~CELINE~

Heat climbs up my neck as I close the door behind Hunter. My words hang in the air like a confession I never meant to make.

'Have you ever gone to bed hungry just so someone else could eat?'

I press my palms against my burning cheeks and sink onto the small sofa, mortified. Once again, I'd shown Hunter Reid my most vulnerable side, the struggling single mother, the charity case, the pitiful girl who couldn't catch a break.

"Mommy?" Caesar's sleepy voice calls from the bedroom.

I ...