Page 49 of Pinkie Promise

“What were you going to tell me?” I ask him when he finally pulls away.

He tucks a curl behind my ear and drops his eyes to my waist. He encircles it with one of his hands and gives it a gentle squeeze as he shakes his head.

“Doesn’t matter, I’ll tell you another time.” He leans into my neck and presses a kiss to my skin. “Don’t know if I already said it but you’re the prettiest thing that I’ve ever seen.”

I hide my smile against his soft dishevelled hair. “It’s just the dress.”

“It’s the girl in the dress,” he grunts. Then he says, “It’s a short dress though. Aren’t these thighs gonna get cold?”

I shudder as he slides his large warm palms up my arms. “We had the heating on in the car,” I whisper, as he tangles his fingers in the flimsy straps of my lilac dress.

“You came in the car?” he asks quietly, as he kisses along my collarbone. “But I thought you didn’t…” He pauses for a moment before lifting his head. Looking down at me he says, “Who drove you here tonight?”

It’s at that moment that there’s a loud knock on Hunter’s door.

Immediately my eyes flash over to it and I whisper, “Did you lock that?”

Hunter looks down at me, conflicting emotions burning in his irises, and then his bedroom door swings open, Connell standing with his arms crossed in the doorway.

“Oh,” Connell says casually, the music from the living area blasting loudly. He scratches at the back of his head and looks awkwardly away from the way that Hunter is holding me against his body. “Sorry. I just didn’t know where else to find you. Uh, Ash is pissed and wants to go to a different party so… unless you were gonna, uh, stay here tonight…”

We remain speechless for a few long moments until, eventually, Hunter turns his head away from Connell.

“I’m sorry,” I say quietly, although I’m not sure who I’m saying it to. “I’ll just–”

I slowly lift up so that I can leave Hunter’s lap, but the second that I begin to move he cups my cheeks in his large hands. In a strained voice he murmurs, “You brought Connell?”

“Connell brought Fallon,” Connell says dryly from the doorway. I don’t think that he means to sound as glib as he does, but I still shoot him a frosty look that makes him breathe a laugh and shake his head.

“Connell,” I say, my voice shaking a little. “I’ll meet you in a minute. Can you please close the door for a sec?”

He inhales and nods, his eyes locked in with Hunter’s. Hunter gives him an emotionless glance, his eyes dark and blank.

When the door clicks shut I wring my hands in my lap. “Okay, this looks bad, but I promise it isn’t what it looks like.”

Hunter watches my hands, his cheeks burning crimson. “It’s okay, Fallon, I get it. You’re a beautiful girl.”

Oh God, he actually thinks that I’m two-timing him.

“No no no,” I say quickly, “Connell is my best friend’s brother. He’s DDing for us.” I press my fingers into my temples and then mumble, “I should never have teased you with the ‘allmy hot boyfriends’ thing. You’re going to think that I was being serious but I was just trying to be funny.”

Humour, I have learned, is a very subjective thing.

Hunter’s eyes briefly catch mine before he looks down again.

“Are you saying…” His voice is rough and he pauses to try and clear it. If anything, it just gets rougher. “Are you saying that you… aren’t dating Connell? That I’m the only guy you’re seeing?”

I nod adamantly.

He looks back at his comforter, to where I was lying beneath him only five minutes ago.

“Hunter,” I say, closing my eyes. “I know that you think that I’m some sort of minxy cheerleader who has five billion guys blowing up her phone but…”

I open my eyes and he’s watching me longingly.

I put my hand on my heart and whisper, “It really pains me to admit this but… I am a huge freaking nerd.”

His expression changes completely. There’s a new sparkle in his eyes, an almost-smile on his mouth. Then he shakes his head like I’m joking and says, “Sure. Right.”

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