AllFreeNovel
Share Us
LIAM
Inibble at my lower lip as I browse the antique store. Would Zoey like this old music box? Maybe I should get her the candle set I was looking at in the home décor store earlier? Or maybe the scarf I saw in the window next door, the really thick and comfy looking one. She doesn’t have a scarf, and I know her neck gets cold … but maybe she doesn’t have a scarf already because she doesn’t like them?
Maybe I should just get her a gift card. After all, she’d at least be able to use it.
Ugh, no. A gift card? There’s no personal touch to that. No thought.
Maybe some flowers? But flowers aren’t a gift. Flowersgo witha gift. I should get her some flowers anyway alongside whatever I actually buy her.
I pause as I spot a nice snow globe with a cute snowman inside. I know Zoey likes knickknacks and seasonal stuff. That’s obvious from her room.
But a snow globe? It’s February already. Should I give her an out-of-season birthday gift? That doesn’t seem right … it is a cute snow globe, though, and I think she’d like it …
Is shopping for someone supposed to be this hard?
I mean, obviously, I could buy her some books. I know what she likes to read, after all. But her bookshelf is stuffed full, and I don’t even know how many books she has on her Kindle. With my luck I’d buy her something she’s already read.
“Boo!”
My back straightens and I jump, letting out a yelp as the unexpected shout shocks me.
Turning around, I see Hunter bent over in laughter.
“What the hell, dude?” I whisper, my heart still racing.
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” he says, wiping away a tear with his index finger, his cheeks still rosy with laughter. “I saw you through the window while I was walking by. Since when did you get intoantiquing?”
I shrug. “Just browsing around. Wanted to get out of the house for a minute, you know?” It still feels bad lying to my best friend, but, unfortunately, I don’t have a choice.
“How’s the back treating you?” he asks.
I narrow my eyes. “Worse after you shocked me and made me jump, asshole.”
“Yeah, right,” he chuckles. Suddenly, his expression becomes more serious. “You have a second to get a coffee?”
“Sure,” I answer.
Minutes later, we’re sitting in a coffee shop two blocks away. It’s a nice place, one I’ve never been to before. It’s lively with chatter filling the air, and we take a table that’s nestled in the corner by a large window.
After taking a sip of his coffee, Hunter lets out a long sigh that makes me arch an eyebrow in curiosity. It seems like he’s got something on his mind.
He turns his eyes to me, a serious look shining in them. “Tell me I’m crazy, bro.”
I press my lips together, caught off guard. I mean, I’ve told him he’s crazy hundreds of times in past, but it’s clear he’s getting at something.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
He sighs again and rakes his hand down his face. “Tell me I’m wrong, man. Tell me I’m way off base with what I’m pretty damn sure I figured out.”
My mouth goes dry, concern pricking at the back of my neck. “Hunter …”
He looks deep in my eyes for a beat, like he’s weighing what he’s going to say next. Then, he throws his head back and lets out a groan of what sounds like disappointment, before leaning over the table and whispering harshly, “Coach’s daughter, dude? What are you thinking!”
My breath catches in my chest, and for a second, I debate denying what he’s saying. But I know I can’t. Hunter knows me too well. It’s one thing to keep a secret from him, but to outright deny something that he’s already figured out would be another thing.
“Fuck,” is all I say, looking down at the steaming black surface of my coffee. I take a deep breath and work up the courage to lift my head again and meet Hunter’s gaze. “How’d you figure it out?”
“I know you, dude,” he says. “The way you two have been looking at each other, acting around each other, the way you’ll make some sly comment that you think there’s no way anyone but you and her will catch onto that makes her blush, the way you’ve been going missing and not responding to texts for hours at a time …”
