Page 126 of Hunt for You

“Neither do I, but he’s the fucking elephant in the room,” Sam muttered, clawing a hand through his hair, then folding his arms and looking at me like he was getting angry.

There was a little burst ofsomethingbehind my ribs, and I folded my arms too. “Don’t you start judging me—”

“I’m not!”

“—you knew when you asked me—”

“Yes, Bridget. But here’s a shocking fact. When you care about what happens to someone, it’s kind of impossible not to worry when you’re told there’s some monster out there getting ready to kill them!”

I blinked as it hit me that I hadn’t told him about seeing Cain that night…

“I… he’s… I don’t think that’s going to happen anymore,” I admitted miserably.

Sam frowned, but his eyes flashed. “Why not?”

“Because… because I saw him that night after I talked to you, and he got mad because I told him I wanted to changethe rules. So he left. And he hasn’t shown up since. Not even a message.”

I wish saying those words didn’t make my blood run cold.

Sam clawed both hands through his hair, then shook his head. “And you’redisappointed?”

“Yeah! I told you, I like an adventure—”

“Bridget, that’s not—” He cut himself off and turned away, but then whipped back around almost immediately. “Tell me what I’m supposed to do here, please? Because you keep talking about this guy and what he’s supposed to do like it’s agood thing.Is this a cry for help? Did you come here because you need help? Because I’ll help you. Do you want me to call the Police? Or—”

“Don’t you dare. That isnotwhy I came here! You said you’d keep my secrets!”

“And I will! But it feels like I’m shadow boxing with a ghost—a ghost that you have the hots for.”

I actually felt my cheeks heat and ran my hand through my hair again to try and cover. “He’s not a ghost, he’s…”

“What? What is he, Bridget?”

He’d taken a step closer, but his expression was tense, bordering on anger and he loomed over me.

My heart beat faster. I looked up at him and licked my lips, swallowing to wet the roof of my mouth again so I could speak.

“He’s… like me.”

“What does that even mean?”

“I thought you understood…”

“That’s the problem, Bridget. I think I understand better than you do,” he growled like he was frustrated and leaned down into my space. “You say you want an adventure, but I don’t think that’s it. I think you want someone who’s going tohurtyou.”

“Yeah, I told you—”

“Stop playing dumb!” he snapped.

I blinked and after a tense moment where shadows flickered in his eyes, he muttered a curse and stepped closer, pushing into my space so I was forced to walk backwards or let him overwhelm me.

“I’m not playing anything—” I started, lifting my hand, intending to plant it on his chest and stop him, but quick as a flash, he caught my wrist.

Shocked, and turned on, I stared up at him, my heart racing faster when I saw how dark his eyes were.

“You don’t just want a hunter, you want an abuser, is that it? Someone to treat you like shit?” he growled, gripping my wrist so I couldn’t get away.

I struggled to free myself, but my heart was hammering and I was backing away, thrilled when he followed.

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