Page 27 of Crossed Paths
Hunter
Reckon I’ll be running food and fixing toilets by Friday. But I’ll be at the walk on Saturday if you’re free.
Me
Can’t. Nancy’s bringing the whole group to the pub again. I need to be around to help the team prep. The rota’s already stretched because there are some exams this week.
I hesitate after I send it, staring at the blinking cursor like it might offer me a solution. Some days I feel like I live in a constant cycle of building rotas and cleaning up spills—emotional, logistical, or actual. Normally I love it, but since Hunter has started to invade my life, I keep wondering if I shouldn’t get some better work life balance.
His reply buzzes through a second later.
Hunter
Alright. Then promise me a kiss when I get there.
I shake my head, already smiling like an idiot.
Me
I’m not promising anything.
Liar. My body still hums when I think of his hands on me. His mouth. The way he looks at me like I’m not broken, not fragile—justwanted.
Hunter
Then I’ll take my chances. Might even get more than a kiss if I’m charming enough.
That makes me laugh out loud. Tom gives me a questioning look, and I feel heat rising to my cheeks.
Me
You’d better not say things like that in front of Mrs Higgins.
Hunter
She’d only wink at me. You know she loves nothing more than matchmaking.
He’s not wrong. Mrs Higgins probably has a betting pool going.
Me
That is disturbingly true.
There’s a pause this time. Not long, but enough for me to shift slightly on the stool and glance down at the laptop, trying to pretend my heart isn’t already a little too involved.
Then the final message comes.
Hunter
I’ll tell Peter on the walk.
I stare atthe message, thumb hovering over the screen.
Right. So, he’s really doing this. He’s definitely not messing around.
There’s a strange, fluttery weight in my chest—half panic, half something dangerously close to hope. For all my insecurities, he’s not giving me any wiggle room to doubt him. It’s unnerving. And oddly comforting.
Because I’ve never had that. Not really.
