The Bad Boy And The Mermaid

Hunter

I had never experienced what a real heartbreak felt like until now; the heartache, it was unbearable. Blue had literally reached inside my chest, ripped out my heart and crushed it with bare hands.

I almost regretted going after her like that. I should have just let it go. She had clearly told me she didn’t want me, what else did I need to prove?

I literally drove around without paying attention to where I was going. Instead of going to my house, I drove to my father’s because I didn’t trust myself to be alone at that moment. I was desperate and my toxic imagination was driving me insane.

I parked the car in the parking space and cut the engine.

I clenched and unclenched the steering wheel. The image of Blue standing next to Adrian made me so ill I could taste bile in my throat. And my imagination was pretty fucking wild if you ask me.

The images kept pushing through, of Blue getting naked with Adrian and the two of them together doing things that we’d once done together.

Where had I gone wrong? We were married, she and I. She loved me, or at least she used to and then she’d gone ahead and ruined everything by sleeping with another man.

Maybe this was karma coming for me; for all the girls that I’d slept with and never responded to their messages. Hell, I’d been bad, I’d broken several hearts but by god, I never led anyone on, never been in a real relationship, and never cheated on someone. I never looked at another woman while I was in love with Blue.

So why did I deserve this again?

With shaky hands, I reached for a bottle of Jack that I kept stashed in my car for emergencies like these and took a long drink. Only after I’d emptied it, I stepped out of the car.

Inside the house, I walked into the housekeeper. “Nana, is mom home?”

She appeared to be flabbergasted for a moment; for the fact that I’d turned up drunk or because I called Elaine “Mom”, I wasn’t sure.

“She’s upstairs in her room.” She told me, “Are you alright, Hunter?”

“Not really,” I muttered before climbing the stairs.

I knocked on her door once when I heard a soft confirmation, I walked inside. Elaine was seated by the study table near the bay window, typing on her laptop. She was a fashion blogger and used to be a model so when she married my dad, she stopped her modeling work.

“Hey.” She called out as she looked at me once before turning to the computer and then quickly did another double-take.

I must look like a mess for her to look at me with so much pity.

“Hey honey, how nice of you to drop by,” She said, smiling up at me.

I kneeled down in front of her while she was still sitting in her chair and placed my head in her lap.

She must be shocked to find me literally begging for her affection, considering the fact that I had always rejected her for years. It’s not that I hated Elaine, I just hated myself.

for a split second before her fingers slowly caressed my

face but I didn’t say

talk to me.”

that I went to anybody. I just bottled up my sorrow, didn’t talk to people

Not this time though.

about Blue?” She

the dam broke and I began to cry. Loud, gut-wrenching sobs heaving from the depths of my heart. It was like a cloak of despair had wrapped itself around

sure. A grown-ass man brawling so loudly like a

her lap and cried and cried while she stroked my head slowly,

my head up towards her, not caring one bit that I probably had snot dripping down from my nose. And Elaine, god, she needed to be given the Mother of the Year award because she casually

to genuinely love me

never coming back

do you say

want me anymore,” I choked, still sobbing like a fucking baby. “I saw her today at the supermarket. She’s pregnant with another man’s child.

mouth. “Are you sure that’s

He was

boil. I wanted to hit a wall

she wasn’t trying to feed me some pity speech, she seemed to be

must think I’m a new brand of pussy, crying my eyes out like

your language, young man,” She warned me, then added, “Secondly, grown men cry all the

All I did was love her, and I thought she loved me back, she said she did. I might have gotten a little obsessive over her sometimes but what man doesn’t get like that over his wife? I’m sure dad did that all the time

ringing sound filled with warmth. “Yeah, he did

something wrong with me.” The tears were still streaming down my cheeks. “I must be completely

like

that as a

edges, like your dad, but your brother Ryan’s different, he’s like an open book. There’s no mystery

running away from home, transferring schools. I gave you a hard time in my late teens. I was not a good son, and definitely not a

repeated. “Before I married your dad, he put some conditions for me; he said he wouldn’t marry me if I didn’t

Brantley. He would put conditions applied to a marriage. I had

did he say?”

Ryan was a tough kid, that he’d watched his mother get buried and never cried in front of anyone. You, on the other hand, it’s a different story. He said and I quote him because I remember his words exactly ‘Hunter is a rebellion and he is difficult to love. He will reject you, tell you things he doesn’t mean, make you cry but you still have to continue to love him like I do, will you do that for me?’ He asked me, Hunt, and at

speechless. Dad really cared that much

not a bad person, Honey, your circumstances are

more than she liked me and now she’s pregnant with his kid. I can’t be selfish and force her

can’t force anyone

can do with my life,” I

soothing. “How about you take a short vacation to somewhere nice? Japan, maybe? Kyoto will especially be beautiful right now, you know with the Cherry Blossom season coming along. Take Fred with you. We will sponsor Fred’s ticket. You could go on