thing now. It makes us snicker every time, which I suppose indicates that either our shared sense of humor is immature, or we are.
Hunter starts the Rover and reverses out of the parking spot. “I’m taking you home?” He glances over.
“Yep, thank you.” I buckle my seatbelt, laughing when I notice that my Bluetooth is the device that connects to his car.
“You didn’t un-sync!” he accuses. “You promised me you did.”
“I lied to you, Hunter.” Chortling, I load a playlist that includes a bunch of Whitney Houston ballads, which I know he doesn’t like.
“You’re evil,” he says as he drives us away from town.
“Sorry, I can’t hear you. Whitney is singing.”
Then, just because I can, I sing along to “Greatest Love of All” until Hunter threatens to leave me on the side of the dark, deserted road if I don’t shut up.
“Hey, could you turn off my butt heater?” he asks. “My ass is on fire.”
“Sure.” I’m holding my phone, so I go to plop it into the cup holder. But the Rover hits a pothole at that exact moment and the phone slips from my hand and tumbles to Hunter’s feet.
“Chrissake, Semi. Grab that before it gets stuck under the gas pedal.”
“Chill out. Hold on.” I lean toward him and stretch out my arm, but the moving car sends my phone skittering across the floor mat. “Dammit, I can’t reach it. Can you try to kick it toward my hand?”
“No. I’m fucking driving.”
“Just try.”
Groaning, he tries to poke the phone with his left foot, and the SUV swerves slightly.
“Okay, no, stop doing that,” I order. “Focus on driving. I’ll do it.”
I unbuckle my seatbelt and crawl over his lower body. My hand begins wiggling around in the vicinity of his calves. The car swerves again.
“Pay attention to the road!”
“Trying to,” he grinds out. “But you keep bumping my leg.”
I bend over as far as I can, until my head is squished in Hunter’s lap. I stretch out my arm again, and—yes! My fingers collide with the phone and I swiftly close a fist around it.
“Got it!” I announce, and then I move to sit up and—
I can’t.
“Demi,” Hunter orders. “Move.” The car rocks slightly to the right.
I try to lift my head again, and a jolt of pain shoots through my ear. “Oh my God,” I wail. “I told you. I fucking told you.”
“Told me what? Jesus, get up—”
“I can’t!” My voice is muffled against the fly of his jeans. “My earring is stuck.”
“Stuck on what?”
“On you! On your jeans! I don’t know what.” The position I’ve found myself in has my head wrenched to the side, so all I can see is Hunter’s knees, and his foot on the gas pedal. Rather than attempt an escape, I keep my head planted flat on his thigh.
“Try to unsnag yourself,” he pleads.
I refuse to budge. “No. It’ll rip my earlobe off, Hunter.”
“It won’t.”
“It will.” Honest-to-God tears well up in my eyes.
He growls in frustration. “It’s not gonna rip your—fuck, you know what, hold on. Let me pull over,” he says.
And that’s when we hear the sirens.
21
Hunter
This is a disaster. I’m getting pulled over by the cops, and Demi’s head is stuck in my lap. She’s draped over me like a blanket, her face inches from my crotch, and I know that the second the officer reaches the driver’s side window, he’s going to think…
Jesus Chris, he’s going to think she’s blowing me.
“Why did they pull us over?” she hisses.
“Must’ve seen us swerving all over the road.” Shit, this is a nightmare.
I shut off the engine. As I wait for the cop to approach the window, I make a frantic attempt to pry Demi off me.
“Ow!” she wails.
“Sorry,” I mumble. “I’m trying to get you free.” Her earring is caught, all right, but I’m not sure on what.
I think it’s one of my belt loops? But how the hell did it get embedded like that? Maybe it snagged on a thread? I’m not making a lick of progress, and every time I try to tug the hoop free, Demi whimpers in pain. I can’t believe I’m even thinking it, but…she might lose that ear.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Someone’s coming,” she whispers as footsteps thump on the pavement.
“License and regist—“ The police officer stops midsentence.
I sigh in resignation.
“What in the hell is going on here? Sit up, Miss,” he commands. “Now, please.”
“I can’t!” moans Demi.
The cop’s stern eyes fix on me. “I’m going to need you and your girlfriend