Page 37 of Pinkie Promise

I bend forward and slip inside and he waits by my door until I’ve strapped myself in. Then he quietly shuts it, rounds the truck, and heaves himself inside.

“You like the movie?” he asks as he gets the truck’s engine going.

“What movie?” I ask, and he flashes me a lazy grin.

“You’re a real funny chick,” he says, shaking his head. “I like that.”

Suddenly I’m thinking of all the first-date questions that I haven’t yet asked him so I curl up on the passenger seat, rummage around for a stray Jelly Baby, and ask, “Where are you from, originally?”

He rolls his shoulders and says, “Carter Ridge through and through, baby.”

My eyebrows rise. “Seriously? You’re from here?”

He grazes his teeth into his bottom lip like he isn’t sure if he should be telling me this, but I can’t imagine why it would be a secret that he’s local to the area.

“Yeah, Tanner and I were both born and raised around these parts.”

“You guys seem like brothers,” I tell him.

“He isn’t by blood, but he is in the way that counts. We got into hockey together, that kind of thing.” Then he laughs and says, “I have a fuck-tonne of siblings, but I don’t wanna scare you.”

I get comfy in my seat. “Tell me.”

He grins at the road. “You sure?”

“Why would I be scared?” I laugh.

He flashes me a smirk. “I’m one of six, Fallon.”

My hands instinctively move to my belly.That is alotof babies.

Hunter glances down at my stomach before refocusing on the road.

“My mom has one girl and five boys. I’m the oldest. The youngest is Wren, then Archer, Ryder, Gunner, and Colton. Then me. The babies are real cute but Colt’s kind of my favourite. He’s in high school now and he’s getting all moody. He has, uh…” He laughs and shakes his head. “He’s a little obsessedwith the chick who lives next door.”

“Sounds like a romance story,” I murmur with a smile.

He smiles back at me. “Maybe you could write it.”

I try to hide my dimpling cheeks as I turn to look out of the window, my neck getting warm and my belly feeling fuzzy.Maybe I will.

“You got siblings?” he asks, and my smile instantly drops. “Shit, wrong question,” he says quickly when he notices my expression. “I’m sorry, Fallon. I won’t mention your family again.”

I shake my head but my voice belies my emotions. “It’s fine, I’m sorry,” I say, trying to brush it off with a little laugh. “It’s honestly not even a big deal.”

He makes a low unsure grunt but he thinks better of fighting me on it. Instead he takes his right hand off the wheel and holds it out for me to hold. I place a Jelly Baby in his palm and when he looks down at it he laughs out loud.

He throws it back into his mouth and then he shoves his fingers straight through mine.

I have to stifle a small gasp as I say, “You have really big hands.”

“Hockey player,” he says by way of explanation.

“All those years of gripping the stick?”

He chokes on his swallow. “Among other things.”

When adjusts the stick-shift he makes us do it with our hands still entwined, and the action is so cute that it makes me giggle. In my defence, I try my best to suppress the sound.

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