Our Favorite Days (My Favorite Mistake #3) (14 page)

“Don’t put too much in or else this thing is going to overflow and then the hotel is gonna kill us,” she said as we waited for the tub to fill up. I just tossed in a few dollops of the stuff that smelled like roses.

“If I were smarter, I would have had them bring up rose petals and champagne and so forth,” I said, mentally kicking myself.

Without a word, Taylor dashed out of the room, completely naked, and came back a second later with everything from the minibar. Being of age had its perks.

“Do you think this will work?” she said, setting the bottles up on the corner of the tub. They were going to cost me a fortune when we checked out, but it really didn’t matter.

We both got in the tub together and Taylor popped the top on one of the bottles. It was white wine, which wasn’t my favorite, but she took a sip, shrugged and then handed it to me.

“Remember that song about getting drunk on a plane? Someone should do one about getting drunk in a tub,” I said, passing the bottle back to her.

“I mean, there are worse places to get drunk, in my opinion,” she said. A few minutes we finished the first bottle and started on another, this time a red wine.

“I’m going to stop after this one,” she said. “I don’t want to spend our trip puking my guts out.” I made a face. The red wine wasn’t any better than the white, but hey, it was booze and it was doing the trick.

“That’s a solid plan,” I said.

“Are you going to take advantage of me?” she said as we finished the second bottle. Her voice was husky and she was leaning forward and floating toward me.

“I think it’s going to be the other way around, Missy. I’m in a very vulnerable state right now. All woozy from the alcohol,” I said, putting a hand to my forehead.

“You are so full of shit,” she said, rolling her eyes. I was about to make a retort, but then she put her hand on my dick and I completely forgot how to make words come out of my mouth.

“Am I taking advantage of you now?” she said, her voice low as she stroked me under a layer of bubbles.

I made a strangled sound and she laughed, picking up the pace. It was pathetic how quickly I came and she laughed in triumph.

“You know you love it,” she said, sitting back in the tub. I got my breath back and shook my head.

“Unfair, Missy. Totally unfair.”

H
e got me back after we got out of the tub. I knew he would. He was good like that. Afterward, the two of us lay in the king-sized bed and stared at each other.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he said, stroking the side of my face.

“I’m so glad I’m here.” I was so relieved that things hadn’t been weird. I’d thought maybe being back in his home state would throw him into a dark place where he could only think about his past and get stuck there.

I just wanted to be there for him, to support him and to thank him for taking this risk with me.

I snuggled into his side and he turned on the TV, flicking aimlessly through the channels. I was exhausted from traveling all day so I closed my eyes and rested my head on his chest as he found a marathon of an old show.

“I like Texas,” I said before I fell into a warm and cozy sleep.

“W
ake up, Missy Girl,” a voice said in my ear. I cracked my eyes open to find sunlight flooding the room and Hunter brushing my hair back from my face. We were chest to chest, as always, and our legs were twined around one another.

“Hey,” I said, smiling as he kissed me on the cheek.

“Do you want some breakfast?” My stomach growled. Apparently, the massive amount of Mexican from the night before hadn’t filled me up permanently.

“Yeah,” I said. Hunter got up and came back with the room service menu and two cozy robes.

We put our robes on and scanned the menu. Everything looked good.

“We’re going to be several pounds heavier after this trip,” I said after Hunter put in the order.

“I’m not opposed to a little more junk in your very sexy trunk.” He flipped the robe up and smacked me on the ass. I squealed and he chased me around the room, finally pinning me to the bed.

“No fair. You’re bigger and stronger,” I said, wiggling against him.

“But you’re cuter and sexier, so who’s the real winner here?” he said and then smacked a kiss on my cheek before heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth. I joined him a minute later.

And before we knew it, the room service had arrived.

It wasn’t on a tray. Oh no. We had a whole damn cart to ourselves. My eyes widened at the sight of all the food. Holy crap. We were never going to eat all of this. Fortunately, our room had a fridge, because we were definitely going to make use of it.

