Page 82 of Now and Then

I hold up my rough sketch for the backyard, complete with a double-seater swing attached beneath a pergola.

Sutton sucks in a breath, and a smile spreads across her face. “Hunter—” She makes gimme hands, so I hand over the notebook. “Is this . . . ?”

I nod.

“But how did you know I’ve always wanted one of these?”

I kneel down on one knee in front of her, cupping the side of her face. “Once, when we were kids, we were sitting out back making s’mores with your dad, and you mentioned it.”

Her eyes crease in shock and confusion. “I was like twelve when that happened.”

“Yeah, and?”

“That was a million years ago.” She leans into my palm.

“Sutton,” I lean forward, capturing her lips with mine. “When it comes to you, I remember everything.”

16

Sutton

“Hunter,” I huff, “I can’t breathe in this thing.”

When we arrived at Greer’s Halloween party fashionably late, every spot near her or Luke’s houses was taken, so we parked on the next block over. As if wearing our ridiculous costumes at the party wasn’t enough, now we’ll be traipsing the neighborhood dressed in inflatable dinosaur costumes.

He was right, mine being pink makes it better.

“Turn around.” Hunter makes a spinning motion with his finger, and I quickly follow his direction.

He zips the costume, his fingers lingering on the back of my neck a breath longer than necessary. I hear the low hum of the inflator kick on behind me before cool air rushes through the costume.

“Okay, just remember the air pump is back here, so if it gets disconnected, it’ll deflate on you. Got it?”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come undone, because I’d rather not be trapped and suffocate dressed as a pink T-Rex.”

Hunter runs his hand along the edges of the costume near my ankles, wrists, and neck, checking for any gaps in the airtight seal. He steps around me, a giant smile on his face.

“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” I roll my eyes.

“I mean, you do make a cute dinosaur.”

I frown. “We couldn’t have gone as something cool—a princess and prince or, hell, I’d have even gone for a sexy cop and robber.”

He groans. “Thank you for that.”

“For what?”

“For putting the image of you dressed as a sexy cop in my mind. Tell me, would you use the handcuffs?” He raises an eyebrow, challenging me to play with him.

“Nope,” I say firmly, to which he frowns. “That’s your job, remember.”

Hunter opens his mouth to respond, closes it, and opens it again. “Would you let—”

I wink. “If you haven’t caught on yet, I seem to be very receptive to you, so, yes, I’m pretty certain I’ll let you do anything to me.” I lean forward and kiss the tip of his nose.

I swear his eyes darken as he simultaneously releases a growl. “You say something like that right before I’ve got to share you with everyone?”

“You’ll be fine. But just so you know,”—I fold my lips between my teeth, tampering down a smile—“I’m not wearing any underwear.”