Hidden Play: The Return 《COMPLETE》

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Too many emotions and thoughts sluggishly move through my mind as I work through Hunter's confession. All this time I thought Zion hated Hunter because of his initial altercation with Kurt. Turns out, the two were still licking old wounds from years ago.

"Shit," I say, grinding my jaw. "That would have been nice to know before I announced to the entire team that we hooked up."

Hunter grimaces at my accusatory tone. "That's fair. But it's not all my fault. Zion didn't tell you, either."

Touché. A piece of me wonders why he didn't, but then again – when did I really give him the chance? By the time Hunter started school, I was already shoving Zion away with a ten-foot pole. Our 'sharing and quality time' has been slim to none. Plus, to Zion's credit, he tried seeing me plenty of times. Maybe if one of those times, had my mom actually let him inside, he would have told me.

Eh, probably not.

I pinch the bridge of my nose. One thing is for certain. I need a drink.

"I'll get you one." Hunter breathes out a laugh, and I realize I've voiced my thought aloud.

"Knock, knock, kitties. Momma thought it might be refill time!"

Evan breezes into the room, his singsong voice floating through the pine-scented air like a windchime. His chic attire nearly glitters beneath the twinkling lights of the room. All I can think as I watch him is, he would make a good addition as an ornament on one of those up-scale Christmas trees.

He carries a silver tray filled with rows of martini glass across its surface, all equally filled with newly made 'Christmas martinis.' The red liquid sways to and fro at the pace of Evan's gait. He offers up a bright smile and extends the tray, offering us a drink. I'm all too eager to accept and push my luck by grabbing two.

Evan winks. "My kind of guy."

Nick-the-shadow makes his presence known at the door by letting out a low grunt of disapproval. I can't imagine the two of them together. Nick has the personality of wet sock, while Evan is... well, a walking snowflake, apparently. Evan picks up a martini glass for himself and takes a delicate sip.

"So," he slurps. "Did I need to bring in some milk and honey for this tea, or will you serve it to me piping hot?"

Hunter sighs and runs a hand down the length of his face. "I just told him."

Evan nods in approval and takes another sip. "Good, good. And his response?"

I scowl as I drain half my martini. He does realize I'm still sitting here listening, right? Hunter flicks his gaze to me. His dark eyes look past the surface of my expression, and he studies me in the kind of way that makes my skin crawl. A few months ago, he would have succeeded in his effort. One good thing about spending as much time as I have with Zion, though, is that I've now perfected the skill of masking my emotions. Emotional poker at its finest.

"His response," I interject, hating to refer to myself in third person, "is wondering how the hell I'm supposed to clean up this mess now?"

Evan smirks and uses that as his cue to take a seat. He carefully crosses his legs, swinging his feet to the beat of the Christmas music drifting in from the hallway.

"Then I came at just the right time. So, to sum up, you're in love with the caption of the basketball team – who is very shy about coming out – and now knows you hooked up with his ex-best friend."

I snort. "Well, that's the short version."

Evan continues, undeterred. "The real question is, what do you both want out of this mess?" Evan asks, glancing between me and Hunter. "I'm not talking as in you two, as a couple. I mean, now that all this has been aired out and the only direction to move now is up, what's your ideal end game?"