Eight years earlier...

"We're goin' huntin', Macey. Why the hell are ya wearin' a goddamn dress?" Dylan, Wyatt's best friend of the trio, scans me over from head to toe as he heaves a duffel bag of guns into the bed of Wyatt's truck. There's black paint smeared on his freckled cheeks and a beanie covering his red hair.

I cross my arms over my chest and roll my eyes. "Because I'm not going to be hunting, Dylan. I'm watching. No way am I shooting an animal."

Going hunting was something I never thought I'd do, but Wyatt loves it, and I want to learn more about the things he enjoys. However, if I'm going to go out into the middle of the woods and sit around for hours, I'm sure going to look good as hell doing it.

"You're goin' to get bit the hell up," Dylan says and points at my bare legs and sparkly sandals. "Do you know how many mosquitos are out there?"

"And snakes," Timmy adds teasingly, wiggling his eyebrows.

My eyes narrow into slits. "Snakes? Wyatt didn't say anything about snakes."

They're both trying to see when I'll break. I don't think they believe I'll actually do this and go hunting, but I'm going to prove them wrong. Even though Wyatt and I have been dating for a little over a month, they still tease me about being a city chick.

"Who knows? Maybe we'll find a bear, too," Dylan says. He and Timmy erupt into a heap of laughter as Wyatt finally comes out of the barn and shoots them a glare.

"Don't think I didn't hear everythin' y'all said." He looks at me, eyes softening. "There ain't gonna be any bears, darlin'. You'll be fine."

"And snakes?" I ask.

He shrugs, and I suppress the urge to let out a groan. "If anything, it'll just be a garden snake. It's rare that we see any."

"But you've seen them?"

"Yes," he says reluctantly, eyeing my outfit. "Do you want something else to change into?"

I was perfectly content going in a dress and sandals, but now that I know there might be snakes? I shudder at the thought. "Fine," I reply. "Only because I don't want a snake biting my ankle off."

Wyatt barks out another laugh, turning back around to enter the barn again, leaving me and his three friends alone. Parker still hasn't said anything. He's the quiet of the bunch, his shoulder resting against the side of the truck as he scrolls through his phone.

"We're just messin' with ya, Taylor," Timmy says. "This is all part of the initiation into our friend group."

I arch a brow. "And how long does this initiation actually last? It's been a month and you still won't let up."

"They're idiots," Parker says, lifting his eyes from his phone to look at me. "Don't pay them any mind. You're already in our friend group, and what you're wearing is fine. There won't be any bears, and if we see a snake I'll rip its head off before it comes near you." He blinks, not giving any indication that he was joking or not. I'm surprised he even paid attention to what I was saying.

It doesn't even seem like Parker likes hunting. Wyatt, Timmy, and Dylan are all decked out in camouflage from head to toe, but Parker is wearing a used pair of jeans and a black sweatshirt. Almost as if he can read my mind he says, "I don't like hunting, but they force me to come every year on the opening day."

"Ah." I nod and let out a soft laugh. "Should I be calling you city-boy, then?"

His lips threaten to turn into a smile, but he holds it back and shakes his head. "If you call me that you'll regret it, Taylor."

Wyatt comes over carrying a stack of clothing and a pair of heavy-duty footwear, placing them on the hood of his truck before giving me a quick kiss. "Go ahead and change inside. Then we'll leave."

***

The first day of hunting season is no joke. I had to wake up at five in the morning for this, and the boots Wyatt gave me are heavy. Each step becomes heavier the more that we walk, and nothing but the trees and the leaves surround us. Thankfully October is still somewhat warm, but there's a cool breeze that makes it comfortable.

"Be quiet," Dylan hisses, his rifle slung at his side. "You'll scare off the deer."

"These boots are like ten pounds each!" I shoot back. "I'm not going to be able to walk like a feather."

I feel ridiculous in cargo pants and one of Wyatt's camouflage hoodies, but I don't say anything because I want to see what all of the hype is about. Hunting seems useless. It's a sport made to hunt harmless animals for fun. I mean, back in the day when this was a person's only source of food then I'd understand it, but if these boys catch a deer, I know full well they wouldn't know how to properly prepare it to actually eat it. It's mean.

"This is a good spot," Wyatt says. We're on top of a hill that overlooks a wide clearing of nothing but meadow. If I didn't know what we were planning to do today, I'd say it's beautiful, but all I can think about is poor little Bambi as the sun starts to rise, a mixture of oranges and reds settling over the trees.

Wyatt, Dylan, and Timmy start to take out bullets from the duffle bag to load their guns, and Parker opens up the cooler to grab a beer. He extends one out to me in offering. "Trust me," he says when he sees the reluctance on my face. "You're going to want this."

I don't know if it's because I trust him, or if it's because he's the only one of Wyatt's friends actually being nice to me, but I take the beer from him and crack it open as Dylan taps his gun proudly. "I finally get to break out my new Remington," he announces.

