“Thank you so much,” Hunter told her genuinely.

The vet smiled and excused herself, “I just want to run a couple quick tests. We can never be too sure, you know. We’ll be back before you know it.”

“She was acting like NotCat was our child when we first came in,” Hunter laughed after the vet left the room.

“I could never be with a guy like you.” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Why not?” He sounded slightly offended.

I practically glared at him. “You’re just… Well, you’re too ‘free spirited.’ Honestly, you make me think of my mother.”

“Well that’s not something a guy wants to ever hear,” he joked.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” I snapped.

“Well, just so you know, I wouldn’t exactly describe myself as ‘free spirited’.”

“Oh no?”

“No,” he said, “But I would describe you as too serious.”

“I don’t recall asking you how you’d describe me,” I told him quietly.

Even if it came from a guy like him, I had to admit, the words stung. After all, I was still recovering from the conversation with my mother where she lectured me about needing to enjoy life.

“Guess not, but I also didn’t ask if you could ever be with a guy like me,” he countered. “You strike me as a classic Vail, Colorado girl through and through.”

“And what exactly does that mean?”

“Too serious. It’s almost like you don’t know what ‘fun’ means.”

“Excuse me? I have plenty of fun.”

“You do? What do you do for fun? And don’t tell me it’s skiing.”

I scoffed, “I do ski, but I also do plenty of other… crazy things.”

“Like?”

I exhaled and rolled my eyes, turning to look at the door where the vet had left with NotCat. Now would be perfect time for her to come back. Of course, I couldn’t will that to happen, but I also had nothing to say to Hunter. I was at a complete loss for ideas. And that lack of ability to reply to his question made a realization slowly dawn on me.

I started to realize just how boring and serious I actually was.

My thoughts must have shown on my face because Hunter chuckled. “I told you so.”

I scoffed again and shook my head. I had to think of something, anything, to say. This wasn’t the way the conversation was supposed to go. This wasn’t the way my day was supposed to go. Everything was just so wrong and out of place. It was unruly and I didn’t know how to straighten it all out.

“What? Are you mad because I caught you in a lie?”

“A lie? What lie?”

"You said you've done plenty of crazy things," he reminded me before a smirk took over his lips and he leaned in closer to mutter, "Women tend to play this little game. They like to lie and pretend they have more experience than they actually do.”

In spite of myself, I turned to look at him. I would have been shocked at his sexual insinuation but, at the same time, it was exactly the behavior I expected from someone like him. I let out a breathy laugh and shook my head.

“Or maybe you just want to think you know everything there is to know about me,” I said with a smug smile.

“So you’re saying there might be some mystery to you after all? I have always been a fan of… exploring,” he said in a low voice, overt sexuality dripping from the sound of it.

“Oh, you wish you could have the opportunity to explore,” I teased.

Hunter finally laughed, “Come on, women like you are too uptight and most likely boring in the bedroom.”

I shook my head vehemently in retaliation. “You don’t know that. And generalizations are never a good idea.”

“Fine. What was the craziest sexual experience you’ve ever had?”

My mouth dropped open. “What? I would never talk about such personal things with you!”

“Of course not,” he muttered in satisfaction, “See? You’re a prude.”

“I’m not a prude just because I don’t want to respond to you and your inappropriate questions. I don’t take kindly to prying.”

“Hey, I’m not prying! I’m just having a fun, adult conversation with you.”

I glanced at him. He had put on a fake smile of innocence. I quickly looked away. My mind fixated on the word ‘adult’ and I realized maybe he was right. Maybe I was a prude. This wasn’t the kind of conversation I had with Alice either despite the constant prompting to do so.

I was a serious person and maybe it made me a little uptight, but was that such a bad thing? I let out a sigh. It was upsetting to have everyone constantly tell me what a killjoy I was. Everyone in my life accused me of being wound too tightly. My mother was the first to say it in any situation, but there was also Alice, who couldn’t believe someone who grew up outside of Vail could possibly be as much of a prude as I was.

And now there was Hunter.

For all the judgments I made of him, he barely knew anything about me. Yet, he was making the same judgments on my character that someone who knew me my whole life did. Maybe there was something to it. Were all of them right? At least on some level? Maybe I really did need to loosen up.

Despite all my newfound doubts, the last thing I wanted was to show any of that to Hunter. I refused to give him any sort of satisfaction and, more importantly, I wasn’t going to be vulnerable around him. I made sure my body language continued to keep up the appearance of my hard exterior. It didn’t matter if he thought it made me look cold or uptight. As long as he had no idea what was running through my mind, that was what mattered.

“Of course you’re trying to have a ‘fun, adult’ conversation with me. It’s typical, you know—with you, probably, being a playboy son of a rich dad or something.” I knew I had no real grounds to be saying such a thing. I was just assuming, but he was pretty much doing the same thing to me, so what the hell.

Hunter laughed, “So, that’s what you think of me?”

“Yes,” I said, just as the vet finally came back with NotCat all fixed up and ready to go.