PERIPHERY | NH |

TWENTY EIGHT

Hunter

Free.

That's how I feel.

Letting out all of the details of my past with Niall makes me feel like I've let myself be free.

I was an open person, always have been, but at the same time telling people about yourself doesn't always mean that you've let them into your life.

Cooper was always on my case about being more open to people, about actually letting people in.. He knows that it just takes me longer to get to that point. However, I'm thankful that he's the kind of friend who pushes me outside of my comfort zone.

He's helped me grow in so many ways because of the way he challenges me, something that everyone should experience with the people closest to them.

With Niall, I knew that eventually there would have to be a break in the walls that I'd built. If he was someone that I wanted to share my life with, he deserved to know the parts of me that I kept from everyone else, because he was the complete opposite of everyone else.

Bringing him to this property was a big step for me.

I'd never brought anyone out here other than Cooper — even then it was just to help me move some boxes of books into the place.

The way his blue eyes shined looking at the pictures on my mantle told me that this was the right thing to do. Laying on top of the table and just letting everything out while Niall laid next to me and just listened made it easy to tell him — not to mention the way that he held me while I cried, running his hands through my hair in order to comfort me in any way that he could.

This all brings us back to where we are now as I unlock the front door to the cottage, feeling Niall's hands on my hips.

We had just come back from an actual date.

The fact that this town is so small made it where we were able to go out, eat, and even get something after without even running into more than three people and all of them were in their sixties.

"Thank you for taking me on a date." His words are warm against my neck as he leaves a lingering kiss against my skin. "Love spending time with you."

Love.

There's that word.

A word that I find myself using in relation to him more than I should.

Finally getting the door open, I step inside before spinning to face Niall while he pulls the door close behind him. "It was nice.. Going out and having you all to myself."

"Hmm, is that so?" Bringing his hands back to my hips, he pulls me closer as his lips brush against mine with his words. "Tell me more."

A small giggle flows from me as my arms wrap around his shoulders while my fingers find the hair at the nape of his neck. "Well, first of all.. You look so handsome sitting next to me — not to mention the way you laugh without caring who hears you."

We begin walking backwards. "It's hard not to when you're making me laugh more than I can ever remember laughing before. I don't know the last time I felt this happy, Hunt."

"I can say the same, boss." I lean forward just enough to press my lips to his at the same time that my back presses against the wall. "You make me happy."

Only the light from above the stove top shines through the living area, the rest of the soft glow provided by the moonlight that streams through the windows.

"I wish you knew how happy you made me." Niall dips down and leaves a kiss to my jaw, moving down my neck at a slow pace.

We stay like that for a few minutes before I pull back and reach for his hand, threading my fingers with his as I walk backwards down the hallway — keeping my eyes on his all the way until we reach the bedroom.