“Not at all. Just wanted to make sure you realize how much all this means to me.”
“Liv, Mitchel is obviously gonna make his pitch.” I nod. “You’ve known me your entire life, so I’m not going to give you some speech. I love you. I want us to do everything on those bucket lists. If you think you can love me, not today but someday and hopefully soon; if you can see doing all those things on the lists with me, then please don’t go back with Mitchel. Give us a chance.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then give me a head start going back to Sydney. I’ll need it.”
I don’t have to ask. There are enough places on his list for his travel to start immediately. His father’s business has offices in Chicago, Wellington, and London. I’ve heard my father talking about more planned expansion. Hunter could quite easily spend the rest of his life building his career without stepping foot back on Australian soil.
“What I want is to enjoy this meal, pretend these desserts are calorie-free, and get a good night’s sleep.”
“Your wish, as always, is my command.”
I crawl into Hunter’s bed in the middle of the night, and he welcomes me with open arms, pulling me to his side. He’s naked and I’m wearing a long t-shirt over panties until I feel overdressed.
As our mouths find and devour each other, hands tug and remove my clothes and Hunter rolls on top, spreading my legs with his knees. His eyes are still closed as if he’s willing for this to be a dream, but for the first time, my eyes are wide open.
I see him.
I feel him.
I see and feel all of our past, present, and future. I see a life with Hunter that has laughter and travel, children, and respect. I see us on a porch with grandchildren fighting over who can sit in Poppy’s lap and who can bake cookies with Nanny.
As his erection finds its way home, I see a future where we make love and fuck our way around the world and through life. There is no other man I want. None. So why can’t I tell him?
Our hips rock together, and I swallow his name inside our kiss. Am I punishing Hunter or myself?
He broke my heart the last time I believed in our forever.
He rejected me when we arrived here, and I was hurting.
What if I let him know how much I love him, and he does it again? I barely survived once. I know I won’t survive losing him again.
We make love in silence until dawn, and when Hunter is finally in a deep sleep, I carefully extract myself from his chest and arms, and sneak back to my bed.
I need him to show me a sign that this time is forever. Otherwise, I’ll be leaving this island alone.
Challenge Set
Hunter
Tash: Miss me?
Surprise number fucking two hit me like a ton of bricks when Jess and Tash show up on the charter flight the next morning. Thankfully, they aren’t planning to crash at our villa since they’d managed to scrape together enough cash for their own place. But I need more than one coffee on the verandah before dealing with the energy from two of Olivia’s bridesmaids.
“Hunter, you are looking godly and tanned!” Jess greets me first, her enthusiasm tempered, her eyes scanning for someone else. “Where’s my girl?”
She stands at the edge of the veranda, a perfect Instagram silhouette against the coastline.
“Our girl is on the beach, with him.” The word leaves a bitter taste as I say it, dragging out thehimas I watch her reaction, trying to gauge if she knew about Mitch’s plans.
“Are they back together?” Jess turns to me, her face unreadable.
“You tell me. Should they be?” I throw back, the edge in my voice sharper than I intended.
“They have history. They were going to get married,” she reminds me, as if I could forget.
“We have history too. He slept with her best friend.” My voice is cold, harder than I mean for it to be.
