Page 123 of Hunt for You

ME: Can we talk?

My phone rang seconds later, and I blinked, my heart thudding and bumping in my chest.

“Hey, Sam, I’m sorry I didn’t—”

“It’s fine, Bridget. It’s really fine. I’m just relieved you want to talk. I’ve been really worried about you.”

I huffed and scratched the back of my neck. “You don’t have to be. None of this is new for me.”

“But—”

“Look, I… I went to see my, um, therapist today and he thinks you sound like a pretty insightful guy and… he wants me to spend more time with people who are like that. So… thanks for not giving up on me.”

There was a beat of silence on the other end of the phone. “I get it, Bridget. More than you realize.”

I nodded, then realized he couldn’t see that. “I know. I mean… I could tell you’re good with the crazy stuff.”

He gave a little chuckle. “Bridget, Iamthe crazy stuff. Or at least, I was. I just…”

“It’s okay, Sam. You don’t have to fix this. I mean, you’ll be happy to know that I told Cain I don’t want to die and he disappeared, so… problem solved, I guess?” I wished I didn’t want to cry when I said that.

He sighed heavily.

“That’s… I’m glad.”

“I’m not.”

“Yeah, I gathered.”

Both of us were quiet for a while. I got tense because I could feel him trying to find the right words, and I was afraid they wouldn’t be. And then this would get awkward, or ugly and I didn’t want it to go that way. In my head he was sitting at thatdining table in the cottage, shirtless, tats out and drinking coffee and…

And suddenly, I wished I was there too.

“Bridget—”

“Sam, can I ask you something?”

“Yes. Sure. Of course.”

I almost lost my nerve, but then I just blurted it out. “Can you be my friend? Or something? Can you just… be a person for me and not a priest? Are you allowed to do that?”

There was a stunned silence on the other end of the phone and for a moment I thought I’d lost him as well, I clawed a hand into my hair. “I didn’t mean to be weird, I just—”

“No, no, that’s not…” I could hear the smile in his voice. “I’m just happy. Yes, Bridget. I can. I can be not-a-priest in your life. But even more important… Iwantto.”

When I got off the phone fifteen minutes later we had made a plan for me to go have lunch with him tomorrow, and I realized I was smiling.

And scared shitless.

Andalive.

39. Not Normal

~ BRIDGET ~

Sam’s house—the one he lived in when he wasn’t covering for Richard—was an hour out of the city and close to the prison, which made my skin crawl. But I tried to ignore it.

Driving to his house my heart wasn’t pounding, but it fluttered. A lot. It beat too fast, but light and quick, like a bird. Which was dumb. He had said we’d just have lunch and hang out. It was nothing.

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