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HUNTER
“What do you think?”Catherine asks as she unhooks her bike helmet and twists her neck, setting her hair loose. The long black ponytail whips toward me before changing directions and I find myself taking in the beauty of everything around me.
We are paused at the peak of a rocky desert hill, the vast expanse of the red clay mountains in the distance. The picture-perfect backdrop for the amazing woman straddling the bike in front of me.
“This is the spot.” I turn to face a beaming Adrienne who is already off her bike, phone in hand and a smile as wide as the desert on her face.
I don’t wait for an invitation, hopping off my bike and working my way toward Catherine. Before she can protest, I wrap her in a reverse bear hug, my head resting over her shoulder. I no longer fight the urges within me. The need to be near her. The need to touch her. I use the presence of her sister as the excuse, but I know the truth.
“Holy Guacamole,” Adrienne exclaims, mimicking what I’ve come to discover is a March family expression. “The two of you….” She never finishes the sentence as she holds the camera in front of her and glides in a semi-circle around us. She must be in video mode.
I press my lips to Catherine’s cheek, and she raises a hand to caress mine. The intimate move causing my body to feel things that has my mind racing to places it shouldn’t. “You are the best fake girlfriend in the world,” I whisper just for her.
“Your body must not have gotten the memo because there isn’t anything fake about what I feel poking my backside.” If she’s looking to embarrass me, she fails. I squeeze tighter, my core pressing into her. She throws her head forward with a giggle before whipping it back. It's a freaking sexy move that I know I’ll be playing on repeat this evening.
“Not like I stood a chance, are your biking shorts painted on?” I recall when I approached the sisters in their family hug. My feet pausing, them believing I was giving them a moment to compose themselves. But in truth I needed the time to gather myself. The sight of Catherine in skintight hip hugging black biking shorts and an equally tight long sleeved white sports top showing off every curve of her body nearly made me pass out.
“Confession time, huh?” she whispers, and I nod. “The reason I let you and Adrienne ride ahead of me most of the time isn’t just to allow you to connect with her.” She twists to face me, the top of our foreheads pressed together, our noses less than an inch apart. We hold the position to allow Adrienne to flip from video mode. We hear the rapid shutter clicks of photos being taken. “It was so I could admire your ass… ets from behind. Especially when you stand on the pedals going uphill. Thank goodness we picked a trail with so many hills.”
A heated breath escapes my lips, its force pushing away a tendril of her hair that had fallen into her eye. She blinks and rewards me with a half-smile of appreciation. It’s a simple gesture over in a heartbeat but it hits me hard. An intimate moment that makes me feel things I don’t deserve and that can’t be true. I need to deflect, or my heart may never recover from the game we’re playing.
“So, I’m just your boy toy? Tell me what you like, and I’ll deliver.” Her entire body stiffens, my joke missing the mark. She twists away from me and turns her attention to her sister. When she leans forward and presses out of my embrace, I know my words have upset her.
“Are we good?” Her chipped request to her sister comes across like a desperate plea for escape.
“That was perfect,” Adrienne says and turns her attention back to her phone.
“We should begin to head back. I need to shower and get ready for the bachelorette party tonight. Sis, you sure I can’t convince you to join me?” Catherine walks directly toward her sister, never looking back.
I use the time to decipher my misstep. I scoop up my bike helmet off the handlebars.
“Wish I could, I have the augmented reality dance party tonight. People from over two dozen countries will be online.”
I attempt to catch Catherine’s eye as I climb back onto my bike rental. She fiddles with the strap of the bike helmet and avoids my gaze. I’m not sure why I feel disappointment. We both know what this really is, even when we lose ourselves for a moment. Our reality is never far away.
“Hunter?” Adrienne calling my name snaps me out of my trance. “What’s your IG handle. I can’t find you, that’s strange.”
My heart pounds for a very different reason. “I don’t do social media, sorry.” I fall back on my prepared response. Our entire family outside of my father keeps a very low profile on social media. It makes what we do easier. I’m tagged in a handful of family pictures that our parents maintain on Facebook. A curated family page filled with vacation photos, birthday celebrations, and barbeques.
Adrienne’s brow pinches and I realize someone like her who lives on her phone will need more convincing. I play my next card, my deck of excuses ten cards deep. “I’m really not good at it, so I’ve avoided it.”
Adrienne’s eyes light up. “You sound like Dad. I can teach you, if you want. It’s not that hard. Just be your true self and people will come flocking to you.”
What she says is the truth but it's also the absolute worst thing to say in front of her sister at the very moment she is reeling from a mistimed joke from me. I scoff to draw Adrienne’s attention away from Catherine’s eye roll. “I’m not sure I want to catch anyone’s attention other than your sister’s.” I hope my deflection reminds Catherine of our goal.
“I’m not always going to be around,” Catherine says with a sting directed at me. “You might want to expand your circle of friends beyond my sister once I leave town.”
We both spin in her direction.
WTF.
She must read our faces because her features soften. “What I mean is one person can’t be everything for someone else. I don’t need you learning how to prepare sushi by hand because I like a good eel roll.”
I’m not sure I understand what she is saying but the look between the sisters tells me Adrienne does.
“Hunter, we can take it slow. I have several friends with older cousins your age. And by now I’m sure you’re fast friends with Cat’s friends Shannon, Candice, and Mia.”
I nod and try not to flinch at the fact that Adrienne just called me old. I attempt to remember the roll call of information Catherine and I shared over lunch yesterday. Shannon is her college friend from North Carolina. Mia her Indiana bestie. Candice’s name draws a blank.
