Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Hunter
I ’m going to have hell to pay after all this. Franny is going to pitch a fit over the public humiliation, but I tried to warn her before tonight even came around. Is a public date with Cassidy around my entire hometown the best idea? Probably not. But I’m not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Jake and his friend Lena are working at the milkshake stand, Jake for pay and Lena as a volunteer. I imagine she’s doing it to spend more time with Jake. Her efforts are huge, I just hope Jake is giving her the recognition for it.
“Two chocolate milkshakes,” I say to him at the window. He looks down at Cassidy’s hand in mine and raises his brows. The kid couldn’t be discreet if he tried.
“Sure thing, Mr. Hill. It’s on me, sir.” He winks. I just shake my head. The kid is killin’ me. I needed him to save my ass at the stand today with Franny and got nothing. Now he’s giving me free milkshakes like I’m hard up.
“I can cover them,” Cassidy pipes up.
“You will not. I can pay.” I let go of her hand and reach back for my wallet, pulling out cash with a tip for the kids. Once he hands over the shakes, I turn to Cassidy. Handing her one, I take the flowers from her and hold them in the same hand as my shake so she can still have a hand free for me to hold.
“Are you ready to leave that city garbage in your past, Cassidy?” I say, raising my own straw to my lips.
“I don’t think so.” Her tone wavers and she looks down at the cup and then over to our entwined hands. I take a full gulp and then pull her hand to my lips and kiss the back.
“Just take a sip,” I encourage.
Cassidy looks up at me, her green eyes sparkling almost as much as her glittery hair. I’m surprised it hasn’t washed out. If I had anything to say about it, I’d tell her to keep it. It’s got a unique charm to it.
She brings her straw to her mouth and wraps those pouty lips closed around it. I watch her freckle-splattered cheeks hollow as she sucks. My dick instantly goes hard. I’m worse than a teenager.
She moans in appreciation and takes a deeper sip. I could listen to her make those noises all night. If it were up to her, I would have her making those noises all night, but only one night. Seeing Franny and all this small-town stuff probably has her even more resistant to the idea of more than one night with me. Hell, maybe she doesn’t even want a fling anymore.
I walk her around the square and name each of the different food vendors. She just drinks and walks silently next to me. I wait for her to show interest in something, but she just nods and keeps walking with me. The people in my town are watching us, but I don’t give a fuck.
I’m walking along with Cassidy toward the open area in front of the stage when Harrison catches my eye. He meets my gaze and I give the slightest shake of my head. That’s the last thing I need. Harrison will surely scare off any last hope I have of winning over Cassidy.
“The last stand here is funnel cakes, deep-fried apple pie, deep-fried?—”
“Deep-fried apple pie! Deep-fried apple pie!” She all but pushes me over. She lets go of my hand and grabs my bicep, pulling me over to her, like I can’t hear her yelling.
“You don’t want real food first?” I ask. She looks up and scowls at me.
“Okay, okay.” She gives me a small smile, and I take that as another victory and pocket it. I know she has bigger smiles and I want one of those before the night is over. Hell, I want a lot more than one of her amazing smiles. But beggars can’t be choosers. I pull her over to the stand with the dessert and I can feel her humming with excitement. Sweet tooth, huh?
Thinking he’s sly, Harrison comes up behind us, but not directly. He waits for another person to get behind me, then he gets behind him. He’s trying to listen to our conversation, but Cassidy hasn’t been much of a talker tonight, which isn’t like her at all.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
“Your town is interesting.” She’s pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and it has me wondering if there’s more. I wait quietly, seeing if she will continue. She doesn’t, she just looks at me. Weighing something in her mind.
“Good-interesting?”
“Different. I’ve never been in a place so… familiar? I don’t know the word. It’s a small town but not tiny. It seems like everyone knows each other, and everyone seems to get along, for the most part.” She rocks back on her heels for a moment.
“The city is huge, and you could never see the same person twice, and that seems to lead people to be,” she pauses thoughtfully, “less kind. I don’t know. I’m just surprised by the intimacy of it all.”
“I see, but don’t let one day fool you. Small towns have drama of their own, too. We’ve had all-out wars. Once, our main baker dated the woman who runs the post office. When they broke up the whole town was taking sides. We had to hold three town meetings in one week!”
“How have your breakups gone over, Hunt?”
“I haven’t had a real girlfriend since freshman year of high school, I think. I couldn’t really tell you.”
