Page 37 of The Huntress and Her Hound

Yikes. He drinks girl coffee.

And I can’t help but smile as we step out into the night again.

“What’re you smiling about?” Jude nudges my arm, and I can’t help it. I begin to...laugh. I feel it start in my core and bubble up and out of my mouth. His eyebrows shoot up as he takes a sip, his nose wrinkling.

“You drink prissy coffee,” I say through my giggles. “You wanna go to Target next? I’ll push the cart for you while you pick out cute minimalistic décor for the kitchen.”

He rolls his eyes, but then chuckles. “I couldn’t read shit on the menu. I didn’t wear my glasses. I just picked a fuckin’ number.” We both fall silent, staring at each other—and then start laughing again.

“I wear contacts,” I tell him as we start back for the apartment. “I have glasses though. I had to get them when I was in third grade.”

“Kindergarten for me,” Jude chuckles. “Was destined to be a fucking blind nerd.”

I shrug. “A lot of people have to have corrective eyewear.”

“Who the fuck calls it corrective eyewear?” Jude makes a face, his deep tone tugging at me, and making my head grow light. “I feel like you just read me a brochure for positive self-image.”

I open my mouth to say something in response but freeze as my eyes land on a familiar face walking toward us. A very familiar face. Any shred of enjoyment drains from my being as a nightmare descends upon me. I suck in a breath as I make eye contact with Ben Lenard, my old colleague—and the reason I’m no longer a practicing lawyer.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Cher?” he gasps, his dark hair parted to the side as he stands in a fresh suit alongside a pretty redhead. “What the hell are you... Who is...?”

At first, I consider ignoring him, but my inability to say anything at all seems to come across as a confirmation—and I have to get ahead of this. “It’s, um...” My hand trembles, growing clammy at my side. “It’s been a while,” I finally spit out. This is going to be a disaster... What if he says something?

“Yeah, like three years.” His expression is tense, and it’s a clusterfuck seeing him again. I ruined his life. He ruined mine. It was mutual destruction—but he keeps talking to me anyway. “What’ve you been up to?” Ben eyes Jude beside me.

My lips move in a state of numbness. “I, um, haven’t been up to much.”

Ben cocks a brow, his dark eyes taunting me. “Not assaulting anyone with paperweights for trying to help you get an eyelash out of your eye, I assume?”

That’s not what happened, I want to scream at him.

But instead, I merely shake my head. Jude straightens up beside me, and I briefly close my eyes, embarrassment flooding through my body. What will he think of me? This all happened before I knew something was wrong with me—back when I thought I was normal. I no longer act out... Well, like that, anyway. I glance up at Jude, who’s only staring at Ben.

‘He’s probably so humiliated to be spotted with you,’ the voice jumps in.

Great, you’re back.

“Wait, so she’s the one who assaulted you?” the woman beside him points to me with pure intrigue. “Wow.” Her sultry gaze rakes over me and I chew my lip, nervously beginning to tick. “I’d never peg her for an upscale attorney. She looks...”

“Rough,” Ben finishes for her. “But I guess that’s what happens when you’re clinically psychotic.”

“Says the man in a suit that costs less than my coffee,” Jude spats at him, his face contorting in disgust. “I bet you’re a shoe salesman at Payless. Big talk for a man with those kind of ambitions.” My eyes widen at Jude’s vile tone.

Ben takes a step forward, his six-foot frame intimidating, though still falling short of Jude. “You really wanna take up for a woman who belongs in a psych ward? Do you know how nuts she is?”

Jude’s lip curls into a snarl, and I reach for his arm to stop him—but it’s too late. Jude’s faster than everyone, flipping the lid and launching the entire contents of his coffee right down the front of Ben. “Whoops,” Jude laughs like a mischievous child as Ben and his lady friend gasp at the audacity. “You might have to buy a new suit now.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Ben roars at Jude, lunging forward and shoving his chest. I jump in to break them apart, terrified that Jude might get his ass beat. However, much to my surprise, Jude swings, his knuckles making contact square with Ben’s nose. I hear cartilage snap, and stumble away from the two as Ben makes his own swing.

As the woman with Ben starts shrieking, Jude avoids a punch to the head with a block of his bicep. My heart jumps, and I find myself admiring him as he punches again, knocking Ben on his ass with a hit to the side of the head.

“Stop!” Ben’s lady friend wails, falling to her knees beside him as a group starts to gather around us. “You’re going to kill him!”

‘Do it. Kill him. He deserves it.’

Shut up. We’re in the middle of the street.

---