who’s Bryce?”

  I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. “That doesn’t matter right now.” I unclasped his hands from behind me and pulled him up to his feet. “I have to tell you something.”

  “What is it?” He stared back at me, his entire face marred with pure curiosity.

  Once I told him, I would know the truth. His reaction would say it all and everything would be clear.

  “Hunter, Sam and I . . .” There was no easy way to admit this without hurting him. And even though I’d been on the receiving end of his cruelty in the past, I didn’t believe in an eye for an eye. I didn’t want to hurt him back.

  “London, just say it. What’s the matter? Why are you shaking, baby?”

  Closing my eyes, I pictured Sam’s face in front of me. His loving green eyes, the lips that kissed away my pain, the arms that held me close and protected me from everything that terrified me when there was no one else who could ever do it better.

  Maybe Sam had betrayed us both—I would learn that soon enough—but that wouldn’t erase how much I loved him. It wouldn’t delete everything we’d shared over the last three months. I would deal with that once I knew for sure, but first I had to make my own confession to Hunter and pray my world didn’t come crumbling down around me all over again.

  Beckoning a courage Sam had instilled in me, I came clean. “Sam and I are together now. I don’t know what kind of deal the two of you made, and maybe I don’t ever want to know, but you left. Whether or not it was for real, whatever your reasons, you left me. It was over, and I moved on. I moved on with Sam.”

  Hunter’s eyes popped wide, his jaw tensing as his fists balled at his sides. “No,” he grumbled, shaking his head. “No!” His voice grew deeper, louder.

  He glared at me for a beat, a hurt I knew all too well staring back at me. Then he paced with his hands in his hair, his movements wild and unpredictable as he sought out something to take his anger out on.

  “That fucking piece of shit!” he shouted. His arm swooped across the table in the entryway, clearing it of its neatly ordered items. Keys, picture frames, and a glass vase of wilting hydrangea crashed to the floor, smashing into pieces.

  Shattered and broken—like my trust in Sam. I knew then that he’d lied to me. And I knew by the anger radiating off of Hunter that he’d betrayed his trust, too.

  London

  REGARDLESS OF HOW I felt after my reunion with Hunter, Sam was expecting me back at the hospital and I was already running late.

  Part of me wanted to hole myself up and wait for the burning betrayal to subside, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Above all else, Sam’s selflessness was the sole reason my mother was still alive. I would forever be in his debt, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t angry or confused.

  Storming out of the house, I warned Hunter not to follow me. I needed space. I needed time to think. But I also had an obligation to Sam. The entire way to the hospital I drove on autopilot, replaying the conversation with Hunter, wishing he’d never come back and that this would all go away.

  By the time I parked in the visitors’ lot, tears I didn’t even know I’d been shedding were dry and sticky against my cheeks. I lowered the visor to check my reflection in the mirror, and used a napkin from the console to blot away any signs that I was upset. I had to put on a brave face and
do my best to squelch my emotions so everything seemed business as usual to Sam. I didn’t want to tell him what I knew. Not yet.

  He lied to you; you can lie to him, too.

  Right now, my main concern was getting him well enough to come home. Once he was strong enough, I would confront him and demand answers.

  There were two sides to every story, right? In this case, there might even be more. I still hadn’t spoken to Memphis, and I was sure he was lurking around somewhere just waiting to shake things up even more.

  As I entered through the automatic doors, I wondered if there would ever come a time when my life wasn’t upside down. Until a few days ago, it seemed positively perfect. I’d had three months of bliss with Sam. It was a short, well-deserved reprieve and now it had all come to a crashing halt because of Hunter’s revelation.

  How could they do this to me? I wasn’t some pawn they could toss around with strategic moves fit only for their gain. This wasn’t a game.

  Despite his reasons, Hunter played with my mind and made me believe we were over. How could he expect my forgiveness?

