She laughs, tapping her foot on my knee. “No more bets, Hunt. Your bets are outrageous.”
“And yet, here we are…months deep in a betyouaccepted.”
She rolls her eyes and grabs a bottle of water. “You vex me.”
“You like it.” I grin back. “So how many kids should we have, then?” My brows dance as I wiggle them in her direction.
“We?” She crosses her arms over her chest, but the smile on her face gives her away. “Boy, who is we?”
“You. Me. Us.We.”
“God, could you imagine?Us, with kids together?”
“Just humor me. How many?”
Her face scrunches as if she’s mulling over an algebra problem. “Four,” she says, biting her thumbnail. “I want four kids.”
My eyes widen before I can stop myself. Four kids are a lot of damn kids, even for someone who likes being around them. “Two,” I counter back, shaking my head.
“Nope. Four. Or five. We could have our own mini swim team.”
“Five?” A lump forms in my throat, my voice cracking as I lean forward, searching her eyes for the joke. Her face betrays nothing, and she shrugs at my incredulity. “Naw… That’s economy van territory.”
“Well, if it’s an economy van, we can go up to seven or eight. Ten if we want to fill it up… And I wish you could see your face right now.” Her head falls back as she lets out a loud cackle. “You look absolutely terrified! I don’t want ten hypothetical children with you, Hunter.”
I breathe out a sigh of relief. “Come here, you—” Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her to me. The cutest squeal erupts out of her, and with no effort, we’re kissing like we were born to do it.
Ashlie lets the blanket fall between us as she kneels in front of me. Her fingertips graze my neck, and a shiver courses through me at a dizzying rate. A sexy giggle. Her smile pressed to my lips. I could live a thousand lives and never come close to this feeling.She kisses me like the falling sun kisses the horizon—slowly and full of anticipation. I kiss her back like the sun rises and sets on her. Like I’ll never kiss another woman in this lifetime or the next. I kiss her like she’s mine.
“Three,” I whisper, pulling away just enough to nuzzle her nose.
Biting her lip, she shakes her head. “Two. Only two.”
“You took me through that rollercoaster of emotion just to end back at two?”
“Hey, now,” she says with a sassy tilt to her head. “You showed more emotion in that fake scenario than I’ve ever seen from you. I wanted to see how many I could introduce you to.”
“What do you mean? I have feelings, Ash…”
“Yeah, maybe. Locked up in the abyss that is Hunter Jackson. You show two emotions—annoyance and anger—sometimes. But talking about them? Not you.” She waves her hand in the air, batting away the notion as if it were a mosquito. Sitting back on her heels, she swipes a grape from the box beside her.
I don’t have a response. What could I even say? Talking about feelings has always seemed like a waste of time. Hearing others talk about theirs makes me want to crawl out of my skin. Her assessment is spot on, and yet, it bothers me how she says it with such surety. As if emotional detachment is encoded into my DNA. Like she doesn’t believe I can change.
“I feel happy when I’m with you…” I say quietly, my voice cracking as I slide my eyes to hers. It sounds supremely juvenile. I’m no good at this, but it’s important to me she hears it. Her hand hangs in the air with a cube of cheese halfway to her gaping mouth. “And I’m excited whenever I hear your voice.”
A cool breeze blows over us, but I doubt the shiver that travels through her body is from the wind. Still, I reach for the blanket and position it around her shoulders. “I feel a lot of things, and you’ve helped me see that it’s okay to show it sometimes.”
“I—oh…”
“Ash, this bet isn’t for me. I already know what I want at the end of this, but I know you need time. So come over here, watch this sunset with me, and take all the time you need.”
Ashlie continues to stare, cheese in hand and lips slightly parted. I think she’s going to say something, but she shakes her head instead and tosses the cheese back in the box. She pulls the blanket off her shoulders and wraps it around mine, then settles in between my legs, gazing toward the horizon.
“You’re full of surprises, Hunt,” she whispers, leaning against my chest. Her hair tickles my cheek as I rest my chin in the crook of her neck, encircling her in my blanket-wrapped arms. “Thank you for giving me time.”
I would stay in this jasmine infused love cocoon forever if she’d let me. I’ll give her all the time in the world.
When the breezeblows so cold our teeth chatter, we drive back to her place. I walk Ashlie to her front door and lean in for one last goodnight kiss.
