“You don’t think you’d get sick of me after forever?” I ask.
Ryder sticks his hands under my shirt, fingers pressing into my skin. My eyes close when he starts to massage my sore muscles. The demons really put up a fight today and we had a new hunter with us, one who didn’t know I was a witch so I couldn’t use my powers to defend us. If I had, we probably could have taken out all the scrappers in under fifteen minutes. Instead, we spent hours running through the dense Pacific Northwest forest. Larissaaccidentallytripped me—twice. I don’t think it was really an accident but I kept my mouth shut regardless.
“I’m surprised you’re not sick of me now,” he laughs. “You’re so out of my league.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Hah. You’re hilarious.”
“Seriously, Wren.” He flips us over, and I wrap my legs around him. “You have no idea how amazing you are.”
“Well, you just need to tell your parents that.”
“In time.”
I frown. “You said that last month.”
“I know. But don’t worry, it’ll be okay. I’ll make sure it is.”
“Promise?”
He kisses me. “Of course. It might take some convincing, but they’ll be happy that I’m happy.”
“I don’t understand why they’d even care,” I say, working hard to ignore the bad feeling I have forming in the pit of my stomach. “We love each other. That’s what matters.”
“They’re traditionalists. They like hunters pairing off with hunters.”
“I am a hunter.”
“You know what I mean. You’re a witch.”
“But I’m still a hunter.”
“I know, babe.” Ryder kisses me and all my worries go away. I love him so much and have never let myself fall this hard for anyone—ever. He hasn’t let me down yet… I have no reason to doubt him when he promises it’ll be okay.
“Your dad won’t be happy, but trust me, once he gets to know me, he’ll like me.” I smile. “I’m rather likable.”
“That you are.” He kisses me again and warmth flows through me. I want him so much right now.
“Hey, love birds!” Leo yells from several yards away. “Hand check!”
Ryder and I both laugh and begrudgingly tear apart as Leo and Antonio come over. Larissa and two other hunters stand on the grass behind them.
“We just got our hotel assignments,” Antonio says. “I’m guessing you two are going to want some alone time?”
“At least ten minutes,” I joke.
“He can last ten minutes?” Antonio teases.
“Hey, we maybe need three,” Ryder goes on and we all laugh. After kissing me one more time, Ryder gets up and helps me to my feet. He takes his time brushing sand off my butt, wiggling his eyebrows at me as he spins me around to brush sand off my front.
I get into the passenger seat of Ryder’s truck. Luckily, his backseat is full of weapons, so it’s just the two of us. I scroll through his playlist until I find a song I like. He reaches across the center console and takes my hand.
“How do you want to be proposed to?” he asks, and I can’t help but smile. “Do you want something big and flashy?”
“No, please, no. I just want it to be the two of us.” I squeeze his hand. “And I want a lab-grown diamond.”
“Really?”
“Really. The diamond industry is a scam, you know. Diamonds aren’t rare or scarce. Total scam.”
