“You’re slacking,” he murmurs.

I roll my eyes. “I’m living the moment.”

“Mm-hmm.” I can feel his smile against my neck, his teeth nipping at the faded bite mark over my mating gland and making me shiver. “You do realize we are fully booked tonight, right?”

“It was probably that tasteful nude I posted of you on the new website,” I say seriously. “The fig leaf was pretty small. I mean, they could practically see everything.”

“If I didn’t know how to use that damn thing—”

“By ‘that damn thing,’ do you mean a laptop from this decade?”

“—I might be worried you actually did that.”

“Sorry, Grandpa. Your fig leaves are all mine.”

“Your mom and dad send their love,” he tells me.

I grin at that. “Can’t believe they’re missing this to go camping of all things.”

“He’s a new man now,” Hunter chuckles. “Or so he says.”

“I just hope they don’t get eaten by bears.”

“That doesn’t happen as often as you seem to think.”

“And I wonder who put the idea in my head?”

He laughs as he kisses my cheek, sighing when he rests his chin on my shoulder. “It’s a pretty day,” he says, squeezing me a little.

“I should take a picture.”

“Live the moment, remember?”

I laugh, lifting my hands to my face to form a square as I click my tongue. “Yeah, yeah.”

Hunter spins me then, his arms around my waist and his expression amused as he gives me that trademark Hunter sort-of-smile. The one I’m madly in love with—exactly like I am with everything else about this man who completely took me by surprise.

“Everything is nearly set up, anyway,” I tell him. “They’re setting out the charcuterie boards now.”

He purses his lips. “It’s just meat and cheese.”

“But that doesn’t sound nearly as fancy.” I tap his nose. “Oh, what do you think of an ice sculpture, by the way?”

He turns his head. “What?”

“I was thinking it would be such a waste not to utilize your skills,” I say with a straight face. “I mean, what is ice sculpting if not frozen whittling?”

He seems less amused now, his mouth turning down in a frown at my joke, and I laugh at his grumpy expression. I raise my hands again to take another mental picture of his narrowed eyes, knowing I’ll be paying for that comment later, but, oddly enough, I don’t mind in the slightest.

Hunter cocks an eyebrow at me. “Another memory you need, huh?”

“You just look so cute when you’re annoyed,” I coo.

He scoffs. “Cute.”

“As a button,” I tease.

He smiles at me then, not his usual tiny one but something full-blown and breathtaking—the smile that still catches me off guard no matter how many times I’m graced with it. His scent is a burst of joyful contentment, one that I pick up on him a lot more often now. It’s insane to me that we crashed into each other’s lives completely by chance, that an upheaval in my life could be the very thing that would deliver me more happiness than I ever thought possible.

“You know you did all this, right?” He gestures around the room. “We wouldn’t be here without you.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” I tell him. “You helped.” My mouth quirks. “I mean, sure, there would absolutely not be Wi-Fi at this place without me—I don’t know how you’d even begin to set up the router—but still.”

His eyes are narrowed again, but I can tell he wants to laugh. “I think you’re kind of a brat.”

“Well, I think”—I wind my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me—“you kind of want to kiss me.”

His eyes roam over my face with a warmth like he’s of a similar mind. “Only a stupid man wouldn’t,” he reminds me before he leans in to press his lips to mine.

There’s still a whole slew of reasons why it’s crazy that we’re here. I still don’t know much about classic rock, and I still have to show Hunter how to unlock his new smartphone half the time…but here, in this snowy little town of Nowheresville, with my surly but loveable mate, I learned what love is.

There’s still a lifetime of real moments to experience…and I want to live every single one.

Acknowledgments

So as it turns out, sequels are hard. For all the love I have seen for The Fake Mate (and I am eternally grateful that everyone was so into the wolfy weirdness), it felt like there was so much pressure to deliver, to make Hunter and Tess’s story just as dynamic. All I can hope for is that you loved them half as much as I do! (I did give you knot massaging, after all, which I am intensely proud of.)

As always, in the ever-ongoing parade of hand-holding, and in no particular order, I would like to thank:

Cindy Hwang, the best editor a girl could ever ask for, who possibly loves knots more than I do, and that’s saying something.

My fabulous agency and my agent, Jessica Watterson, for being the best cheerleader and always answering her phone even when it’s (usually) something silly I am bothering her about.

The amazing art team and Monika Roe, who came up with yet another banger of a cover, and the entire team at Berkley, for always making this process so fun and seem effortless (even when I know it absolutely isn’t).

Keri, my sister by choice, for knowing every single detrimental thing there is to know about me and still loving me—there’s no one I’d rather talk about knots with than you.

Kate Golden (wife), for always being up for a long phone call where I say mostly nothing except how much I think something isn’t working and then making me believe everything will be okay anyway.

Elena Armas, for her continued love and support (and her amazing voice notes). I am always happy to see your name in my notifications.

Kristen (daddy), for always being the one to speak up and tell me when I’m being a stupid bitch (because I deserve that; you don’t understand the number of ways I can be mean to myself)—this stupid bitch loves you very much.

Ruby Dixon, for still answering my emails after all this time, and also just for being an all-around genuinely lovely human—I probably would have had a breakdown long before this point if not for you.

Destinee, for being a knot-oisseur and wonderful friend. Getting to hug you this past year was a highlight, and I can’t wait to do it again.

Vanessa, who is always down to tote around with me, to hold my hand in person when I need it—I am so grateful that this wide world of books brought me to you.

A wholehearted shout-out to the amazing bookstagrammers, bloggers, journalists, BookTokers, librarians, and reviewers who hype my books—your comments, posts, TikToks, and article mentions are sometimes the only things that keep me going, and I’m so grateful.

The readers…this is all for you, and I wouldn’t be here without you.

And lastly my husband, who may not have a knot in the truest sense of the word, but definitely has a knot of the heart, so to speak, just a little something extra that makes me all aflutter—I love you, even if you can’t turn into a wolf.

Keep reading for a preview of The Final Score

The sequel to The Game Changer by Lana Ferguson! Abby

“Are you sure we’re allowed to be down here?”

Lila rolls her eyes. “Kind of a perk of dating the owner’s son.”