Pieces of Summer (A stand-alone novel)(70)

There’s no anger in Aidan’s voice this time. It’s just a hollow sadness… a sound of defeat.

“I’ve only ever had one dream. She’s inside that hospital. I gave up my dream to make sure she didn’t get dragged into my hell. Mika isn’t the only one who has been in survival mode. So yeah, f*ck all the rest.”

“Mika can’t even know the amount of money in her bank account. One penny. That’s all it would take to mess her up. She’d expect to know where every cent was. I have to pay her bills. She doesn’t even realize how much money she makes. She can’t hear estimates—like with the bowling alley. She gets the final number of a cost. I have to be vague when I tell her she has enough to cover something she wishes to purchase. It’s everything and anything you can think of… You have to rework your mind to be programmed like hers. You don’t get it.”

“I can though,” I argue.

He turns and walks away, heading back inside the hospital, as though he’s sick of arguing. There’s nothing he can say to change my damn mind. If he had any clue about how f*cking obsessed I’ve been with her since I was a kid, he wouldn’t be arguing at all.

I start to return as well, but Hunter is suddenly in front of me and pushing a book against my chest. I never knew he came back.

I look down and take it as he releases it, and he sighs hard before meeting my gaze.

“Read that before you commit to anything,” he says softly.

My eyes drop to the book. The Curious Case of Mika A by Dr. Herald Kravitz.

“Mika A was the name of his case file on her. They all had their own. Mika B, Mika C, Mika D… You get the idea. That’s everything about her and her triggers. It also includes the severity of her tics. It’s not a simple thing to just brush off. It’s severe, dude.”

I start to open it, when Blake asks Hunter a question.

“How’d you get tangled up in all this?”

I look up as Hunter gives a sad smile.

“Met her at Dr. Stein’s office,” he says while pocketing his hands. “My dad is big in politics and a bit of an ass. I was the twenty-one-year-old stereotype who was lashing out for attention. Got into a major fight and f*cked a guy up pretty good. Instead of going to jail, I got off with court-mandated anger management—courtesy of Dad pulling strings to keep me from f*cking up his reputation.”

Blake cocks an eyebrow and Hunter smirks.

“I met Mika in the waiting room. She didn’t do appointment times. I hit on her, of course. Hell, I’d hit on anyone back then, but she was hella hot and crazy chicks were in style.”

When my grip causes the book in my hand to whine, Hunter flashes me a grin.

“Relax, she shot me down. Told me I didn’t want to f*ck her. She was wrong.”

Again, the book whines, and he continues.

“After seeing her a few more times, we got to talking about anything and everything. She told me up front that no times or conflicting statements were allowed. I didn’t get it, but I went along with it. Turns out, she was the first person to ever actually listen to me, and I got used to having her to talk to. It was better than therapy, to be honest. Then one day I was late for an appointment. It wouldn’t have been an issue—since Mika never allowed me to state my appointment times—but the secretary announced to Dr. Stein that her five o’ clock was running late.”

He exhales harshly before running a hand through his hair.

“Mika flipped. She broke some shit. It was during the ‘early years,’ as she likes to call them. She’d just gotten out of the intense therapy with Kravitz. She didn’t hurt herself, but she shattered a vase and stomped on all the small pieces over and over until she could be calmed down. I walked in during the middle of it. After that, we got coffee, and Mika told me the whole story. I don’t know why, since she never told anyone else about her stuff. I guess we just clicked, and she trusted me. Not in a sexual way,” he says, adding that last part when I drop the book to the ground.

“Anyway, that shit changed me. All my issues seemed so damn petty after realizing what she had going on. I met up with Aidan shortly after. Dr. Stein and Aiden helped me realize the risks of a friendship. But I was determined. For once, it felt like I was doing something for someone instead of expecting shit. It really did alter the way I saw things and made me appreciate all the things I took for granted. I actually felt good about myself, and I quit doing all the bullshit. Even started my own very successful business and detached myself from my toxic family. Mika and Aidan are my family now. I’d do anything for them, and neither of them ever take it for granted. It feels… I feel like a person because of her and Aidan. My own person. Fuck the rest of the world.”

“Did she encourage you to wear those terribly tight jeans?” Blake asks, trying to lessen the heaviness of the air around us.

Hunter snorts and flips him off. “I will wear some normal fitted jeans just for you, *.”

Picking the book back up, I study the cover. It’s not Mika, but there’s a girl on the cover who is huddled in a corner of a white room as she stares blankly off to the side. It makes my chest feel heavy, and a sickness creeps into my stomach. That was Mika, even if it’s not actually her in the picture.

“Read it,” Hunter says, causing my gaze to move away from the sad picture. “Read all of it. Being her friend took some major adjustments in my life. It was sure as hell worth it. I love her like she’s my own sister. But being in a relationship with her will take twice the effort and ten times the dedication.”