“Not a dog, huh?” She crosses her arms and raises that brow at me.
“Okay, I’m no angel. But nowadays I’m looking to take things more seriously.”
“Just my luck.” She rolls her eyes. My brother—two people back—barks out a laugh at her response. She turns to look but he has a phone to his ear. Smooth.
“What about the soap girl? Anything going on there?” Cassidy makes a move to step away from me, but I don’t let her. I take her empty cup and toss it in a can by us as we get closer to the window of the vendor. I toss mine too, so now all I’ve got are her flowers.
She takes them out of my hand and inspects them. “You give her flowers before?”
“There isn’t anything there. Franny has had a crush if that’s what you want to call it. I never outright told her no because I’m no dog. But not saying no led her to believe that one day I might say yes.”
“Being clear is best.”
“Like I am with you?”
“I guess.” She huffs. The walls Cassidy has up around her are strong enough to survive an atomic bomb. The woman is tough as nails.
“So, have you fucked her?”
I cough and so does Harrison. Brazen as hell, Cassidy has no shame in what she asks me.
“I know you’re not a dog and all. But this serious revelation thing just happened last week, right? So, you and soap girl do the dirty?” Her firm tone does something to me. She shows interest but keeps her distance. I know I want to shorten it, but there is only one way I can think of to do it.
I pull Cassidy back into my arms so I’m standing behind her. I drop my head low to her ear so no one else can hear.
“No, we haven’t. Do you really just want one night, Cass? Want me to make you scream for hours and your legs feel like jelly? Want to do it long and hard, just to forget it and drive off in the mornin’?” She shivers in my hold, but I know it’s not cold out.
I’m stupid for asking because she will probably say yes. She’s been clear about what she wants. She’s not looking to settle down. The girl won’t even have a second meal with me.
She opens her mouth to answer when we finally make it to the window. I order one large slice of fried apple pie and I can see her glaring at me from the side.
“I won’t eat any, I promise. I’ll only take what you offer.” That earns me another small smile. We wait quietly for our pie, and it comes out quickly.
“Oh God, this looks so good.” She’s practically drooling.
“Like apple pie?”
“Love.”
“My ma makes the best damn pie in this town. Ask anyone around.”
She just nods and looks around. Cassidy looks so youthful in this very moment. She has flowers in one hand and a slice of pie in the other. She’s not dolled up, she’s not overdone. She is who she is, plain and simple. I like the plain and simple Cass. It’s a breath of fresh air and apparently exactly what I’ve been missing.
I find us a picnic table close to the dance floor, but far enough away that we won’t have to yell to hear each other. A woman was sitting here when we arrived, but she’s gone now.
“When was the last time you slept with a guy?”
I don’t know why I’m asking; it’s just going to piss me off. At the same time, I have this feeling I have to know. Did she meet up with someone this week after I wouldn’t sleep with her?
She takes a bite of her pie and drops her jaw, breathing in and out quickly.
“Ish hot!” she pants. She fans her face with her hands, like it will cool the food in her mouth faster. It only takes a moment before she closes her mouth and chews. She hums in appreciation.
“Damn, that’s good. Whoever thought to deep-fry apple pie is a genius.” She gives me another small smile. It’s obvious she didn’t hear my question or is choosing to ignore it. Neither of those options is what I want. Even if I don’t want to hear the answer, I want one.
“I’m glad it’s good. Wouldn’t want you disappointed.” She takes another healthy bite, about the size for an animal rather than a small woman. I don’t dock her points for her eagerness to eat in my book. She likes food and has no qualms about showing it. I can’t imagine she cooks a lot in that small kitchen of hers. So, her taste in food is probably more refined than mine, unless she lives off burgers and street tacos.
“So, when was the last time you slept with someone?” I repeat.
“Somewhere around two weeks before I met up with you. The weekend before I met you, I went out with the girls for my birthday, and I was indeed sporting that hangover the size of Texas. I think it was a few days before that, maybe a little longer.” She purses her lips together in thought.
My blood boils. You set yourself up, Hunter. I can barely form a sentence to respond to her. The only words I can think of are— Fuck. Who? Good? Bad? Was the orgasm I gave her on the couch better than a full night with another man? I can’t stop the thoughts running through my mind, and none of them are good.
If I had given in to her that night at her place, would she have texted me all week?
If I give in to her tonight, will she talk to me next week?
