Page 57 of Merritt and Her Childhood Crush
“You said you were worried about what happens next. I mean, I can’t guarantee tomorrow or next week, but I figured if I kissed you now, you at least wouldn’t spend the whole night wondering if we would kiss at the end.”
I gape at him.
He shrugs. “Made sense at the time.”
It honestlydoesmake sense. In a way. Because yeah—I was already thinking too much about the possibility of a goodnight kiss. I’d pictured the awkwardness at the end of the night, the struggle of trying to read what he wants while deciding what I want.
“Also,” he says, a little hesitant now. “I didn’t want to wait.”
He didn’t want to wait to kiss me. A thrill zips through me at the thought.
“Now, you don’t have to worry about deciding if it’s something you want to do,” he adds. “You get to decide if it’s something you want to doagain.”
Hunter’s smile turns a little wicked then, like he can already tell that I one hundred percent want to do it again. Now, preferably. And then again in ten minutes. An hour. Basically, all the time. If our date consists of parking like two teenagers and making out in his truck, I’ll be fine with that. It would be only fitting since, when we kissed as teenagers, we weren’t old enough to drive.
I take his elbow, needing to touch him, needing the live wire of my body to be grounded by him.
As we start to walk away, I don’t miss movement behind the glass window of the store. Not a store—the barbershop. Neither does Hunter. He groans as an older Black man pulls the blinds shut. I don’t miss his broad smile before he’s gone.
“That was very poor planning on my part,” Hunter says. “Hope you’re okay being Oakley Island famous.”
“Why?”
“Because that was Frank. He runs the most gossipy island TikTok account you can imagine. And I’m guessing that kiss is now on his profile for the whole island to see.”
I should care. Maybe be embarrassed or even upset that my privacy was violated. You can’t just film people without permission and put it on social media!
But instead, I’m only thinking of what Naomi said about the island vultures—the women who have been after Hunter.
I hope theyallsee the video of us kissing.
I’ve never really felt possessive like this, especially not when there are still so many unanswered questions about what happens next, what this is even going to look like. But I’m filled with smug satisfaction at the idea of people knowing. People seeing.
Hunter leans close to me, swinging open the door of the restaurant and holding it for me. “Here’s a secret,” he whispers, his breath tickling my neck. “I was planning to kiss you at the end of the night anyway.”
THIRTEEN
Merritt
DidI expect Hunter to turn our walk to the restaurant into a scene right out of a romance novel? No, no I did not.
Did I mind? Not even a little.
And weirdly, sharing a kiss really did break up the tension between us. I’m breathing normally, at least, even if my cheeks still feel a little warm and my brain is repeating over and over the phrase: I can’t believe this is happening.
Because honestly.I can’t believe this is happening.
We walk inside, and multiple sets of eyes turn our way as we wait by the hostess stand. Like, anunusualnumber of eyes. A man at the table closest to us grins.
“Way to go, Hunter,” he says under his breath.
Behind me, Hunter sighs. “Frank works fast.”
“Seriously?” I whisper to him as the hostess leads us to our table. Evenshesmiles like she knows about the kiss. She also looks at Hunter in a way I don’t like. “That guy was at least seventy years old. You’re telling meheis on TikTok? I’m not even on TikTok.”
“You are now,” Hunter says with a wry grin. “It’s a small town, Mer. And everyone knows Frank. They’re on TikTok becauseheis on TikTok. Or,TheTiktok, as the older set of Oakley residents like to call it.”
“Honestly, it sounds like a subplot of a Hallmark movie, not real life.”
