“Yes.”
The crowd erupted as Hunter yanked her off the chair and swung her around, and she laughed and cried, oblivious now to everyone watching her. The rest of the Steiners broke out singing “Chapel of Love” by The Dixie Cups and a sing-along broke out as everyone clapped and sang with the group.
Kent stepped forward and asked for quiet after everyone finished.
“Yeah, yeah, enough of that.” Everyone booed. “Just kidding. We have one last song for you.” Hunter put his arm around Taylor and pulled her back to stand with the group as Dusty started another beat and they launched into “Walking on Sunshine.” Taylor was so giddy that she sang along and her voice melded with the rest of the group.
“Thank you, everyone! And let’s have another round of applause for the happy couple!” Everyone clapped and then started heading back to wherever they came from.
Renee and Darah and Megan let out shrieks that sounded like they belonged to long-extinct dinosaurs and launched themselves at Taylor, and lots more screaming and carrying-on ensued. Hunter and Mase gave each other back-banging hugs, and Mase gave one to Taylor that I was pretty sure crushed her ribs.
“Congratulations,” I said, giving both of them hugs. “Now you’re really, really family. No escaping us now.”
“Nice proposal, dude. Well done,” Hannah said to Hunter, holding her fist out. He looked at her for a second, perplexed.
“Hunter, this is my friend Hannah.”
“Oh, of course, didn’t mean to leave you hanging there.” He bumped her hand. I could tell Taylor had a hard time not staring at Hannah’s face, but after Hannah gave her a huge smile and a hug everything was fine.
“I saw you crying.” I really needed to stop being surprised when Dusty sneaked up behind me. He’d done it enough times.
“And you are?” Hannah said, swooping around and getting right in front of him. Dusty didn’t look twice at her face before he smiled.
“Dusty Sharp, at your service.” He bowed. Hannah didn’t look impressed. Five seconds ago, she’d been talking like she wanted to jump him. Jesus, this girl was going to give me whiplash.
“Hannah Gillespie. And you, dude, have been staring at my friend Jos, here.”
His smile faltered for just a second and then he raised his hands as if she’d pointed a gun at him.
“Guilty as charged. But can you blame me?”
“Maybe,” Hannah said, narrowing her eyes. I had to put a stop to this.
“Hey, Hannah, do you want to come shopping with me? Like, right now?” I grabbed her arm and tried to drag her away. I’d been planning on going on my job search, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Can I come?” Dusty said, following us. No, idiot, the point was to get away from you.
“Uh, no,” I said. “You wouldn’t want to come with us. We’ll be buying things like tampons and yeast infection cream and...other things for our lady parts and sparkly earrings and lots and lots of pink.”
“Sounds like fun.” Ugh, could anything I say turn this guy off?
“Why don’t we do something a little less...um, disgusting? Do you live on campus?” Hannah directed her question to Dusty.
“No, I have my own place in Old Town. I would invite you there, but I’m pretty sure the mold growing in my bathroom is becoming sentient and would murder you when I turned my back.”
“Ew,” Hannah and I said at the same time.
“Yeah, I keep trying to get my landlord to do something about it, but no dice. Can’t get anywhere when you’re poor as shit.”
“Amen. You speak my language, dude.” Hannah nodded. Oh, now she was cool with him again. They’d bonded over their shared financial difficulties.
Somebody called out to Dusty to remind him of plans next week or something. “Actually, I have to get to work. Sorry, ladies. Rain check?”
“Sounds good,” Hannah said.
“But, Red, I will see you on Sunday. The guys have sort of planned a little surprise party for Hunter and Taylor, and all the members of Yellowfield House are invited, of course. And you, Hannah Gillespie, are also invited.”
“Sweet,” she said. “I have nothing else to do.”
“Sounds like fun.”
Renee called my name.
“We’re going out to celebrate. Are you coming?”
So much for job hunting. “Yeah, sure.”
“Am I invited?” Hannah yelled.
“Of course,” Renee, Mase and Hunter yelled back.
It was scary how well she was fitting in with us.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye, then. I’ll see you tomorrow. Red, Hannah Gillespie.” He nodded at both of us, grabbed his bag and waved goodbye to the other guys from the group and took the stairs two at a time.
“He is...something else,” Hannah said, staring after him.
“My thoughts exactly.”
* * *
The only topic of conversation when we went out to eat at Pat’s Pizza was Hunter and Taylor’s plans. Megan was in the midst of planning her own wedding and was busy giving tips and so forth, and Hunter didn’t seem to be nearly as intimidated as I expected him to be.
“Did he ask your father?” Renee said, her pizza mostly untouched.
“Actually, I did,” Hunter said, earning a look of approval from Renee.
“You did?” Taylor said. “When?”
“Christmas. Planned it all out and everything.” Taylor had recently reconnected with her father, and had even gone down to see him in Connecticut during the break and taken Hunter with her.
“Brilliant,” Mase said, giving him another fist bump. “I thought you were crazy, man, but best of luck. I’m happy I can officially call Taylor a member of the family. Oh, my God, have you told Harper yet? She’s going to be over the effing moon.”
“Let’s call her right now.” I knew a little bit about Mase’s sister Harper, who had cerebral palsy and was wheelchair bound. There were more than a few pictures of her in the house, and he’d said she was coming to visit with his parents at some point.
Hunter got out his phone and put it on speaker.
“Who are they calling?” Hannah whispered as the phone rang.
“Mase’s little sister. She and Hunter are really close,” I said.
“Hello?” A little girl’s voice answered. Seriously, the kid had her own phone? Typical rich people.
“Hey, Seven! What’s shaking?” Hunter said, a huge smile on his face. It was clear from the way he talked about her that he was completely in love with her. It was really sweet.