Page 46 of Unbelievable You

“I’m not judging,” she said, her head tilted to the side to read the spines of my books.

“Yeah, somehow I don’t believe you,” I said, rooting around in my cabinets for something to have with the tea. We’d just consumed incredible pastries, but you couldn’t just give someone tea when they came over. I found some crackers and had two different kinds of cheese in my fridge, along with some apples that my mom had given me when she took my little brothers to the orchard.

Getting out a plate, I started assembling a rudimentary snack situation. It wasn’t social media worthy, but hopefully Hunter wouldn’t care.

I sliced up the apples as the kettle went off.

“I’ve only got two kinds of tea, sorry. You can pick.” Hunter joined me in the kitchen. She poured water over the teabag and watched as I tried to arrange the snack plate so it didn’t look like trash.

“You didn’t need to make that,” Hunter said.

“I know. But my mom raised me to be a good host.”

Hunter still wore my sweatshirt. Seeing her hands peeking out from the too-long sleeves was really fucking cute.

It distracted me for a second and I almost chopped off one of my fingers. How embarrassing that would have been if I ended up in the ER with a silly injury. I knew all the local nurses and doctors so I’d never hear the end of it.

With utmost care, I sliced the rest of the apple and set it on the plate. Hunter carried our tea and I had the food.

Buck came over to investigate, but I shooed him away and sent him back to his bed so he wouldn’t bother us.

“Your place is so cozy,” she said, pulling her feet up on the couch and tucking them under herself.

Shit, I liked seeing her sitting on my couch. I’d thought about her in my space so many times and now she was here.

“Cozy usually means small in real estate terms,” I said, knowing she was literally a real estate agent.

Hunter shook her head and rested her tea on her legs. “Sometimes it does. Maybe that wasn’t the right word. Comfortable, maybe. That doesn’t mean small. Warm. Your place is warm too. I could write a whole listing on how this place makes you feel.”

Oh. That definitely sounded like a compliment. I was no decorator and so much of my furniture had come from my parents and old roommates and garage sales that nothing had a unified theme, but I did like everything I owned, even if it didn’t go together.

“Anything haunted?” I asked, remembering her room of cursed items.

“Hmmm,” Hunter said, looking around. “I’d have to look closer, but I think you’re pretty un-haunted. Sorry.”

I let out a dramatic sigh. “Well, you can’t have everything I guess.”

“Next time I go with Cade, I’ll pick you up a little something.”

Oh, she would? She’d be looking for something for me while she was with her friend? Why did that make me want to jump up and whoop for joy?

“Okay,” I said, trying to hold back a huge smile.

“I don’t see Cade as much anymore.” She’d told me that before.

“I’m sorry. It’s hard when your friends get into relationships like that. My college roommate and I were almost inseparable and then she met this guy and I barely ever saw her again.” I had also kind of sort of been in love with her, but that was a separate issue.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled for her. I am. Still a little skeptical, but supportive. But I miss her.”

She frowned into her tea.

“The book tour is coming up, right?” I asked.

“Yeah. It’s in a few weeks. Cade goes between excited and terrified. It’s going to be the experience of a lifetime, that’s for sure.”

I couldn’t imagine dating someone famous like that.

“My mom loves Eloise Roth books. I haven’t told her that I might actually meet her at some point or else she would make me bring all her books and get them signed.” I’d come honestly by my love of books. When I’d been young and my parents hadn’t had a ton of money, they’d always taken me and Tor to the library and let us get whatever we wanted. It had been so exciting, being able to grab a book off the shelf and take it home to keep for a few weeks. Almost like you were getting away with something.

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