Kara's face lights up like Dodger Stadium on game night when Hunter and I step outside together. She half squeals, half screeches, and lets her putter drop from her hand as she bounces our way. Dylan jumps to avoid getting hit by the putter's handle when it falls. He shakes his head, even though he's used to Kara's bursts of energy and enthusiasm.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Kara flings her arms around both of us and comes close to knocking me over.

Hunter's arm shoots out to steady me and I briefly ponder if I can bring him with me on our next tour to come to my rescue when Kara's exuberance reaches over-the-top levels.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Kara." I detect laughter in Hunter's voice.

"Who let her have coffee today?" Key wonders aloud.

"I'm high energy," Kara replies. "We've been over this. You could be, too, if you didn't stay awake until four in the morning scrolling TikTok and playing video games."

"You're keeping that ice cream under lock and key, right?" Key asks Carter. "I'm afraid to experience the next level of this if she's fueled by sugar."

"Be nice," I scold. "Everyone gets ice cream. We'll just get you protective body armor if you think you can't handle Kara on your own."

"Exactly!" Kara agrees. "Besides, we all know Key is only afraid of getting annihilated at mini-golf by Deni and me again."

"That's not happening," Key declares.

"It does every time we play."

"She has a point," Sawyer says.

"We should start a game," Carter reminds us. "The clock is ticking before this place opens to the public and becomes Saturday pandemonium."

Kara hears Carter, but she isn't finished taunting Key. "I think Key should be first up so he can show us his putting prowess. Maybe he can do better this time than three over par on the first hole."

Key crosses his arms and remains where he is. "I believe the rule is ladies first. As a gentleman, I'm going to follow that rule."

"When did you become a gentleman?"

"I'll go first," I cut in before Key and Kara can say anything else. "We'll be here until sundown before making a single putt if we leave it up to you two."

"Why am I having flashbacks to that glow-in-the-dark mini-golf game in Brisbane?" Dylan asks.

"Because Kara and Key bickered for the entire ride there and through the first six holes," I answer. "And it took us forever to get started because neither of them wanted to choose a golf ball color before the other one did."

"Lucky for everyone, I'm just assigning you ball colors," Carter announces.

"That's a wise decision," Dylan says.

"Welcome to chaos," I murmur to Hunter. "This could get out of hand."

"I'm here for it all," Hunter tells me. "Don't forget, I'm usually dealing with Adam on a daily basis. I can handle this."

"Fair point. Can you imagine Kara, Key, and Adam together in a room?"

"I think it would have to be their own room with the rest of us somewhere else. And you know Adam would immediately try to set those two up romantically."

"He wouldn't be the first person to think they have feelings for one another." Dylan and I have suspected this since the end of our last tour, but Kara and Key deny it.

"Ahem," Kara interrupts us. "We're both right here. We can hear you talking about us, and no, I don't have feelings for Key."

"Sure you do," Key says. "I annoy you to no end. That's a feeling."

"We're playing now," Carter insists. "Here you go, Deni." He hands me a neon-green golf ball, and then gives an orange one to Hunter.

I lead us all to the first hole and start us off. Kara is next, followed by Hunter, Key, Sawyer, Carter, and then Dylan. It may be just us out here on the course for now, but the ruckus we make is enough for twenty people, which is about normal.

I lose track of who is in the lead, and what Kara and Key quibble about throughout the game. In between trading jokes with Sawyer and cheering everyone on, I can't help but notice the camaraderie that seems so natural between Hunter and my band, which is similar to how Sawyer, Carter, and him got along last night at dinner. Their banter is easy and fun. Hunter and Dylan even talk about going golfing together the next time he visits.

"Are you already stealing my boyfriend?" I tease Dylan while Hunter is busy with putting.

"It's not my fault you're dating someone we all like." He twirls his putter in his hands and then points the handle end at me. "In all seriousness, though, I'm happy to see you this happy. We all are."

"Did I hear you mention golfing?" Key steps up to the putting green to take his turn.

"If you couldn't handle the windmill hole here, you can't handle real golfing," Kara informs him.