"Poor Bambi," I mutter.

"Bambi ain't gonna stand a chance," Dylan replies.

***

Four hours later and we haven't spotted a single deer. I've never been so bored before, but Wyatt, Timmy, and Dylan are still perched on a knee, guns at their side just begging to be used. I'm surprised they all haven't gotten a muscle cramp. I don't even think they've blinked.

"I told you," Parker says in a hushed whisper, grinning as he takes another sip of beer. This is the first time I've noticed that he has dimples. Probably because he never smiles. "For them, it's an agonizing waiting game. For me, it's a day to drink myself into oblivion."

I glance down at my third beer and clutch it tighter. "I've never been drunk before, but I think I'm starting to feel it."

He raises his beer to clink against mine. "Glad I could introduce you to the best thing ever invented, Taylor. Welcome to the club."

"The anti-hunting club?"

Timmy whips his head around to send us an evil glare. "Shut up!" He hisses. "There's a fucking buck in the clearing."

All three boys get into position, aiming their rifles at the poor, innocent deer grazing on some grass. I gulp loudly and stare at the heavy boots on my feet just as I feel a pair of headphones settle over my ears. Parker smiles down at me, and although I can barely hear him now, I faintly hear him say, "It'll help with the noise. Less scary."

Wyatt glances back at us, eyeing the headphones before moving his gaze to Parker. "Thanks, man," he says, but there's a bitterness in his words. Jealousy. "I forgot I brought them for her."

"Fucking hell, Wyatt!" Dylan roars when the buck skitters off into the woods again, all of them losing sight of it. "Don't you all know not to fucking speak? We just lost the one chance we had!"

Moving the headphones off my ears to hook around my neck, Parker lets out a fake gasp. "Fuck! You mean because I was talking, the deer got away? Did it run to freedom? It gets to live another day?"

I can't hide the smile on my face, and when Wyatt clears his throat, catching my attention, I can spot the worry on his face. The fear in his eyes. He doesn't like that Parker and I are getting along so well, but he has nothing to worry about. I'm crazy about him. Not Parker.

Dylan shakes his head in fury as he begins to unload his rifle "We're never bringing him hunting with us again."

On the way back to Wyatt's truck, which is parked about a mile from here, Wyatt slows down so that I'll follow suit, giving us space from the rest of his friends. "I'm sorry if I didn't pay attention to you today. I wasn't tryin' to ignore you."

I furrow my eyebrows together when he grabs my hand and gives it a tight squeeze. "You didn't ignore me, Wyatt. You were having fun with your friends. It's fine."

"It's not fine, though. I left you alone to talk to Parker. Huntin wasn't that important. I should have been the one to entertain you today."

There's something left unspoken that he wants to say, and it upsets me that I know exactly what it is that's running through his head. "I'm interested in you, Wyatt. Just you."

"Even if you and Parker have more in common?"

Leaves crunch beneath our feet, my hand grasped tightly in his, and it's an effort not to roll my eyes at how ludicrous he sounds. "You are allowed to have fun with your friends. I'm not expecting you to shower me with love and affection all the time. There can be days that you focus on your friends more than me. That's okay. I'd never want to get in between you all. I can see how close you are.

"And as far as Parker goes, the only thing we have in common is that we both hate hunting. It's okay that you like it, Wyatt, and it doesn't make me any less interested in you because of it."

He smiles down at me, and my heart practically melts at the sight. I squeal with delight when he picks me up so my legs are wrapped around his waist, his hands underneath my ass to support me. He's got the same black paint plastered under both eyes with disheveled hair from the orange beanie he took off minutes ago. "Did I mention how adorable you look in my hunting clothes?"

I cringe. "As much as I'm glad you like it, I'm never wearing this monstrosity ever again, so don't get used to it."

He barks out a laugh. "Noted. And...thanks, for reassurin' me about things. I don't like to feel insecure, but it's happened before. You know, a girl goin' to Parker after me because of my...views on certain things. He can give them what I can't."

I press my lips to his to shut him up. To stop him from breaking my heart any further. Any girl who gave him up was an idiot. Wyatt is so special. He's so different from any other guy I've met. He makes me feel safe, wanted, cared for... And although that may scare me, I'm not willing to run away from this. I couldn't even if I wanted to.

"Goddamn, Macey," he growls against my mouth when I add tongue, dipping behind a tree and roughly pinning me against it. The breath leaves my body in the best way possible as his hands slip into the waistband of his pants on me. "I may not be able to give you sex, but I sure as hell am good at making you orgasm in other ways."

My eyes widen in shock as I glance around us, but the boys are so far ahead now that the hill blocks them from our line of sight. "They're going to look for us," I say.

"Let me make it quick then, darlin'." The breath leaves my lungs completely when he sinks to his knees in the leaves, my pants coming down with him, and I clutch his hair as he puts his tongue between my legs and proves just how talented he really is.

A/N:

ohhhh I love me some Macey and Wyatt 

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