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When my gaze landed on Rose and Morgan, I nearly bolted over to them. I just wanted out of Hunter’s house and away from all of this.
When I pushed my way through the crowd of people that I still couldn’t believe had fit into the guesthouse, I smiled at the two cousins. “You mentioned something about game night?”
Rose gave me a knowing smile, while Morgan clapped her hands in excitement and asked, “You’re not too tired, are you?”
I waved her off. “It’s not hard to stand there and smile while talking. I need a break from all of this, and a chance to just mentally turn off.”
“You don’t want to watch Hunter in the Truth Booth?” Rose asked.
I shook my head. “Not really…and why aren’t you still at school?”
“It’s my senior year and I have a light load. I only had one final and I took it early. I couldn’t miss all of this.”
Rolling my eyes, I whispered, “Lucky me.”
“We can watch it later,” Morgan said, wrapping her arm in mine and nearly pulling me out of the house. She launched into a description of game night with the Shaws, and for some reason, I turned and glanced over my shoulder.
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected to see, but Hunter giving Kimber a hug wasn’t it.
Whipping my head back around, I forced myself to smile as I listened to Morgan while I pushed away my jealous thoughts. If I felt this miserable on date one, it was going to be a long freaking two months.
I had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeve Montana State University shirt. It felt so good just to be comfortable. I had also taken a few moments to wash all the heavy makeup off and pull my hair into a loose bun on top of my head.
When I stepped into the family room at Brock and Lincoln’s house, I smiled to see the throng of people. A strange longing came over me as I suddenly wished I had a large family. I’d always loved my little family, and was happy with my life and how I’d grown up…but watching all the cousins and aunts and uncles enjoying each other’s company, it made me realize there was something missing in my life that I wasn’t even aware of.
One quick look around, and I saw Rose and her parents, Kaylee and Ty Jr. Brock and Lincoln were sitting with Morgan and Ryan. The latter had his hand over Morgan’s stomach. She had a small bump, and the way her husband looked at her made my eyes suddenly tear up.
On the floor sat Bradly, Joshua, and Nathan. Lily was sitting next to her parents, Tanner and Timberlynn. Blayze and Georgiana were missing, as was Avery. She wasn’t due to come back home from France until Christmas Eve, though.
Lincoln turned and saw me. “Kipton!”
Smiling, I walked farther into the room. “I hope you weren’t waiting on me for too long.”
“Nonsense. The kids wanted to watch Hunter and Kimber in the booth things. You’re just in time as it’s about to start.”
Ignoring the strange sensation in my chest, I attempted a smile. “Great.” I convinced myself I was feeling the way I did because I’d simply wanted to be done with all things Swipe Right for the day. The show was exhausting for a lot of reasons, and I had been looking forward to the escape of game night.
“Kimber already did her recap of the date,” Rose said as she pulled me onto the loveseat with her. “She for sure has a thing for Hunter.”
Even though I would get a recap of the booths tomorrow, I still couldn’t resist, so I asked, “What did she say?”
Hunter’s recap was about to play, and the entire room went silent. Rose gave me a look that said she’d fill me in later. I nodded, then turned to see those familiar blue eyes staring into the screen.
Drawing in a deep breath, Hunter exhaled and said, “Tonight was fun. I mean, it was more fun than I thought it would be, and Kimber is great. I’d like to see her again, so I’ll for sure be swiping right. Other than that…I’m not sure what else to say.” He looked down at his hands, then back up at the camera. “I look forward to getting to know her more.”
“He’s not going to kiss and tell!” Lily moaned as the room broke into laughter. I stole a quick peek over to Lincoln and Brock, and found neither of them laughing. Lincoln had a slight dip between her brows, and Brock seemed to be studying his son on the screen.
“He likes her, but not for anything serious,” Morgan deduced as she sat down between me and Rose, causing us each to scoot over.
“How do you know that?” Rose asked.
Morgan chuckled. “Please, I’m his sister. He didn’t look at Kimber the way he looks at…” Her voice trailed off.
“The way he looks at who?” I asked.
Morgan shrugged. “Let’s just say I know my brother. He most likely thinks she’s cute and would be fun for a hookup, but that’s about it.”
With a crinkle of my nose, I repeated, “A hookup?”
