The Hunter's Angel

Cheers

"Layla, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages!" 

I sent a mocking eye roll in Kat's direction in response to her exaggeration as the waiter came by with our orders. 

Liam chuckled beside me, probably amused by her dramatics. 

The three of us had decided to grab some lunch at a quaint restaurant across from campus after our mind-numbing day of classes, and we chose to enjoy the warm weather by grabbing a table on the patio. 

"Kat, I literally had class with you two days ago." 

She scoffed, declaring, "Well, it felt like longer. Excuse me for missing my friend." 

Liam and I both snickered at that, and Kat joined in, seemingly realizing her theatrics. The girl really knew how to be melodramatic, but damn if I didn't love her more for it. 

Sweeping in, the waiter placed our sandwiches in front of us, along with our drinks. 

Kat and Liam had gone with lemonades, but I had opted for something a little stronger, requesting a Long Island iced tea. 

Both of their eyebrows had shot up when I had placed my order, likely due to the fact that it was barely 2:00 pm. 

I wasn't exactly sure why I needed the liquid courage. It could've had something to do with the fact that I knew Kat and Liam were going to interrogate me about Hunter. Or the fact that I was going to have to fill them in on what the hell we were when I didn't even know. 

There was also the slightest possibility that it had to do with the fact that I was leaving for San Fransisco with Hunter tomorrow. 

Yeah, my money was on that last one. 

The two of them dug into their food while I took a long and heavy sip of my drink. 

Liam watched me down a third of it, expressionless the whole time. It really took a lot to surprise that guy. 

"Based on the fact that you're drinking before 5, and that generous sip you just took, I'm going to take a wild guess and say you have some shit to tell us," Liam drawled with a slight grin. 

Kat paused mid-bite, eyes widening as she took in my nervous expression. "Oh my god," she squealed, "she totally does. Spill, now!" 

Motherfuckers. This was going to be interesting. 

I opened my mouth to start, but Kat beat me to it, jumping in. 

"Wait," she announced, eyebrows knitting together. "You never even told me what happened after you went to confess your feelings to Hunter. Why am I just realizing this now?" 

Crap. I had completely forgotten about that. There was no way in hell I could give them the true story, that was a mess even I hadn't fully come to accept. 

"Shit," voiced Liam, turning to me with piqued interest. "She's right. What happened?" 

Swallowing the nervous lump in my throat, I decided to keep it as short as possible. "Nothing. Nothing happened. I went to his place, but the minute he opened the door, I...I chickened out," I lied. "I never told him how I felt." 

That last part wasn't a lie. 

Continuing, I said, "I never mentioned it to you guys because...well, because I was embarrassed." 

The two of them shone me a look of sympathy, and my gut wrenched with guilt. I hated lying to them, but I couldn't exactly tell them the truth without exposing Hunter for who he really was.