Does she still want to even take a chance at a night with me?
My thoughts are a mile a minute.
“Hunter?” Her voice breaks through my thoughts. I didn’t even hear what she said before my name.
“Hmm?” I ask, not trusting actual words to come out of my mouth.
“When was the last time you slept with someone?” She finishes her question by shoveling more pie into her mouth.
“It’s been months, maybe a year, Cassidy. This is a small town; if I sleep with someone from here, everyone knows about it. I don’t need to start any kind of drama.” I suddenly feel exhausted.
“So, you drive to the city and sleep with women and then drive home?” she asks. I nod. “Why did you stop last week? I just don’t get you. If you’re looking for serious, you and that Franny could be all settled, probably already have a mini-Brawny Man on the way.” She’s shoveling food into her mouth and rolling her emerald eyes. The action is more endearing than annoying.
“I’m no lumberjack.”
“Oh, shut up.”
I chuckle at her annoyance, and for some reason, her slight irritation lightens my mood. She just shakes her head and finishes her dessert.
“I can’t believe you really didn’t even offer me a bite.”
“You could have ordered something for yourself if you were hungry.” She leans over the table, resting her weight on her elbows and her chin on the heel of one hand.
“Why don’t you just go out with Franny if you know she has a crush on you, and you want to settle down? It just makes sense. Girls like me aren’t the settling kind.” She’s selling herself short, but I’m curious why.
“Bad boyfriend?”
“It’s not like that, Hunter. My last boyfriend was in college, and we dated for two years. He was the epitome of a good guy. Regular dates, affectionate, sweet, good morning and good night texts, considerate, smart, driven. He was the total package… for a girl who wants a boyfriend. The longer we dated the longer I felt suffocated and thought about how I wanted more alone time. To not have to answer to anyone. To have the whole bed to myself; I sleep in the middle.” She sits up straight and looks around the town. The sun is starting to set and the sky mixes oranges and pinks with blue and purple. She swings her legs to the other side of the bench facing away from the table and leans back on her elbows.
“He asked the girls to help him pick a ring. Lynn was so excited. She was going to keep it a secret and record my reaction; she went right into planning mode. Georgie texted me to meet up with her right away. She could see how I was feeling. So, she told me to break things off with him before he spent 2K on a ring.”
Holy shit . She was so close to getting engaged but dipped at the last second before getting trapped in a marriage she would hate. I hang on to each word, listening to her even and unwavering tone as she speaks. This is something she doesn’t talk about a lot. I can see the lost look in her meadow eyes as she’s walking down memory lane.
“So, I called him up and told him I was coming to his place. You know, that way I could leave after we talked it over. I didn’t want to have him drive to me, just so I could break up with him. When I got there, he was so happy. I can only imagine the brainstorming he and Lynn did. Then I crushed him, ripped his damn heart out. He cried and I just stared, not knowing how to comfort him at that moment. I thought to myself ‘Damn Cass, look at this poor guy, don’t do this to someone again’, and I haven’t.” She runs one hand through her long, brown, shimmery hair and then shakes her head.
“Damn, it’s been a minute since I’ve thought about him. I bet he’s married with a herd of kids by now.”
“You haven’t met anyone who’s piqued your interest since?”
“Nope. Not once. I’ve had maybe two or three repeaters since college, but once I feel things shift toward regularity or some kind of routine, I end it. Or if I sense the guy is looking for something I can’t offer, I don’t even go past dinner with those.” She eyes me. “You haven’t had a girlfriend since high school, right?”
“Yeah, but that’s because I was so focused on working on the farm. Girls were a distraction. ”
She nods her head.
“Now you have the farm all good and ready for a wife and kids, huh?”
“Yup.” I’m surprised at my lack of hesitation. She’s piecing something together.
“You should ask Franny out. I’m sure she’d die for a chance.”
“I don’t feel like arguing such a moot point, but I don’t want Franny.”
“Arguing is such a waste of energy, Hunter. I’ll give you that.”
“Let’s walk around and maybe play a game. I’ll win you something.”
“I’ll win you something!” she challenges, her energy quickly shifting into something more playful. I just smile and shake my head.
What do you do with a girl who doesn’t want to get close to anyone? I could wrack my brain about it all night, but it seems like tonight is all I might get out of Cassidy. There has to be more to it. She wouldn’t text me all week if there wasn’t something there, right?