Page 25 of Boys Who Hunt
Well fuck. Caught red-handed.
“What do you want?”
I don’t know what to say. My mind is broken. Completely and utterly broken just from talking to someone like her.
She snorts. “You always sneak up on girls and then pretend you can’t talk?”
“No. Not girls—”
She tilts her head and folds her arms. “Boys too?”
“Well, I mean, sure, I don’t mind boys.” I close my eyes and mentally slap myself. “No. What I meant was that I’m awkward. Not that I sneak up on anyone. I didn’t mean to. It just … happened.” I laugh it off as I scratch the back of my head, but at this point, I just sound dumb. “This is not at all what I wanted to say to you.”
She frowns, and the way all the hairs in her eyebrows curl and draw together is rather cute. “Then what did you want to say to me?”
Every second feels as though all the beats in my heart are musical notes written in the wind, hoping to flutter into her ears.
She rolls her eyes and bends over to pick up my water bottle at the same time I am, and our hands collide midair. The electricity is instant, and I retract my hand as she grabs the bottle and attempts to give it back.
“So … care to tell me why a dude from the Skull and Serpent Society is sneaking up on me?” She narrows her eyes. “Because you do realize Iknowyou’re friends withthem, right?”
Well damn. For a second there, I almost forgot Silas and Heath existed.
“I just wanted to talk to you,” I say.
“Yeah, right.”
“No, I mean it.” I clear my throat. “I saw you … before they even noticed you.”
She gives me a skeptical look before bursting into laughter. “Good one.”
She passes by me and walks off, so I saunter behind her, determined to see this through.
I follow in her footsteps. “Wait. It’s not a lie. I’m not here because of them. I want to get to know you.”
“Really?” she scoffs. “Why do you even think you want to? Because Silas chased me around?”
“Because you seem nice, and you’re… gorgeous.”
She pauses for a second. “You think I’mnice and gorgeous?” A laugh bursts out of her like she tried to keep it together but failed.
God, why am I such an idiot when it comes to girls? I always know what to say to the guys, but girls? Girls scare me.
“Look, I don’t mean this in a bad way, but I don’t trust you. You’re friends with Rivera and Preston.”
“So?” I shrug. I don’t see the problem.
“This isn’t going to work.” She turns around again, but I don’t give up that easily.
“Wow. Hold on. You’re going to deny me just because of who I hang out with?” I ask.
“Yup. You got that right.”
“I’m not my friends,” I say.
“But you’re close.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”