Page 78 of The Mating Game
“Dude,” Jarred tells Hunter. “I’m so glad you decided to hang.”
“Yeah, well.” Hunter gives another shrug. “Tess told me how much you guys were crying about missing me, so…”
“I absolutely said no such thing,” I laugh.
Hunter’s eye catches mine, and he actuallywinks.
Is he trying to kill me?
“I just got bored,” Hunter tries again. “No big deal.”
Cat looks unconvinced. “Mm-hmm.”
I won’t pretend I’m not wondering myself what he’s doing here, but at the same time, I can’t ignore the fact that it almost feels likehe…came for me? That’s probably so conceited of me, but, I mean, he did, right?
Listen to you. The guy had his tongue between your legs last night, and you’re giddy over him showing up to a bar.
Hunter and Jarred are talking when the waitress brings our drinks to the table, passing them around before leaving us to it. Jarred raises his beer bottle in a toast as he waits for us to do the same, and all the glasses and bottles clink together.
“Here’s to our very own mountain man coming down the mountain,” Jarred says all serious-like. “May it mean six more weeks of winter this year or something.”
Hunter laughs as he pulls his bottle to his lips. “Shut up.”
I don’t miss the way he looks at me as he takes a slow sip of his beer, and I definitely don’t miss the way my belly erupts in full-on fluttering in response.
This is going to be a long night.
18
Hunter
The funny thingabout alcohol is that it makes everything seem funnier, makes everything taste better (because yes, the cheese fries at Fred’s are as good as I remember), and—in this instance—makes one already very appealing contractor somehowmoreappealing. Only one drink in, and I’m noticing the way her mouth curves around the lip of her bottle, I’m appreciating how nice her laugh sounds when someone catches her off guard. And by my second—probably one more than I should be having in the span of two hours—I’m leaning close enough into her that I’m noticing, not for the first time, howgoodshe smells.
The scent of her—warm apples and baked cinnamon and something that is just inherentlyher—is intoxicating. I think I’ve leaned into a laugh a little harder than I needed to on at least two occasions now, just to have the chance to press my face into her shoulder for another whiff.
Yeah, that’s creepy, I know, but sue me.
“Okay,” I say, cutting into our loud conversation. “I don’t think Tess wants to hear anything about that.”
“Oh, on the contrary,” she protests. “Tess wants to hearallabout this.”
“I’m telling you,” Jarred barrels on loudly, a few beers in himself. “Picture the same lovable Hunter you know now, but, like, maybe fifty pounds lighter—you were a wiry little thing, weren’t you?”
“You’re one to talk,” I snort. “Your lanky ass had to cut extra holes in your belt. Made your ears look huge.”
“Oh my God,” Cat gasps. “Youdidhave those huge ears!” She pats the table excitedly in my direction. “Tess.Tess.Jarred used to braid his hair for football, and let me tell you, those things were like satell—”
Jarred claps a hand over his girlfriend’s mouth. “Let’s not distract ourselves from my story,” he chides. “So anyway, imagine baby Hunter. Seventeen. Starting tight end for the Pleasant Hill Panthers. Hot shit, right? So we all make this bet. We said, didn’t we?” He laughs at me when he catches me shaking my head. “We said the loser would have to do it, didn’t we?”
“You’rekillingme,” Tess groans. She snaps her fingers in Jarred’s direction. “Focus. What did baby Hunter do?”
“So the coach, like, had the same routine after every practice. Five laps around the field at the end. Every time. Like clockwork. So it’s our last practice of senior year; we’ve got one more game left, and we all make this bet, right? Last person to the showers has to streak naked across the field after the final game.”
“Shut up!” Tess gasps.
Jarred is already cackling, his arm around his middle to steady himself. “People talked about Hunter’stight endfor years.”
“This might be the best night of my life,” Tess sighs. She pokes me in the ribs. “Make any bets lately?”
