Chapter 17
Turns out, life outside the Holt mansion wasn’t all tragedy and betrayal.
The real world? Kind of amazing.
Sunshine. Peace. People who didn’t lie to your face.
Freshman year was bliss.
Until he showed up again.
Hunter Holt.
It was summer break. My roommate and I had landed a freelance gig—shadow photography for a fashion shoot.
Except the client?
Nightmare.
No matter what we did, she ripped us apart.
“You call that a shot? My blind cat could do better.”
We took it. Swallowed it. Smiled.
Couldn’t risk pissing her off—one word and she could blacklist us from every decent agency on the East Coast.
So we nodded, bowed, kept repeating, “We’re sorry. We’ll fix it. Totally our fault…”
It sucked. Bad.
Until the door swung open and he walked in.
Hunter Holt.
Tall. Sharp. A walking Calvin Klein ad bathed in golden sunlight. Like some cinematic filter followed him around.
He scanned the room. Saw us crouched like dogs under the client’s fury.
“What’s going on?” he asked, casually, like he wasn’t made of sin and cologne.
The client’s entire tone shifted. “Oh! Hunter. The main photographer bailed and sent these two… amateurs.”
I expected him to ignore it.
Instead, he said, “Maybe you should let them shoot freely. Give them some space to work.”
She blinked. “You’re kidding.”
“I’ve seen their work. They’re good. Actually won an award at the National Student Photo Comp last year.”
We hadn’t.
But God bless this man for lying through his perfect teeth.
The client wavered. We jumped at the opportunity—iPad out, showing our best edits.
For once, we were in.
The client nodded. “Okay. You’re up.”
We nailed it. Shot a full personal portfolio that had her raving.
She even offered to refer us to other clients.
Later, Hunter drove us back to campus.
Right before we got out, my roommate, still on a high, said, “Thanks so much for the ride, and for everything. Savvy, uh, who is this guy again?”
I panicked. Was about to say “uncle.”
Hunter beat me to it. “Her neighbor. Door across from hers.”
Technically true. Dorm room counts, right?
My roommate squinted at me with a grin. “Ooooh. Neighbor brother, huh?”
Hunter just chuckled, low and easy, and pulled off.