  Sam promised Hunter he would watch over me only to use that as an opportunity to steal me away for himself. Was I merely a conquest to be won, a way to one-up Hunter? Or was Sam’s love as honest and pure as he promised it to be?

  What was wrong with them? And how the hell was Memphis involved?

  By the time I made it up to Sam’s floor, my mind was reeling and I was exhausted. I wanted to turn back around and go home. I wanted to sleep this off. I wanted to do anything other than face Sam or Hunter right now.

  To bide more time, I lingered in the elevator and considered stopping to check on Mom first. But I couldn’t risk her sensing my agitation. And Henry had texted me earlier that she was already asleep for the night. I had no choice but to face the music. I only hoped that somehow amongst this mess, an answer presented itself and made everything clear once again.

  Until then, all I could do was breathe.

  “Sorry I’m late,” I said, forcing a smile and entering Sam’s room.

  He startled at my voice, tossing his phone to the side. “There you are. I was just about to call you again. I thought you forgot about me.”

  “Impossible,” I joked, mentally scolding myself to not be so transparent. “Any more news from the doctors about a discharge date?”

  At that, Sam’s eyes brightened and he nodded his head up and down like a bobble-head doll. “I got the green light just a little while ago. I can come home tomorrow!”

  I should’ve been relieved. My excitement should have mirrored Sam’s. But with this end would come a new beginning. Before today, with the surgery behind us we planned to move forward and never look back. Knowing what I knew now, that plan would remain stagnant. How could I move forward without knowing the whole truth? The news of Sam coming home meant less time to process this, less time before I had to confront him, less time to pretend everything was still perfect.

  “You okay, babe?” Sam’s question pierced through my thoughts.

  I looked up from mindlessly staring at the floor and nodded. “I’m fine. Just tired. Long day.”

  “You sure?” he pressed.

  My clipped answers alluded to the distance I’d already wedged between us. And I was a fool to think Sam wouldn’t sense something. He knew me too well. So, I fought the urges bubbling inside of me and busied my fidgeting hands by tidying up his room.

  “Yes, I’m sure. I just have a lot on my mind.” If that wasn’t an understatement, I didn’t know what was.

  “Okay. You don’t have to stay long, then. You should go home and get some rest. Tomorrow’s a new day.” I noticed a tick in Sam’s jaw as he swallowed hard. Almost undetectably, he dragged his gaze from me and looked to the left.

  Maybe I was on high alert or maybe it was plain as the wary expression on Sam’s face. This was not the time, nor the place for the kind of confrontation Sam and I were bound to have, but I was seething and Sam’s actions told me he knew something was up.

  Clenching my teeth, I closed my eyes and breathed through my nose. “I ran into Hunter tonight, but I’m guessing you already know that.”

  He remained silent, his eyes unblinking—a deer in headlights.

  “Listen, I get it.” I shook my head and narrowed my eyes. “The timing sucks and everyone’s stressed out, but I can’t look at you without telling you that I know. I know what you did, Sam. I’m not happy about it and I don’t know what to do with it, but—”

  “Babe . . . please, let me explain. Whatever he told you—”

  “No.” I raised a hand to stop him. I wasn’t crazy for being angry. I would not allow him to dismiss my feelings about being lied to. But I also wanted to wait until we were home where we could speak freely and openly, and hopefully make sense of our mayhem. “We’re not doing this now. Not here. You were right . . . tomorrow’s a new day. I’m going home. It’s been a long day and I’m not feeling so great.”

  Sam’s gulp was the only sound in the room. He nodded as his worried eyes penetrated mine and he simply said, “I hope you know how much I love you, London.”

  Oh, I knew, all right. It was clear Sam loved me so much he would do anything to make me his. But maybe that wasn’t such a good thing, after all. Maybe Sam’s methods made him a madman, too.

  Unable to process my warring emotions, I did the only thing I could to set myself free of the anguish I felt just looking into his eyes—the eyes of a liar. I turned my back on him and walked out of his room, more confused and hurt than ever.

