Page 11 of Hunt for You
Shoving the point of that pen actually into his skin, his entire body vibrated. “STOP! FUCK! WHAT IS—STOP!”
A door thudded somewhere and that was my cue.
Letting go of his limbs, I shoved the tip of the pen into his ear cavity, clamping his skull between that and the flat of my other palm.
“You move a fucking fingernail and I will shove this knife straight into your brain. All those muscles won’t save you when you’re pissing your anti-chafe shorts.” I hissed.
He froze, still panting, and began to whimper. “What the fuh… wha—”
“Tell me you’ll never talk to her again.”
“I’ll never t-talk to her again.”
“Tell me if you’re here and she comes in, you’ll finish your set and you’ll leave, and you won’t even look at her.”
“I won’t! Fuck! I don’t even care! It was just a—”
I pressed the point of that pen far enough into his ear that his body started to jiggle and despite my order he squirmed away from it, whimpering again. Then I hissed in his other ear.
“The next time you make a woman feel small, I’m not going to warn you. I’m just going to kill you. Do you understand?”
“YES!”
I shoved off him and ran hunched, between the two nearest cars, keeping my body below the level of the lines of parked cars, darting between vehicles and parking island trees until I reached the final row, then following it back along the side of the building until I could dart down a narrow alley between two nearby buildings. The moment I was in the shadows, I ripped the hoodie off, holding it with one hand as I slowed to a walk, slipping the pen into the pocket of my pants and strolling casually back around the block towards the parking lot by the gym.
By the time I reached it, there was a group of guys coming out of the doors, talking, bags slung over their shoulders,waterbottles in their hands. I slipped up behind them, walking just a couple feet from the last guy, pulling my phone out and keeping my head down like I was focused on that.
“Yo—you okay, bruh?” One of the men ahead of me called to the beefmeat in the parking lot.
Adrenaline shot through my veins. I made myself wait a beat before I looked up, fixing an expression of only mild interest on my face.
But my walnut-balls friend was stumbling to his car, waving them off with one hand while he struggled to open the door of his Jeep.
Of course it was a Jeep.
The guys ahead of me watched him until he got the door open, then obviously dismissed him as nothing, said their goodbyes, and split up.
I kept my face in my phone and split off when the rest of them spread out to their cars, walking to my truck with my hoodie in my hand.
I couldn’t resist looking up when the Jeep rolled past, but the guy inside was hunched forward, hunted eyes scanning the lot ahead of him, gripping the steering wheel like it was the only thing keeping him tied to gravity. He didn’t even see me walking between two cars as he drove too-fast down the line in the parking lot, his brake lights flaring red for a moment, then he squealed the tires pulling out into traffic.
I got into the truck and blew out a shaky breath.
Holy shit.
Holy shit.
We hadn’t even started the hunt and I’d already broken almost every rule for myself. He’d almost seen my face—might have recognized me from inside the gym. They’d have security footage. If he asked, they might look at whoever was there…
It had to stop now. Ithadto.Ihad to stop.
No more interference in her life. Period.
No more hunt. She was all wrong for this. I couldn’t stay separate. I was going to make mistakes. She was too big of a risk. I should have turned around this morning when I saw her walk into the gym, because Iknew.
Except… Something about the way those guys had leered at her had twisted in my guts—especially when her eyes had been so dead and glazed when she answered him. Like she was dissociating.
I slammed my hands on the top of the steering wheel, started the car with my trembling fingers and tore out of there almost as fast as my ‘roid-ridden friend had done, telling myself she wasn’t worth the risk.