One Night Only (Season 1: Deni's Story)

Chapter Twenty-Six

"You look amazing." These are the first words out of Hunter's mouth when I show up at his cottage just before eight o'clock that night.

"Thanks," I reply, even though I'm torn between simply accepting the compliment and wanting to shake him for continuing to be so, well, crush-worthy. I wonder if he's being extra nice out of remorse about this afternoon.

I'm sure I look fine, and yes, I am a little more dressed up than I was for our boating adventure and swimming, but "amazing" isn't how I would describe my decidedly boho outfit and lightly-applied makeup.

Enough overthinking, I scold myself. I'm not over this afternoon's disappointment, but I'm determined to enjoy myself tonight. This starts now.

"Are you ready for this?" Hunter walks over to the Honda Civic that's parked in the driveway and opens the passenger-side door.

"I should probably ask you that," I admit, trailing behind him. A twinge of guilt has crept into my conscience since accepting Adam's invitation a few hours ago.

"It's fine." He waits for me to get settled in the seat before closing the door. It's hard to tell if he means this and it's honestly fine, or if he's trying to make me feel better about it, but I don't dig any deeper into the subject. He doesn't seem upset with me at least.

Hunter gets in the driver's seat and starts the car. I stretch my legs out in front of me and watch the trees and driveways pass while he steers us along the dirt road. It takes fewer than ten minutes to get to Adam's cottage and park. I keep an eye on him once we've exited the vehicle, trying to be mindful of any shifts in his mood now that we're here.

The universal law of attracting what you think about could be why we only make it fifty feet down the driveway before the first run-in happens. Hunter stops walking. He watches a willowy girl with burgundy hair who stands a few feet away from us. She must be Trinity. I recognize her as one of the people we saw on the shore the day Hunter took me on a lake tour.

She waves at us and steps away from the group she's with before I can steer us in another direction or ask Hunter what he wants to do.

"Is this your girlfriend you told me about?" she asks Hunter as she approaches. "I'm Trinity. It's lovely to meet you." She extends her hand to me.

It doesn't escape my notice that whatever Hunter told Trinity at Paisley's graduation has been recapped in several different ways today, ranging from "seeing someone" to "dating" me and now to "girlfriend." I'm suddenly curious if it's Paisley, Hunter, or Trinity who has it right.

"I sure hope I am." I pretend to giggle and shoot Hunter a coy glance, praying he'll catch on to what I'm up to and won't give us away. "I'm Deni, and it's nice to meet you, too."

Hunter has gone rigid beside me. I don't know if it's because Trinity is his ex-girlfriend and he's still uncomfortable around her, or if it's because he's caught in a lie that involves an imaginary girlfriend, but it doesn't matter. I can help him with this. It's the least I can do after being the reason he's here now, with his ex-girlfriend assuming I'm his current one.

I reach over and lace my fingers with his. "I think we left my sweater and your jacket in the car," I say to him. "We should get those before heading down to the bonfire."

"Right," he replies, following my lead. "We'll probably need those."

"Excuse us for a second," I say to Trinity. I tug on Hunter's hand and begin leading him away from her, toward where we parked.

We keep walking until we're safely concealed behind the car, where Trinity can't see us. Hunter glances down at our still-clasped hands.

"Just go with it," I murmur, quietly enough so only he can hear me. "If you told Trinity you're seeing someone or have a girlfriend, then I'll pretend I'm that person while we're here."