Page 55 of Hunter

“A summer fling?” she murmurs.

“Actually,” I whisper, “I’m not sure. I don’t know.”

“Fling” doesn’t feel right anymore.

The reality is that I could sign on for a short-term fling with Isabella when I thought she was going home after the race. I could get on board with the whole “friends with benefits” philosophy. But I’m not sure I can keep enjoying the physical side of things without becoming attached. Not for another two months.

“I don’t either,” she admits.

“Tell me what you want, Bella.”

She takes another deep breath and sighs, her eyebrows knitting in thought.

“I don’t want to be with anyone else.” She bites on her lower lip, which I’m beginning to recognize is a nervous tell. “And I don’t wantyouto be with anyone else.”

“Sounds good to me. We’ll be exclusive.”

“Mm-hm,” she says, nodding. “And there’s no point in me staying somewhere other than with you. Don’t you agree?”

“I do.” Relief makes my whole body relax. “So, live with me for the rest of the summer. Sawyer can move into the lodge fora couple of weeks until my cabin is ready, and then we can stay there together.”

“You sure?”

“I’m positive,” I say, brushing her lips with mine. As I draw away, I feel like I need to confess something to her. “Bella, I’m trying not to catch feelings for you, but…”

“I know,” she says, holding me close to her. “I know. Me too.”

“If we’re together until the end of the summer, I’m going to fall for you.”I already am.“If you don’t want that…”

“I do. I mean, I want that. I mean…” Her eyes brighten with tears. “I don’t want to get hurt, and I don’t want to hurt you, and my job starts up again the Tuesday after Labor Day…but I…I…”

“How about this?” I say, rubbing her back. “How about we try to figure out how to give this arealchance? How to stay together?”

“Hunter,” she says, her voice emotional and expression bleak. “I can’t envision a future for us where we both have what we want and need, where we end up somewhere we can both be happy.”

“We have a whole summer to figure it out,” I say.

I can’t give this up without trying. I won’t.

“But what if we can’t?”

“We can,” I tell her firmly, praying that my words are true. “We’re smart and young and we care about each other. We have to at least try.”

Her face brightens as she nods at me. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I ask, unable to help the smile that takes over my face.

“Okay. Yes,” she says. “We can try to figure it out.”

This time when I press my lips to hers, I deepen our kiss, and my cock, which has rested long enough, swells with blood. Ittakes me a second to realize that Bella is pressing gently against my chest, pushing me away. I lean back, scanning her face.

“But if we can’t…” she says. “If we can’t figure out a way to make this work, we let each other go on Labor Day. We say goodbye, and we wish each other well, and we don’t hate each other for the rest of our lives.” Her eyes seize mine and hold them. “I can’t bear you hating me all over again. Promise, Hunter. Promise me that even if we say goodbye at the end of the summer, we stay friends.”

I don’t know if it’s a promise I can keep, but I can’t say no. I’m willing to do almost anything to make us work.

“I promise,” I whisper.

“Make love to me,” she says.

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