Page 24 of The Hunt

“You know her?”

“Oh, er… sort of.” He rubbed his jaw. “I met her outside one of my classes last week.”

“Well, stay away from her,” I said. “Trust me. She’s not worth it.”

JJ’s forehead wrinkled with confusion. He stayed silent for a beat, clearly waiting for me to say more. When I didn’t, he nodded. “Okay,” he said. He cocked his head and frowned. “By the way, what happened to that other girl you were telling us about a while back? The one you thought was perfect for you.”

I clenched my jaw and shook my head again. “Turned out she wasn’t so perfect,” I muttered.

I looked back at the fire. The flames flickered wildly, throwing sharp shadows across the clearing, and I stared into them, as if they could somehow burn away the anger still churning inside me.

I couldn’t stop replaying the conversation with Ev in my mind, each word dripping with the kind of hypocrisy that made my skin fucking crawl. She’d been so smooth at first, spinning her web with a sweet smile and doe-eyed looks, pretending to be open and honest with me like I was with her.

But it was all an act.

My frown deepened as I recalled what she said about having so-called proof of the ‘bad things about him’.What the hell was that about? Was she hinting that she had a sex tape she’d secretly recorded of Jake with another guy? Did she plan on releasing it online in an attempt to humiliate him?

I had no idea, but I did know that I wasn’t going to let her pull any shit like that. No fucking way.

Another one of her remarks echoed in my mind a moment later.I bet he’d love to get rid of me, but unfortunately for him, I’m not going anywhere.

I gritted my teeth, exhaling sharply through my nose.

Ev was wrong if she thought anyone at Hollingsworth would put up with her particular brand of bullshit. I wasn’t sure if Jake actually knew her, let alone told her that he wanted her gone… but if he had, he was damn well right.

We had to get rid of her.

5

Everly

“Excuse me!”I called out to the blonde girl in front of me as she stepped out of the lecture hall. “You dropped your pen!”

I stooped to pick the pen up as I spoke, and the girl turned back to me with a bright smile. “Oh, thank—”

She cut herself off abruptly, and her smile vanished, replaced with a sour expression. Then she snatched the pen from my hand and stood up straight. “Thanks,” she muttered before turning and stalking away.

“You’re welcome,” I said under my breath, wondering what on earth her problem was.

Come to think of it, what waseveryone’sproblem today? It was so weird. My first class had been fine, but the next one was full of people whispering to each other behind their hands, and it always seemed to happen after they caught a glimpse of me. A couple of girls had even glared daggers at me and then went on to ignore my presence like I was a ghost after I tried saying hi to them.

I honestly had no idea what was going on. I could only assume that everyone was hungover from the weekend and in foul moods as a result.

I put my sunglasses on and set off across campus, heading for the library. On my way, I passed the West End Café and spotted Tessa, Bree, and Sloane through the window, huddled at a table with tall latte glasses.

Shit.

I stopped in my tracks. Had I forgotten about a meetup with the girls? I racked my brains, then realized I hadn’t checked our group chat for the last three hours. I’d been too caught up with my back-to-back classes.

I stepped into the café and hurried over to the table. “Sorry, I haven’t even had a chance to look at the chat today!” I said. “I’ve been so busy with classes. I must’ve missed—”

As I spoke, Tessa picked up her bag and plopped it right on the chair I was about to slide into.

“Oh, sorry. Was this a private thing?” I asked as a spike of hurt twisted in my chest. I tried to play it off with a casual smile, but it barely held. It hadn’t occurred to me that I might be intruding.

Tessa gave me a saccharine smile that didn’t meet her eyes. “No, it’s not private. More likeexclusive,” she said in a biting tone. “No raging homophobes allowed.”

My eyes flicked over to the other girls. Sloane wouldn’t look at me, and Bree’s face was set in a mask of disdain.

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