Page 34 of Now and Then

I scrunch my eyes, looking left, then right. “What are you talking about?”

“You look . . .” He gestures down my body.

“What?”

I look down. What is he seeing that I’m not? With each passing second, the nervous flutters in my belly intensify. This is exactly why we should have never crossed that invisible boundary between us. I knew it would change how things have always been between Hunter and I.

“Just spit it out,” I snap, crossing my arms protectively over my chest.

A devilish smirk transforms his whole face. He leans against the railing, braces his hands on his hips, and crosses his feet at the ankles.

“You look freshly fucked.”

7

Hunter

“Ha!” Sutton laughs, holding her hand against her chest in mock offense. “And how would you know what I look like freshly fucked?”

I can’t help the small, satisfied smirk tugging at my lips. She freezes, cheeks flaming, and it hits me—this is why I’m done playing it safe. I’ve been holding back for years, pretending timing matters more than truth. It doesn’t.

Not anymore. No more half measures. No more pretending that our forever isn’t in the eyes of the person across from us.

I know she feels it too. I see it every time she looks at me like that. “Sutton, you were in that hotel room same as me.”

“Oh god.” She squeezes her eyes shut. “I thought we decided never to mention that again.”

I step away from the railing and into her space, stopping inches from her bare feet. My eyes drag up her body and zero in on the smooth expanse of her neck. “We didn’t decide anything.”

I reach forward, slipping my hand around the smooth column of her neck. Her pulse beats a wild rhythm beneath my thumb. “You might have decided something in that brain of yours, but me? I’ve been imagining what you’d look like if it were me who’d made you come instead. And this”—I look down at her body, tugging on the corner of her white blouse—“is pretty close to my imagination.”

Sutton covers my lower hand with hers, stopping me from untucking her shirt even more. It’s a rarity for her to be the messy, unconcerned version of herself. Even though it’s my favorite when she’s just Sutton, the beautiful mess I’ve been in love with since I was a teenager.

“You think about that?” She whispers, her hand sliding along my arm to grip my forearm. Her eyes sparkle, seemingly entranced, and I’m not even sure she realizes how far she’s leaning into my space.

“Almost every day.” My fingers slide under the edge of her top, teasing the baby-soft skin on her hip.

Find a key. Rachel’s words weave their way to the forefront of my mind.

“I wonder.” I smile. “Will you say my name differently when I’m inside you?”

“I’m . . .” She sucks in a sharp breath, folding her lips between her teeth. “You, uh, didn’t interrupt anything.” Her alabaster skin does nothing to hide her reddening cheeks. “I lost track of time, and the storm knocked out my signal.”

She wants me to let this go, let her change the subject. I push a little harder. “Babe, that wasn’t what I asked.”

“Hunter,” she whispers. “You can’t say things like that.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” My hand rests perfectly in the dip of her waist.

“B-because we’re just friends, remember?” Her stomach quivers as the lie falls from her lips.

“Of course we’re friends. Always have been and always will be. But you know we’re a lot more than just friends. So tell me, Sutton, do you think about it?”

She runs her hand from my arm, up my chest, and dives her perfectly manicured fingers into the back of my hair. A million expressions flash across her face.

When I wrap my other hand around her back and pull her body flush with mine, she’s forced to drape her other arm around my shoulder. Only a few inches separate my lips from hers. I want nothing more than to close the distance, but I know the only way I’ll unlock Sutton is to do it slowly, methodically.

“Sutton.” I nudge harder, her name a command.