“You stayed.” The relief behind Hunter’s shy grin makes me bite my lip. He clutches a take-out bag from Lunch-a-Bunch in his hand.
“I…” No words. At this point, I don’t know if staying was voluntary or a freeze response to my panic.
“Can you step out for five minutes? Hell, I’ll even take three if you’ll give me that.”
I still have nothing, and the eager look in his eyes flickers to a timid stare.
“One minute?” His nervous chuckle is so cute, a smile slides across my face. “Yeah?”
“You’re so annoying,” I say, shaking my head as I come around the counter.
“Who, me?” He smirks. Damn those flutters waging war in my belly. “Naw. I’ve never heardthatbefore.”
“Hannah, I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
Hunter’s car is front and center when we walk into the bright sunlight. He opens the passenger side—another new gesture. With the lightest touch, he places his hand on my back as I slide into the seat.
“You brought me lunch…” I say, when he gets in the car.
He settles behind the wheel, bag still in hand. “I did. Wanted to make sure you had something to eat…and apologize. I shouldn’t have sprung everything on you like that.”
“Thanks…” We sit quietly, awkwardly, as we try to navigate these new loose ends dangling between us. He’s acting weird, and I don’t know what to make of it. It’s endearing, butdifferent. “You’re down to eight minutes, by the way,” I say.
“I’d better get to it then. Ashlie, I want to date you.”
My face falls in complete shock. “You—huh? What?”
“I. Want to. Date you.” He punctuates his words with a smile on his face.
“No, I heard you. I just…what? Like go on a date?”What would we even do?Argue with each other and call it a night?
“Dates. Multiple. With you.Justyou. I want to date you.”
“But you don’t do that…”
“That changes if you say yes…”
“But—”
“Bruh.” He tips his head back, rubbing his eyes before looking at me again. “Okay, let’s try it like this. How about a bet?”
“…A dating bet?” I blink at him. “Like a game? We’re not twelve.”
“I know, just…give me till after the wedding.”
Sighing, I check the time on my phone. “I dunno, Hunt…”
“Look, hear me out… If I can convince you I’m not tryna entertain anyone else by then, you give us a real shot at being together. And if I fail—which I won’t—I’ll drop it, and we can add one more item to our list of things we never talk about.”
I scowl at his logic. This soundsall sortsof complicated, especially after what happened a couple of days ago. “So if you win, you get me. And if I win, I get…secrets? How is that fair?”
“Okay, how about this: You keep dating what’s-his-name too. And if I fail, which again, I won’t, then you still have that.”
“Oh, so now you’re giving mepermission?” I squint at him. My budding relationship with Trevor is decidedly slow, but I have fun with him. I’m not ready to give that up for whatever this is.
“It’s not permission. It’s acceptance that you might want to keep seeing what’s-his-name.”
“Boy, you know his name…” I laugh at how ridiculous this all sounds, but I’m amused. “And what am I getting out of this bet when you lose?”
