Finding Forgiveness(20)

Roman had no need to see any more of the property outside Dare. There was no doubt that it and the additional, adjoining acreage the state of Montana was selling would be perfect for what he had in mind. And he had no concerns that his investors wouldn’t feel exactly the same way when he flew them out to take a look at the place. There’d been no reason for him to spend another day in Dare – in fact, he could have left yesterday afternoon and put the past two days out of his mind. But instead, he’d woken up this morning with Hunter wrapped around him and he’d lain there for nearly two hours enjoying the feel of the other man’s body clutching his like it was some kind of lifeline. He would have been content to lay there all day like that but his body had had other ideas and he’d gone off to find some privacy to take a piss. Then Lucy showed up along with Hunter with his infectious laugh and his plan to distance himself from Hunter had been shot to hell. But just like that, Hunter retreated into himself and turned into the consummate tour guide as he showed Roman the hot springs. By the time they reached the fast food joint to grab some breakfast, Roman had given up on trying to draw Hunter out of his funk.

But being dismissed like he was just some stranger off the street was just too fucking much so instead of taking Hunter’s hand and wishing him well, Roman coolly said, “I’d like a quick tour of the town if you don’t mind.”

Hunter’s look of surprise and then downright horror had Roman felling a twinge of guilt but he steeled himself to remain silent. Hunter glanced over his shoulder at his father’s realty office and then back at Roman. Then he scanned the town’s city center and finally nodded. There were only a couple of people near the park in the center of the square and Roman guessed that was the biggest driving factor in Hunter’s acquiescence. Roman fell into step next to Hunter as they began walking along the sidewalk. Hunter nervously scanned their surroundings as he rattled off details about each little store and office they passed and when a person either walked past them or exited one of the shops, Hunter hung his head. By the time they reached the opposite side of the square, Roman was fed up and was about to ask Hunter what the hell was going on when Hunter stopped so suddenly that Roman actually continued several steps before he realized Hunter wasn’t next to him anymore. He turned to glance at Hunter and saw that all the blood had rushed from his face and when Roman turned to see what he was looking at, all he saw were two men walking out of one of the buildings.

One of the men was close to his age and dressed in a police officer’s uniform while the other man was considerably younger, Hunter’s age probably. The two men were holding hands and talking to each other in low voices.

“Do you know them?” Roman asked.

“Hunter?”

Roman snapped his attention back to the two men and saw that the younger one was now looking just as stunned as Hunter.

“Hunter?” the cop asked, his voice going cold as his eyes settled on Hunter.

“Rhys, don’t!”

The young guy shouted and grabbed for his boyfriend but the older man shook him off.

“Hey, buddy…” Roman said calmly as he tried to step in the man’s path but he was shoved out of the way. He managed to catch himself before he fell but it gave the guy several seconds to reach Hunter who hadn’t moved at all. The guy punched Hunter in the face without any kind of warning and then grabbed him by the throat and shoved him back against the brick wall of one of the shops.

“You worthless piece of shit!” the man screamed at him. He pulled his arm back to hit Hunter again but Roman managed to reach them in time and he shoved the cop off and placed himself between the two men. Not once had Hunter even lifted a finger to defend himself. Even now, he only had eyes for the young man who’d managed to grab his boyfriend by the arm and hold him back.

“Don’t!” the young man said as he got into his lover’s face. His voice seemed to penetrate the rage the other man was in because he finally stopped trying to get past his boyfriend.

“Rhys, what the hell?” came another voice and Roman saw a second cop trotting down the sidewalk towards them.

“Finn, what’s going on?” the second cop asked the young man. He was a big guy with dark hair. Roman used the temporary distraction to turn and check on Hunter who was standing pressed up against the wall exactly where the cop had left him. Blood trickled from a small gash on his cheek.

“You okay?” Roman asked as he gently tipped Hunter’s face to the side to examine the injury. Hunter didn’t answer him – he just stood there shaking violently.