  I stood in the hallway, regretting my decision, my legs frozen in place. And that’s when I heard him talking to himself.

  “What the fuck did I do? Oh, London, what have I done?”

  I wanted to go back to him. My heart begged me to end the torment I inflicted on it by leaving him this way.

  But I couldn’t think with my heart right now. I couldn’t think at all.

  So, instead, I ran away.

  London

  IT WAS LATE and I was exhausted, but instead of going home to an empty house, I found myself at the beach.

  I needed the clarity. I craved the escape. But most of all I needed answers, and even though I wished I could find them here—washed up in the pummeling waves and wafting about in the serene sea air—I knew I wouldn’t.

  Eventually, I would have to talk to Sam and risk having my heart broken all over again. If everything Hunter said was true, it would be impossible to not see Sam in a different light. He lied to me. This was not just an omission of information; this was a blatant untruth.

  I hated them both for doing this to me. But I loved them both, too. The heart was disloyal to its keeper in that way. You couldn’t tell it who to love, it just did.

  Zipping my jacket closed all the way up to my neck, I shielded myself from the chill of the clear November night. Once seated on the sand, I dug my fists into the cold, damp grains, sifting it through my fingers as I stared off into the nothingness.

  Why was my past haunting me? Hadn’t I been through enough? Wasn’t I allowed to be happy?

  Until today, I thought I’d put the hurt of losing Hunter behind me. When I was led to believe we were over for good, I found a way to move on, to love again. But now that I knew Hunter’s true intentions, everything was warped. I should’ve hated him most of all for what he did, but after seeing the look on his face when I told him about Sam, I actually felt bad for him. Maybe I was an idiot for putting myself in his shoes, but I hated to think of my empathetic nature as a downfall.

  He failed me and let me go. But he also did so with the purpose of making things right and coming back for me. How was he to know I would fall in love with the person he entrusted me to?

  This whole scenario was so fucked up I could barely see straight. If it weren’t for my mother, I would leave without a trace. Selfishly, I wanted to hop on the next bus out of town and slip away to let all of them figure this shit out on their own.

 
But they wouldn’t leave me alone. Not my thoughts, not Sam, and not Hunter. In fact, when I opened my eyes to seek refuge in the stars once again, they landed on a familiar figure standing above me.

  Hunter.

  “What are you doing here?” I huffed in frustration but my heartbeat kicked up as he came closer.

  He sat down beside me, leaving a small space of distance between us. “Come on. Did you think I could ever forget? I knew you’d be at our spot.”

  “It’s not our spot. It’s my spot.” What was it with everyone staking claim on my beloved escape? Did nothing belong to me and me alone anymore? My sanity certainly didn’t, that was for sure. And with each passing second, I felt more and more out of control.

  Pulling his knees to his chest, Hunter craned his neck to look at me but I would not make eye contact. “London, please listen to me. I have so much to say.”

  “Why should I listen to you?” I shouted. “How can I believe anything you say? I’m so . . . I’m . . . How could you play with my mind like this?”

  “Can’t you see? There was no other way! And I’ll do whatever I have to do to make you see that. I know I’ve hurt you . . . I can see it. I can fucking feel it. But seeing you with him, do you know how that makes me feel? Jesus, London. Do you have any idea how much that kills me?”

  The disgust was evident in his tone. He couldn’t bear to say his name. Even in the darkness, I could see the hurt and anger radiating from his eyes, the way his lips straightened into a thin line. His irritation made me all the more furious because he had no right to question anything. He made this mess.

  Unable to sit idle any longer, I slammed my hands down on either side of me and pushed off the sand to rise to my feet. Looking down at Hunter peering up at me, I unleashed everything I’d been holding back, thankful the beach was ours alone. “You have no goddamn right to be angry with me! Sam maybe, but not me. I had no idea what was going on. This is not my fault and I will not allow any of you to make me feel guilty.”