Page 116 of Gunner

Who else dropped by to walk my dog and buy me breakfast? No one. Even Asher had stopped since I told him I wasn’t interested. I’d shoved Gunner away, but he’d come back.

The first thing you should know is that I’m not Mason.

When I broke things off with Mason, he hadn’t even put up a fight to keep me. He just accepted it. Of course, he’d already made his choice.

I’m not going to spend all day obsessing over this.

Not over the way Mason had talked about Gunner. Sure, he’d said just as many things about me, told me he loved me. He’d loved us both. Or so he’d claimed. But the way he’d talked about Gunner left me jealous.

I made breakfast for Zeus, then went for a run to clear my head. Outside, an unfamiliar blue truck with tinted windows was parked across the street. Shoving it from my mind, I set off at a brisk pace. Usually, I jogged at a leisurely pace, but I had demons at my heels I needed to outrun. I ran until my legs ached and my lungs burned, and I collapsed at the side of the road.

Shit. Now, how the hell was I going to get back?

I bowed my head between my legs and breathed in deeply, then let out the breath slowly. Walking would take me a long time to get back. Grimacing, I rose to my feet. The blue truck pulled off to the shoulder of the road. The wrong fucking side of the road.

That asshole.

The passenger door flung open.

“Get in,” Gunner said.

Motherfucker. I’d finally calmed down, but then he had to rile me back up. Gritting my teeth, I prayed my legs didn’t give out on me and started the jog back.

He made a U-turn in the middle of the fucking road and followed me.

“Dammit, Ben. Will you just get in?”

What gave him the right to spy on me? To take my dog out and bring me breakfast?

“Look, you don’t have to talk to me or anything. I’m just offering you a ride.”

He’d already taken me for a ride. One I’d gotten way too giddy on.

“All right, listen up, you fucker,” he growled. “Either you get in the truck, or I’ll grab Zeus before you get to the house, and you won’t see him again unless you come for him.”

I stopped. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“We both know I would. Get in.”

God, I hate his stupid face.

I climbed into his truck and slammed the door shut.

“Good morning to you too,” Gunner said.

I was only there so he didn’t kidnap Zeus. No need for conversation.

“All right, then, you’re still not ready to talk. Can you at least tell me when?”

When I didn’t answer, Gunner scowled. “God, you’re so fucking stubborn. How are you going to be mad at me for what Mason wrote in his goddamn book?”

“I’m fucking livid because you used me. This case—it’s serious, and yet you used it as an opportunity to get close to me so you could what…kill me? Was that supposed to be my fate and what? I should be thankful I turned out to be such a good little whore for you? Good enough that you’ve changed your mind?”

“Why do you have to make everything sound worse than it actually is?”

“It doesn’t get any worse than what you’ve done. You and Mason, you both deserved each other.”

“I know we both fucked you over, but it’s not like I knew he was with you while we were still fucking. You can hardly blame me for that.”

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