The Hunter's Angel

Summer Has Begun

"Pencils down. Everyone pass your papers up to the front." 

I quickly scribbled down the last answer on my Statistics final, letting out a long-awaited breath as I dropped my pencil and passed the exam forward. 

Kat did the same, and we couldn't hold back our grins as the professor collected all of the papers. 

Finals were over—and it was officially summer break. 

"Thank the fucking Lord!" Kat screamed the second we got out of class, prancing around on the quad like a crazy person with her arms in the air. 

I shook with laughter as she grabbed me by the hand, pulling me with her as we jumped around in celebration. 

"No more statistics for the rest of our lives!" I shouted. 

"Fuck. Yes." Kat exclaimed. 

This day really couldn't have come sooner. Gone were the long nights of cramming for exams and the dreadful days filled with droning lectures and discussions.

At least for the summer. 

"Holy shit," I announced with a grin. "We're officially seniors."

Kat's lips curved into a grin to match mine. "Holy fucking shit. We totally are." 

God, it was too crazy to even think about. Our last year of college. 

One last year before we had to go out into the real world. Before we had to find careers—not jobs—and worry about things like bills and taxes and our futures. The idea alone was enough to make me want to crawl into bed and hide under the covers forever. 

But, we still had time ahead of us. And I was determined to make the most of it—starting with this summer. 

These next three months were going to be pure bliss. Today was my last day at my internship, and, starting tomorrow, I was taking the whole summer off. 

"So, tonight's going to be very interesting..." Kat murmured as we walked across the quad. 

Our classmate Katie was throwing a huge party tonight to celebrate the beginning of summer, and Kat, Liam, and I were all going together. She was notorious for having some wild things go down at her parties, and I had a feeling tonight would be no exception. 

"I don't think anything can top last summer when Katie managed to convince that cop to do a keg stand." 

"Totally not," Kat said with a giggle. "But," she spoke, her demeanor changing as she sent me a look, "that's totally not what I'm talking about." 

Oh. She was talking about my other plans for the night. 

The ones that had my palms sweating and my stomach churning from the moment I got out of bed this morning. I guess the stress from the exam had momentarily wiped it from my mind, though I wasn't sure how I could ever forget. 

Before the party tonight, I had dinner plans. With Hunter. 

It had been two weeks since my eye-opening conversation with Kat and Liam. Since the day that I realized I was ready to let Hunter in again—that I would be cheating myself if I didn't open myself up to love, and everything that came with it. 

I just hadn't exactly gotten around to telling him yet. 

I had decided to let Hunter suffer in the silence for a little while before I finally admitted that I was ready to take things slow. At least, that's what I kept telling myself. 

It totally had nothing to do with the flood of nerves that consumed me every time I thought about seeing him again, or the way my heart hammered in my chest at the idea of opening myself up to him.