Manaconda 2: The Second Coming(8)

“Then why does Victoria blow up in our faces every time she’s around? You literally go off the deep end and get arrested. The only reason you’re not in lockup again is because of Remy.”

“Remy who has a thing for you,” he shouted back.

“That doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

“So, you know he does?”

“We’re just friends. We’ve always just been friends. That’s the difference. Remy may have wanted to be more than friends, but I didn’t. And he accepted that. We’re much better friends.”

Hunter paced away, his fingers white with how hard he was gripping the back of his head.

“You loved Victoria. You almost married her and she hurt you.”

“I walked in to see her banging her co-star in my fucking house!”

I covered my mouth. The anger leaking out of him made me want to go to him. Because I knew under the anger was hurt. So much hurt. “I’m sorry, Hunter.”

“You don’t come back from that, Kenny.” He dropped his arms, his shoulders defeated. “There’s nothing but ashes. I can’t watch Reed go through that too. He might be batshit crazy a lot of the time, but he’s a big softie too. He collects strays. She’ll use that against him.”

What could I say to that?

I understood that he wanted to protect his friend, but at the same time, how could I trust that it wasn’t more? Down deep, it felt like so much more.

My nails dug into my sides. I wanted to open up my arms and hug him. I didn’t coddle. It wasn’t my way at all, but Hunter brought out that need and it scared the hell out of me. Just another level of danger.

“Then be there for Reed. Don’t keep screaming at him, and definitely stop swinging instruments at each other, for God’s sake. My phone is full of tweets and clips and gifs, and fuck-all else of this debacle you guys called a promotional show.” I laughed harshly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was all a publicity stunt.”

“You know goddamn well it isn’t.”

“Of course I do,” I snapped out.

“You can believe that, but not the rest.” He blew out a breath. “Awesome.”

“Reed wouldn’t do something like that…” I hedged.

“God, no. I wish I could say Bats did half his insane antics on purpose.” At my raised eyebrow, Hunter rolled his eyes. “Some of it is—he’s a born attention whore.”

“Could the Victoria sightings be just that? A way to increase attention on the band?”

“Vic wouldn’t do that. If it doesn’t put her in the limelight, then she’s not interested.”

“Well, it would, wouldn’t it? She’s the one between you two. It makes good copy.”

The hope blooming inside me was ridiculous. The reasons behind Reed’s actions didn’t make Hunter’s explosive reactions any less disheartening. Victoria obviously incited passion within him.

That was the part I was having such a hard time with. She’d always be there in the shadows. I needed someone who would put me first. No part of Hunter Jordan facilitated that. Between his career and my own, there wasn’t much room left to start. Add in his ex-fiancée and it was a recipe for disaster.

He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I don’t know, Kenny. If you asked me ten days ago if Bats would hook up with someone like Vic, let alone Victoria herself, I’d have said no. Now, I’m just as in the dark as you are about it.”

“Here’s a novel idea. Talk to him.”

“He avoids me.”

“Probably because he doesn’t want another trip to oh, I don’t know…jail.”

“If you took a look at his rap sheet, you’d see that is not exactly a deterrent.”

I rolled my eyes. “All I know is that each and every one of these stupid stunts—”

“They’re not stunts.”

I blew out an exasperated sigh. “They look like stunts to anyone except us. I have clients asking me if I have a set-up for this kind of thing, for God’s sake.”

“What?”

“Yeah. I have half a dozen inquiries about how I can make headlines like this. Do you have any idea what it’s doing to my reputation?”

“I’m sorry—”

“Save it. You might be getting astronomical sales and social media exposure, but I’ve lost credibility with a lot of people.”

“That wasn’t my intention.”

“No, it might not be, but I’m the one who has to deal with the fallout when you’re done with me.”

Hunter stalked over to me. “I’m not the one who wants to be done here, woman.”