"At least I didn't send the ball into the water three different times already."

"I'll give you that. You've only done it twice, but there's still time."

Dylan shoots me a knowing glance. "It's going to be a fun next tour."

"Remind me to add noise-canceling headphones and dressing rooms on opposite sides of the building to our rider."

My gaze scans our boisterous group and lands on Hunter, who is now chatting with Sawyer. While he knows about the one-off shows I have coming up, I haven't mentioned much about the larger tour rescheduling to him yet. That's because tentative dates are all that have been tossed around so far. I'm still hopeful about spending some of next summer at the lake with him, since Mom and I have talked about renting the same cottage. When we go, and for how long, will depend on when the tour starts and all the work and rehearsals that come before it.

I don't want to get caught up in thinking about something so far ahead in time, though. Right now, I only want to be in this moment, enjoying every second of my time with each of these amazing people who are everything to me.

* * *

Kara decimates all of us when the final mini-golf scores are tallied. Key is still grumbling about this when the last of the leftover ice cream is packed up in Carter's cooler and we're getting ready to leave.

Hunter, Sawyer, Carter, and I head for the parking lot after saying goodbye to Dylan, Kara, and Key. With Castle Park's public operating hours now underway, there is a steady stream of cars turning in to the lot and pulling into parking spaces. Our little group is as inconspicuous as we can be, with all of us wearing sunglasses and Sawyer's recognizable mop of hair tucked away under his fedora. A few people stroll past us without another look, but our cover is blown when a girl who can't be older than twelve stops in her tracks and stares at us, her mouth agape.

"Mom!" she calls. "It's Cayden and Hunter, and Sawyer and Carter!"

A woman's head snaps up from what she was looking at on her phone and she zeroes in on the four of us. I have a hunch her daughter is a big fan if she realized who she meant with first-name references only.

"Hi," I greet the girl.

Her eyes become saucers upon hearing the single word. She hurries over to us, now with a wide smile on her face.

"It really is you!" she exclaims, looking from me to Hunter and back again. "I can't believe it. I absolutely adore you!"

"Well, thank you." I remove my sunglasses and perch them on my forehead. "It's nice to meet you."

"Isabelle!" Her mom strides across the parking lot to catch up with her daughter. "I'm sure they're busy and need to be somewhere."

Isabelle ignores her mom. "Can I take a picture with all of you?" she asks.

"Of course," I reply.

"I'm happy to take the photo if you want to be in it," Hunter says to Isabelle's mom.

"Oh no." Isabelle sounds horrified. "You need to be in it, Hunter. No one is ever going to believe I met all of you, especially when Hunter doesn't even live here. None of my friends have a photo with him."

I stifle a laugh at the contrast between Isabelle's earnest expression and Hunter's surprised one. He probably hasn't realized until now that some of my fans have also become his fans, especially since he took his social media profiles down several months ago when the paparazzi identified him by name and people started following him in a frenzy.

"I can take it," Carter volunteers.

"My mom will take it." Isabelle points at the phone in her mother's hand.

Her mom gives us an apologetic look. "Is a photo okay with all of you?" she asks, even though Isabelle already has. "We don't want to intrude."

"You're not intruding at all," I assure her. "We're delighted to."

Sawyer and I locate the best nearby spot to take the photo at. We arrange our group so Isabelle is in the middle with me on one side of her and Sawyer on the other. Hunter stands beside me, and Carter is next to Sawyer. Isabelle's mom snaps a few photos, and then I suggest Isabelle checks them to make sure she likes them.

"Are you going to the arcade?" she inquires while swiping through the photos on her mom's phone.

"We just finished playing mini-golf," I tell her. "Now we're on our way somewhere else."

It occurs to me that I don't know where we're going next. Hunter looks all mysterious again, which means wherever we're headed, it probably isn't my house.

"We should let them get on their way," Isabelle's mom prompts her, then glances at all of us. "Thank you again for the photos."

"It was our pleasure. Have fun in there!"

I give Isabelle a hug, and then she turns to Hunter and extends her arms. He hugs her, too, and I nearly giggle again at his obvious astonishment. She moves on to Sawyer and Carter before letting her mom hustle her past us.

