“I thought you wanted to hike,” I say teasingly.
“This won’t take long,” he promises as he sucks on my neck. “If you’re interested.”
“I’m definitely interested,” I say as he kisses me behind my ear. “Fuck me, please.”
He enters me easily, lifting one of my legs into a bent position so he can go even deeper inside me. “Oh, fuck, Winter.” His voice is all low and rough, and I love it. “Every time we do this…”
“Is better,” I say, finishing his thought for him. “God, keep doing that, Hunt…”
Never taking his one hand off my leg, he drives in and out of me with abandon.
“Give it to me,” he mutters. He shifts so he can snake his hand between my legs to brush my clit. “All of you, Win. Let go.”
I come so hard I pull the sheet half off the bed.
As he follows me with his own release, we both collapse on the mattress.
“You ready to hike now?” Hunter mutters against my damp skin.
I laugh. “I feel like we just worked out.”
He kisses my neck. “It will be a different kind of exercise.”
I link my fingers through his. “Okay. But I need to shower first.”
* * *
Black Creek Wilderness is about two hours away in Mississippi. Hunter and I pass the time talking. About anything and everything. Except for the deadline that’s looming before us. That we don’t discuss.
We do talk about my love-hate relationship with Broadway, though, which feels like Hunter’s roundabout way of trying to figure out where my head is at.
“I was lonely in Manhattan,” I admit. “Kind of ridiculously lonely, honestly.”
“What about your work colleagues? I thought you might bond with a few of them like I have with some of my teammates.”
“It’s not really like that,” I say. “You guys are all on the same team, literally, and we’re competing against each other. With the plays, you do get close with the cast, and that feels very familial. But then, whatever show you’re working on ends its run, and you don’t see the cast anymore. Not unless you make a point to meet up, and we’re all just so busy…” I trail off.
Hunter’s quiet for a few seconds. “I get it,” he says at last. “It’s like if I kept getting traded. Makes it hard to maintain relationships.”
“Right. Exactly. And then there’s the whole looks thing, which is so stressful.”
“You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever known—inside and out,” he says with feeling. “And you can try to argue I’m biased, but come on, Win—you won ‘Most Beautiful’ our senior year of high school. You’re not exactly hurting in that department.”
“I know. I’m very blessed, and I don’t say this in a shallow way, but there are a lot of beautiful people in the world of entertainment. I’ve seen women—and men—who have perfect bodies starve themselves for a role or because their manager told them to lose fifteen pounds. It’s a very real aspect of the business. And God forbid one media outlet say something negative about your size or figure—it’s hard to ignore when it’s in print for the world to see. We don’t even deal with paparazzi like television actors do. They have it much worse.”
Hunter shakes his head. “Everybody is so judgmental. Why can’t people just accept that everyone is born different and we’re all okay as we are?”
* * *
The sun is shining brightly when we begin our nature hike. The light breeze is a welcome relief as we get deeper into the woods. The pines and oaks are all around us as we walk quietly down the path. When we reach the creek, we immediately take off our sneakers and dip our toes in the water.
“So beautiful,” I say. “Goodness, it’s warm.” I take off my sweatshirt and tie it around my waist.
“Let’s stop and eat,” Hunter suggests.
He leads me down the trail toward an open area. As we walk, I pull out my phone to take a picture.
That’s when I see who texted me this morning, a text I forgot to check before we left the house.
