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Hunter

"Hunter slows down, my feet hurt," Mel whined as I dragged her along Fifth Ave, briskly winding our way through the crowd.

"I thought you were from a city, shouldn't you be used to this sort of thing?" I jokingly questioned her.

"I am from LA, everyone drives everywhere even though it takes hours ] in the traffic and the words fast-paced hardly register to those chill surfer types." She retorted back.

"Well welcome to New York, where everyone always has somewhere to be," I said, something that was quite evident as you looked around and saw people yelling into their Blackberrys or urgently hailing down a cab to get to an important meeting. "But lucky for you, we have arrived at our last stop of the day." I declared as we arrived in front of the doors to Bergdorf Goodman.

This was the final destination I had planned on our whirlwind tour of New York today. We started our day at my favorite restaurant uptown for lunch before heading over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, something I had a feeling Melanie would love, and then finished our day with a bike ride through Central Park. She seemed to love everything I had planned and I hoped this stop wasn't an exception.

"What are we doing here?" She asked as the doorman ushered us inside.

"Well, if you haven't been able to tell already, my parents can be, um... a lot. And their parties are no exception. So I arranged for a stylist to help you pick out a dress for Thanksgiving tomorrow." I said as I nervously ran my hands through my hair. I didn't want her to think that I didn't like how she already looked or anything, I was just trying to do something nice.

Her lack of a reaction only fueled my fear but she eventually broke out into that smile I love so much, "that is so thoughtful. Thank you, Hunter, you have already done so much for me and it really means more than you can ever know." Before I had a chance to respond I felt her arms around my torso as she snuggled into me for a hug.

"Well looks like you have some shopping to do," I said as I pulled away and looked down at her.

———

"Can I come in?" I asked as I gently knocked on the outside of my bedroom door. I had left Mel alone in there to get ready about 30 minutes ago and I was getting antsy to see her again.

I heard a faint 'yeah' through the door. She hadn't let me sneak a peek at what she got at the store so I had no idea what to expect as I walked inside, and as usual, she didn't disappoint.

"You look beautiful," I said as I made my way over to her, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. The light floral dress she picked looked perfect, and with her hair curled and the light dusting of makeup, she looked breathtaking. But then again, that wasn't anything new.

"You clean up nice yourself." She said as she pulled back to give me a once over. "And really, please let me pay you back for this dress. It was too much."

I had a feeling this was coming, she had insisted as we left the store and again when we got home, but once again I assured her it was no issue. I liked spoiling the people I cared about.

"Ready for dinner?" I asked as I held out my arm to escort her downstairs.

My mom and sister were already at their seats on one side of the table, but the second Miranda saw us enter she jumped up to run over and give me a hug. "I missed you, big bro," she practically squealed as she squeezes me into one of her famous bear hugs.

"Missed you too kiddo," I chuckled loudly at her burst of excitement.

"And you must be the famous Melanie," Miranda said as she quickly lost interest in me. Before Mel had a chance to respond she was too was being wrapped up in a big hug.

"Hi, nice to meet you." She said with a genuine smile on her face. I knew that my sister was prone to having quite the flair for the dramatics, but Mel actually seemed to be handling it well as they walked back to the table smiling together.

"You look lovely, Melanie," My mom said as we all sat down.

"So what did you two do all day?" My sister chimed in.

"Thank you. And Hunter planned an amazing day for us. We went to the Met and biked around Central Park, and we even let me do a bit of shopping." She said with a big smile, and damn if it didn't feel good knowing I was responsible for that smile.

"My brother went shopping? Usually, we have to drag him kicking and screaming to the store.' My sister retorted earning a laugh from the ladies and an eye roll from me. "Oh, and please tell me you saw the fashion exhibit while at the Met!"

That was all it took for Mel to open up, as I sat back and watched her and my sister gushing over the ball gowns and royal jewels they saw before turning the conversation back to shopping and my sister's dreams of working in fashion. I had never seen Melanie open up like this with anyone before, well I guess anyone but me, and it felt good knowing she would get along with my family. Ya know if she happens to be around them again, not that I thought that far ahead.

Thinking ahead wasn't my strong suit, I was much more of a live-in-the-moment kind of guy, but I found myself wondering what exactly a future with Mel could be like as I watched her effortlessly talking to the other two important women in my life. All I knew was there was no way I could handle watching her walk out of my life.

***

Well, the updates are back. I know it has been a minute but thank you for sticking around, it means so much! I also went back and edited some parts just to make the story flow better and fix a few storyline errors.

Also, please check out my Etsy account!! I just started it up with my sticker designs and any support you could offer would be amazing! Do you guys think I should make some stickers for this book? Maybe Hunter's jersey!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/NicsCustomCreations1?ref=profile_header