As we gorged ourselves on french toast and pancakes and waffles and fruit and tea and orange juice, Hunter told me where we were heading today. His elementary school, his mother’s favorite little shop, the golf club where she’d been a member and a dozen other little places.

I cleared my throat and asked the question that had dominated my thoughts since he asked me to come here.

“Are you going to see her grave?” He put his fork down and looked off into space for a minute.

“I’m not sure. I think… I think I’ll see how I feel after we’ve seen some of my old haunts.” I didn’t bother asking if he wanted to look up his mom’s brother, because the guy was a complete asshole. Hunter didn’t want to have anything to do with him. His real family was back in Maine.

“Just let me know if you need to take a minute,” I said, rubbing his arm. He wound it around me and pulled me into his chest.

“I never thought I would be strong enough for this, but here I am and it’s all because of you.” That wasn’t true, but I didn’t want to argue.

I
called my mom after breakfast because she’d been all worried about me going and I’d promised to check in with her at least once a day.

“How’s it going? Is everything bigger down there?” she asked and I laughed as Hunter drove the rental car past a house that had at least five giant barn stars hung on the front and several cattle out back. Yup, I was in Texas. Tomorrow Hunter had promised we would go shopping and get boots and hats and see some longhorns. I wasn’t so sure about the latter, but he assured me that he would protect me if the need arose. His accent had already thickened and I loved hearing it every time he spoke.

“Not exactly. But it’s hot as hell and there are a lot of cows,” I said as Hunter cranked up the air conditioning. My body was so confused by the sudden change in temperature. In Maine been nearing winter and down here it was like the middle of summer. I had no idea how people lived like this all the time. I would constantly be sweating through my clothes and need a million showers.

“Well, don’t get trampled in a stampede,” Mom said and I snorted. We chatted for a few minutes longer and then said our goodbyes.

When we arrived at Hunter’s old school the students here were also on break, so the parking lot was empty. It was too bad we couldn’t take a tour, but we satisfied ourselves with peering in the windows and then chasing each other around the playground. When we got tired we sat on the swings and Hunter told me silly stories of when he was younger.

We’d goofed off like this when he’d come home with me, and now it was like coming full circle. I’d showed him my home and he was showing me one of his.

“You know, I haven’t always been this handsome,” he said and I made a surprised face.

“I know, it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. I had several awkward years. Hope has the pictures to prove it.” He shuddered and kept swinging. Since his legs were both longer and stronger than mine, he kept getting higher until I pouted and he came to give me a push.

I screamed as he pushed me so high he was able to run under the swing and push me from the other side.

“My mom really would have loved you,” he said as we lay on the grass on the playground and held hands like total dorks.

“What was she like?” I asked. It was so rare for him to be this open that I wanted to take advantage of it while I could.

A little smile played on his face when I turned my head to look at him.

“Well, she spoke her mind, that was for sure. She didn’t put up with bullshit. Once I got bullied and the school didn’t do anything about it and she marched right into the principal’s office. I was only in first grade and she brought me with her. I will never forget the way he cowered in his seat as she ripped him a new one. The next week a new no-tolerance bullying policy was put into place. All because of her.” His accent was thicker than I’d ever heard it and it was so sexy I thought I was going to die.

“That’s amazing,” I said. I’d seen pictures of her and I could just imagine. She looked a lot like Hope and I always saw her in my mind impeccably dressed with gorgeous heels on her feet.

“I want you to come with me to see her grave. I know it’s not the same as meeting her, but I want to go. I haven’t been. Not since the funeral.” I shuddered, imagining how young and broken he must have been. It wasn’t regret, exactly, but I wished more than anything I could have been there for him during that time. Could have stood with him and held his hand.

“Are you sure?” I asked. He met my eyes and nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sure. But we need to get some flowers first.” He got to his feet and held his hands out to me.

“Okay,” I said, suddenly feeling nervous.