Hunter watched Stacey's face closely, searching for any sign of how his words had landed. Stacey's eyes, previously perplexed, now held a mixture of surprise and vulnerability. It was a vulnerability that tugged at Hunter's own conflicted feelings.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The air hung heavy with the unspoken tension that had been building between them since the party. Hunter knew that he couldn't keep playing these games forever. Stacey deserved answers, and he owed it to himself, to be honest.
"I'm mad at you, I want to make you pay," Hunter had admitted, but the words echoed in his mind, revealing more than just frustration. Beneath the playful banter and teasing, there was a rawness—a truth that Hunter had been avoiding.