Page 30 of Pinkie Promise

“I, uh, I usually get sent to the sin bin a lot. Only needed to stop by once tonight.” He grins down at me and I can’t help but return the smile.

“Oh, I just remembered,” I say quickly, grabbing the jumper that he leant to me at the car wash from my bag and holding it out to him. “Thank you for letting me… use your jumper.”

Hunter looks down at it with a frown, his hands stuffed resolutely in his pockets. “You can keep it,” he says, gruff and succinct.

I look up at him from under my lashes, almost shivering at the intensity in his eyes. “Oh, I couldn’t possibly. It gets… cold in Carter Ridge. You might need it.”

He gestures to his hoodie and says, “I’m covered, Fallon.”

“Hunter,” I argue, willing him to take it.

And not because I want him to. I want him to take it back because Idon’twant him to. Hunter wanting me to wear his soft hockey jumper just feels so intimate, and the sparkly feeling in my belly is scaring me down to my toes.

He swipes his tongue over his lower lip, studying me for a moment. Then he seems to make some sort of decision and nods, tentatively retrieving the garment.

He grins at me when my fingers cling onto it for a millisecond too long.

“Okay, I’ll take it back,” he says slowly, giving me a lazy smile as he stashes the jumper into his bag. “Guess I’ll just have to find another excuse to give it to you again.”

I breathe out a dazzled laugh as the door to my left slams open, and a hoard of hockey guys come pouring out of the building. They’re Hunter’s teammates, and a few of them give him quick jerks of their chins or hold up their phones as if to saywe have plans, remember?Hunter’s friend Tanner catches my eyes and I swear that he looks a little hurt. Then I remember the fact that he clearly wanted Aisling to come to the game with me – hence the extra wristband – and suddenly I feel bad for him.

There’s no way in hell that I’m going to tell him that the reason why she couldn’t come is because she was spending time with herboyfriend, but maybe if he stops by my new job at the diner again I’ll give him a to-go coffee as my treat.

Hunter waits a beat so that we’re no longer directly in the eye-line of his entire ice hockey team and then he takes a step towards me, propping a forearm on the wall above my head.

To my surprise he looks as nervous as I feel. His cheeks are slightly red and his eyes are down on our feet. The small crease between his brows tells me that he’s having a complicated internal conversation with himself right now.

I give his boot a little nudge and his head snaps up, eyes burning.

“Sorry,” he grunts, shoving his free hand through his hair. “I know I’m holding you up from, uh, a cheer social or something.”

It’s actually very sweet of him to assume that I have a social life. Since being benched from the comp squad I haven’t reallybeen going out, although, after what Aisling told me yesterday, my cheer career may be about to take a new direction.

Hunter quietly clears his throat before he finally asks, “Wanna go out with me sometime?”

The toes of our boots are still touching. Nothing in the world could stop me from smiling right now.

But before I can answer him one of his teammates calls over from the lot, “Yo Cap, come on!”

Hunter’s eyes remain on mine for a good five seconds before he glances over his shoulder and precisely mouths the wordsfuck off.

I laugh out loud and Hunter flashes me his handsome smile.

I feel giddy and excited for the first time all term. I feel the way that you’resupposedto feel at college. Maybe meeting Hunter was exactly what I needed.

Maybe I don’t mind taking a few falls if where I land leads me to him.

So I tuck a curl behind my ear and ask, “What did you have in mind?”

Chapter 10

Hunter

I rap a fist against the door and then tuck my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

Fallon buzzed me into the building and now I’m waiting outside of her condo, heart thumping fast in anticipation of our first date.

The door opens up a crack and Fallon peeks around the door.

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