Page 63 of Pinkie Promise

I nod, still looking blankly at the unopened door.

His chest swells against my back and he presses his mouth against my ear. “Then I’ll tell you later.”

He rams his key into the lock and then kicks the door open.

We’re instantly met with a loud squeal followed by a muffled chuckle, and I watch as Hunter’s burly roommate shoves himself over the back of their living room sofa to grab a hold of the waist of a petite pink-haired girl who’s belly-down on the couch. He pulls her up hard against his abdomen, one arm keeping her in place as his other hand rubs and tickles at her ribcage.

He’s wearing a pair of pyjama pants and she’s wearing the matching top.

“Cade! Oh my God, stop!” she yelps. A thrilled giggle leaves her throat as she lifts her head up, shooting me an apologetic look from over the arm of the sofa.

He smirks against her flushed cheek and rumbles, “Whatcha squealing for, piglet?”

She bursts into another fit of laughter and hides her face under her cotton-candy cloud of soft pink hair. She rolls onto her back and then kicks at her boyfriend, making him grunt as he tries to wrestle her back down.

“The door,” she laughs breathlessly. “You gotta stop, there are people at thedoor.”

Hunter’s roommate immediately lifts his head up before compressing himself down on top of his girlfriend, a shocked look on his face. “S-sorry man,” he blinks. “Didn’t hear you.”

Feeling like this whole situation is too precious and intimate to be intruded on I take a small half-step backwards, but Hunter’s palm spans on my lower back and he gives me a gentle but firm shove over the threshold. Then he kicks the door shut behind us, winds his arms around my front, and yanks up the zipper on my jacket, hiding my sparkly cheer outfit. He wraps his forearms over my chest and gives me a hard belly-flipping squeeze.

“You didn’t hear him?” the pink-haired girl laughs, shoving hard at her boyfriend’s chest so that he sits upright between her legs. His eyes are trained on her as she gets to her feet and, as if compelled, he immediately does the same. “He almost broke down the damn door.”

Her boyfriend settles his hands on her shirt-covered hips, giving me an eyeful of his darkly tattooed forearms.

Lord almighty.

“I was otherwise engaged,” he says huskily, his southern accent low and rough. Then he casts his eyes back up to Hunter and he says, “We’ll go to my room.”

His girlfriend flashes me a grin and I can’t help but smile back at her.

“Oh, will we now?” she says in her light honey drawl. Her boyfriend starts pushing her forward, walking them out of the living room, but she reaches a slender arm out to me, making him pause in confusion. His eyes trail down to her fingers as if he doesn’t want anyone else touching her.

“Winter,” she says, her eyes sparkly and a little nervous. Her boyfriend shoots his eyes directly into mine and I feel Hunter’s arms lock harder around my body.

I take her hand and we do a little shake. Another laugh tinkles out of her.

“Fallon,” I squeak in reply.

Hunter’s chest is moving hard against my back. “Winter, Fallon. Fallon, Winter. And that’s Caden, but y’all aren’t shaking hands.”

Caden lets out an exasperated exhale, his gaze still burning into his girlfriend’s hand.

“Y’all can have the living room if you want,” Winter says when we let go of each other, gesturing to the sofa that she was just being mauled on. “We really will stay in Cade’s room.”

I shake my head. “Oh, no, I probably won’t be staying! I’m just… because of the roads… but the weather will probably be fine in a minute.”

I glance out of the balcony doors behind them and notice that, if anything, the blizzard is getting worse. Hunter lets out a quiet snicker.

I glance up at him over my shoulder and he gently wraps one fist around my ponytail. “We might put a movie on or something. So thanks,” he says, calm and authoritative.

I look back at Winter and see that her eyes are on my skirt, poking out from beneath Hunter’s jacket. She tucks her hair behind both of her ears and gives me an excited look as she says, “You a cheerleader or somethin’?”

“Alright, that’s it.” Caden grabs her by the biceps and begins steering her towards his bedroom. She shoots me a mischievous grin from over his shoulder and then howls in delight as her boyfriend bites into the curve of her neck.

Hunter’s hand slides around the front of my throat, stroking me gently as he presses a kiss to my jaw.

“We’re gonna watch a film?” I ask him curiously as he walks us over to the sofa and settles me down onto the padded cushion.

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