"I think I'm officially your arm candy now," Hunter says as we continue making our way to Sawyer's car.

He's making fun of one of the first things he said to me with a good-natured joke at his own expense. I'm still compelled to make sure he knows this isn't true.

"You are so much more than arm candy, you goof." I lean over and kiss him on the cheek.

"Arm confectionary?" he tries again.

"Keep it up and I'm going back to calling you a tadpole magnet and amphibian whisperer."

"We definitely need the scoop on that," Sawyer says, unlocking the car.

"Not a word," Hunter warns me.

"It's something that happened when he needed a reason to hold my hand without admitting he wanted to," I explain. "My lips are sealed otherwise. And yes, I know you said you could never be that smooth, but I have my doubts about that in hindsight."

"Busted." Hunter can't keep a straight face as he opens the car door for me. "I have no regrets. It led me here, after all."

I glide past him and get into the back seat. He follows suit and closes the door.

"You still haven't taken me fishing, you know."

"There's always ice fishing if you want to visit in the winter. Or skiing, skating, and snowball fights."

"I've never built a snowman," I muse. "I think I'll have to visit in the winter."

"You haven't built a snowman?" Hunter seems astounded by this.

"Nope. The band did once when we were on tour and it snowed in the city we were in, but I had interviews to do all day."

"Have you been ice skating?"

"On the LA Kings holiday ice. It's an outdoor rink they have downtown in the winter."

"An outdoor skating rink in the middle of palm trees is wild to me."

"We'll go when you're here for the music awards," I promise. "It should be set up by then. We'll go to a hockey game, too. But that's November. Is there anything else you'd like to do today?"

"Should we tell her before we get there?" Sawyer asks from the front seat.

"Actually, I think we should make sure she's okay with it first."

"Make sure I'm okay with what?" My gaze zooms from Hunter to Sawyer and back to Hunter again.

"Do you remember when we were FaceTiming and you told me about Mira, who you visited in the hospital?"

I sense Hunter is trying to broach this subject gently. We've talked about what happened at the Domino, and about my visit to Children's Hospital a couple of days later. I told him about Mira, who was supposed to have a meet-and-greet with me at that show, and the words she left me with. Please don't stop singing because of this.

It's been months since she spoke those words. She and I have had to do a lot of healing since then. I'm sure, like me, Mira also carries scars, only hers are both emotional and physical.

"I do remember that."

"Do you recall mentioning how she loved to play soccer?"

"Of course." I also insisted she would recover from her injuries and be back on the field playing her favorite sport. It's been my greatest wish for her.

"Sawyer put me in touch with Elton to track her down. She has a soccer game today I thought we could watch while cheering her on."

The ability to speak leaves me as a tidal wave of feelings emerges from somewhere deep within my heart. A lump forms in my throat and tears pool in my eyes.

Until this moment, I considered what Hunter planned for me this morning to be one of the sweetest and most meaningful things someone could surprise me with, but it just took second place. What this means to me defies description. He not only listened to what I told him—he heard me on a soul level in a way no one ever has.

"Deni?" Hunter asks.

I try to find my voice to respond, but I still can't form a sentence. Hunter unbuckles his seat belt so he can reach over and put his arms around me.

"We don't have to go to the game if it's too much right now." He rubs his hand along my back. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Something finally connects between my brain and my vocal chords. "I'm not upset at all," I clarify, aware that he's misunderstood the tears in my eyes. "I'm grateful beyond anything I can express. We are absolutely going to the game. Thank you for making this happen."

"I told you she would be all over it," Sawyer says.

"That's an understatement." I look into Hunter's eyes as I reply, hoping he sees the gratitude, love, and everything else I don't have adequate words for reflected back at him.

We still have over ten months of long distance and Hunter's college acceptance to go before we can be in the same city most of the time, but none of these things matter. We will get there together, whatever it takes.

I've never been happier or more excited about my life and what's to come.

***********

This is the end of One Night Only, Season 1: Deni's Story. Thank you for reading it, and I'd love to know what you thought!