Page 81 of From Now On

So am I, even though the second ball I roll follows the same path and doesn’t add any more pins to my total tally.

When the rest of our group returns from the concession stand a few minutes later, Hunter’s hands are empty.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

HUNTER

Igroan and roll over, realizing my mistake a second too late. I plant a palm on the rug just in time to keep my face from colliding with the floor instead, sighing and sitting up on the couch. I check the time on my phone.

Two thirty-seven a.m.

No missed calls.

This is Sean’s pattern, though. The first stumble has the quickest recovery. I probably won’t hear from him for another couple of weeks. Maybe even a month. But there’s always another fall after the first call, and knowing that’s coming feels like being followed around by a storm cloud.

I run my hands through my hair, wide-awake in the middle of the night. Stand, stretch, and then head toward the kitchen. Flick on the light above the kitchen sink and stare out the window for a good minute before heading into the bathroom. I piss, wash my hands, grimace at the dark circles under my eyes in the mirror, and then head back into the kitchen.

The fridge door is open, a pair of bare, smooth legs visible beneath the shiny silver.

I recognize the striped fuzzy socks.

“Hey.”

Eve stumbles back a step, straight into the kitchen island. The fridge door swings open, the handle hitting the stove with a low thud.

Wide eyes meet mine as she yanks a pair of headphones off. “Shit. You scared me,” Eve says, lifting one hand and pressing her chest like she’s trying to physically slow her heart rate. “I thought the light got left on by accident.”

I clear my throat and force my eyes to stay on hers. No way is she wearing a bra under her T-shirt. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s my fault for walking around wearing these.” She pulls her phone out of the waistband of her shorts and sets it on the island along with the headphones she had on. “I couldn’t sleep, so I started listening to the latestC is for Crimeepisode. It released at midnight.”

She’s walking around listening to a serial killer podcast in the middle of the night? No wonder she’s jumpy.

That also means… “They’re not all out yet?”

“Nope. They release weekly. Episode nine just came out.”

“Damnit. I’m already on episode eight.”

“Episode eight—you kept listening to it?” Eve sounds stunned.

“Yeah, I wanted to know how they caught him. Right now, my money’s on the postal worker guy. I’ve been listening to it on my runs this week.” I walk toward the fridge and glance inside. “What were you getting?”

“Huh?”

“In the fridge. What were you getting?”

“Oh. Uh, something to drink.” Eve’s standing close enough I can feel the warmth radiating from her body. Or maybe that’s just mine overheating, reacting to how close she is. Either way, it’s fucking distracting.

“Your options are water or blue Gatorade,” I tell her.

“What’s with all the blue Gatorade?”

“Ask Aidan. It’s his favorite flavor.”

Eve reaches past me to grab a bottle of water, her wrist grazing my bicep, and my cock immediately starts to harden.Perfect. Hiding a boner isreallyeasy when you’re only wearing boxers.

My gaze snags on the green glob on the top shelf of the fridge. Since we couldn’t find any smaller cups, we decided to make the Jell-O shots in a square baking dish.

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