Page 133 of The Mating Game
I take a deep breath, barely managing to get a word out, and when I do, every feeling, every raging desire hits me with the full weight of a truck, coming back to me like I never left him, because—
“Hunter?”
32
Hunter
My heart istrying to escape through my ribs when I knock on the door, but that could be residual terror from being on a plane for the first time in more than a decade. Part of me worries that she won’t be here, that her brothers might have gotten things wrong, and then where the fuck will I be? Crying to her dad, whom I’ve never met? That will be a real riot, for sure.
I brace myself with my hands on either side of the door, trying to control the pounding of my heart as I consider how the hell I’m going to explain myself if Tess opens this door. What I’ll say about why I’m here, what I’m feeling. How I’ll convince a woman I’ve known for less than a month that I think she might be my forever.
But then the door opens, and I’m hit with her warm scent, which feels so right, here in the sunshine of her home; I’m met with her soft chestnut hair and her big brown eyes and her freckles and all the things that I’ve felt adrift without since she left. I see her, and suddenly I forget how to make words.
“Hunter?”
My mouth parts only to immediately close again, my throat bobbing with a swallow as I manage to eke out a “Hi.”
“Hi?”
She looks confused when she says it, and why wouldn’t she? I just flew about three hours nonstop in clothes that aren’t meant for this place to see her, and now I’m standing here, and everything I thought I might say to her is out the window somewhere. Just…gone. Fluttering away where I can’t catch it. Which is probably why the next thing I blurt out is:
“I love you.”
She looks stunned, and why wouldn’t she? I practically pushed her out my door yesterday, most likely making her think I was fine seeing her go, that I didn’t need her. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I know it’s too soon to tell you that,” I go on, floundering. “But it’s true. You blew into town and filled up my empty lodge in ways I didn’t even know it needed. I’ve spent years, Tess—years—thinking I was fine, that I had all I needed. And then you showed up, and I realized I’ve been exactly like that dingy old lodge all this time. Nothing but a ghost of a shell parading around like I’m still living. I didn’t even know what being contentlookedlike anymore, until you.”
I take a deep breath, feeling my panic rising at her shocked expression, but the words are barreling out of me now.
“I know I’m the worst choice for you. I’m moody and stubborn and live in the middle of nowhere, where there’s nothing for you—but if you give me half a chance, I can change that. I’m realizing that the place I thought was my home is just like I was, just a shell. I didn’t know what home looked like until I met you. And I want tobethat for you. Whatever it looks like. Wherever that is. If you’ll let me.”
Her eyes are so wide they’re almost covered by her bangs, andshe does that adorable thing where she blows them out of her face, her mouth opening and closing like she has no idea what to say to all this. Not that I blame her. It makes me feel suddenly awkward and embarrassed, like maybe I’ve put her in a weird position. Which I have, probably. I definitely didn’t think this through before I rushed to the airport, that’s for sure. Hell, I didn’t even pack the right clothes for this place. I don’t evenownclothes for California.
“I can go,” I start, already backing away. “I can give you time to think about this, and if you don’t feel the same way, I promise that’s okay. I just needed to tell you. I couldn’t leave things like they were when you left. I couldn’t let you just be out there somewhere thinking it didn’t kill me to watch you go. Because it did, Tess. Itkilledme. But what killed me more was knowing I didn’t run after you. That I didn’t tell you I would goanywhere, doanything—as long as I get to be with you.”
“Don’t you dare,” she says, taking a step forward.
I pause. “Which part?”
“Leave,” she says, her fingers reaching out to grab at my shirt. “Don’t you dare leave.”
“You don’t…you don’t want me to leave?”
“After that?” Her lips turn up in a grin. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Then I’m going to need you to say something, Tess,” I tell her pitifully, “because I’m kind of losing my mind here.”
Her lips part as if she’s going to speak, but then there’s another wide grin, and she’s pulling me to her, her lips crashing into mine as I feel myself melt into her.
“You got on a plane for me,” she whispers against my mouth.
I nod. “I hated it. Hate flying. Felt like I was going to fall out of the sky at any moment.”
“And they wouldn’t even let you whittle on board.”
Her voice is teasing, but I notice she still hasn’tsaidanything.
“If this is your way of letting me down easy, could you just—”
