#7 The Twins of Satin Moon

Chapter 16: Maizey

I wasn’t sure what happened to me last night, but at some point I forgot that I disliked Hunter. The way his arms fit around my body and the sound of his heartbeat against my ear soothed me. Every worry or anxiety I had just up and vanished. Maybe I could let myself feel something for Hunter Greyback?

“Why are you blushing, Maze?” Matt smirked at me.

“Ooh, are you thinking about your booooyfriend?” Nicky sang in an obnoxious tone.

“Shut. Up.” I grumbled at both of them, throwing a pillow in Nicky’s face and shoving Matt off the back of the kitchen stool.

“When’s your date?” Matt asked, laughing from the ground. I pulled out my phone and looked over Hunter’s text again:

Good morning, baby. Pick you up at 3pm. Dress comfortably.

“3:00.” I answered, heading towards my room. It was only noon, but I wanted to get a head start.

“Are you nervous?” Matt asked, actually sounding genuine.

“Shut up.” I said again and both my brothers burst into laughing fits.

I slammed my bedroom door shut and hopped in the shower. I took a long, steamy shower in a lame attempt at ringing out all my nerves. With a towel wrapped around me, I stepped out of the bathroom and into my bedroom. I nearly screamed when I found that I wasn’t alone.

Hunter’s body was against me in a second, pressing me against the wall and covering my mouth with his hand.

“It’s just me, little red, don’t scream.” He said quietly and I nodded.

He removed his hand from my mouth and took in my appearance. A low growl rumbled from his chest as he ran his hand through his hair, seeming frustrated. He stepped away from me and I relaxed, but didn’t move from the wall my back was pressed against. I held onto my towel tightly.

“Hunter, what’s wrong?” It was almost like I could feel his pain. There was so much torment on his face.

“Oh, little red.” He sighed in a broken voice and I instinctively moved towards him. He shook his head, “Stay back.” He commanded.

“You’re worrying me.” I told him and his face softened slightly.

“I’m so sorry, baby, I’m so sorry.” He repeated over and over again until his voice was barely audible.

“Sorry for what?” I asked him.

“I can’t see you. You were right to stay away from me.” His words hit me like a tractor trailer, crashing into me and running me down flat. I couldn’t breathe. I had no idea why his rejection was killing me, why I felt suddenly dead inside. 24 hours ago I had wanted him to stay away from me, I hated him.

“Wh…why?” I realized how pathetic I sounded, but I didn’t care. I felt the hot, fat tears dripping from my eyes.

“Please don’t cry, baby, it’s what’s best for you. I have to keep you safe, I have to be selfless with you.” His hands were in fists, shaking feverishly by his side like it was taking every ounce of his strength to stay away from me.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, starting to feel angry.

“You’re mad at me, good, it’s easier that way. I promise I’ll stay away from you, baby, I won’t bother you or see you at work. You won’t have to stay away from me, I’ll take care of everything.” He promised me.

“Hunter….” I was begging.

“I’m….I’m just your boss, just Mr. Greyback.” His eyes were void of any emotion now. I gasped and felt my own face hardening,

“Fine, Mr. Greyback.” I snapped at him. His eyes fell again,

“I’m sorry, Maizey, I’m so sorry.” He shook his head before stepping over to my window and jumping out of it.

I was on the first floor, so I wasn’t worried, in fact, I was the opposite of worried. I stormed over to the window and slammed it shut, locking it without looking down. I collapsed to my knees, sobbing. It felt like something had broken inside of me. This feeling was unexplainable and irrational, but I couldn’t deny it. I wrapped my arms around myself and cried.

At some point, I had managed to put myself into bed. A couple of hours later, I heard a soft knock at my door.

“Maze? It’s almost three, you’re going to be late for your date.” Matt said in an amused voice. I covered my mouth to mute the sob that escaped me.

“Maizey?” Matt’s voice came again, this time he opened the door, “You’re in bed? You’re going to be late.” I couldn’t muffle my sobs any longer. I was crying openly and Matt rushed to my side.

“What is it, Maizey, what’s happened?” He asked, pulling my head on his lap and stroking my hair.

“Hunter he….doesn’t want to see me anymore.” I didn’t know how to explain it. Technically we weren’t dating so it wasn’t like he broke up with me, but it felt so much worse.

“He what?” Matt sounded shocked.

“He said I wasn’t safe with him, that he was protecting me, and that he would stay away from me.” I explained between cries.

“That makes no sense.” Matt sounded far away, like he knew something I didn’t.

“I didn’t even like him before yesterday, he forced me to like him and then he left me.” I was hiccuping now, unable to contain my hysterics.

“I’m going to kill him.” Matt’s voice grew dangerous and I clung to him, not wanting him to leave me, too.

“Just, stay.” I begged like I used to do when I had nightmares as a child. Matt shifted his weight on the bed to hold me closer. At some point, Nicky came in and hugged from the other side.

“You need clothes on, Maze.” Matt said eventually, standing from the bed and bringing me over one of his large shirts. They turned around so I could pull the shirt over my head and toss the towel on the ground.

“I'm going to make some hot cocoa.” Nicky smiled at me, knowing that cocoa was usually the cure all. Not this time, I was afraid. I just nodded at him.

“I’ll talk to Hunter, I’ll figure out what happened.” Matt promised me and I shook my head,

“No, don’t, I don’t want to know, it doesn’t matter.” I mumbled. Matt just nodded so I knew he was going to talk to him anyway. I didn’t care what he had to say, no excuse was good enough.

After some hot cocoa, the boys left me alone with my grief. I felt my phone vibrate and I pulled it out, silently hoping it was Hunter. Instead, it was his sister.

I’m so sorry, Maizey, this isn’t fair. We can still be friends. My brother is an i***t.

I tossed my phone on the nightstand, ignoring Mel. At the moment, I hated the entire Greyback family. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

The sound of arguing voices woke me up.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You promised that you wouldn’t hurt her.” Matt sounded pissed.

“What do you mean you can’t explain it? I know everything.” I realized quickly that the conversation was one sided, Matt must’ve been on the phone.

“There is no excuse for causing her this much pain. She hated you, Hunter, why didn’t you just let her hate you?” He was talking to Hunter. I sat up and listened harder.

“You didn’t know? What could’ve changed overnight?” So, Hunter just decided that I wasn’t good enough for him between the hours of midnight and 12pm. Awesome.

“You’re an ass, man, I thought you said she was like your soulmate? How can you do this to someone that you claimed you love?” Soulmate?

“Bullshit! You don’t love her, not like this.” He loves me?

“This is it, man, no second chances. Leave us all alone and stay the hell away from my sister. I don’t care what you have to do, but I don’t want you near here, even at work.” Matt’s voice was threatening. What he didn’t know was that Hunter had already promised to stay away from me at work, avoiding me so I didn’t have to avoid him.

The conversation must’ve ended because I didn’t hear his voice anymore. I flopped back in bed and pretended that I was sleeping when Matt opened the door to check on me. He sighed and switched off my light, closing the door behind him.