Page 50 of The Hunt

I nodded, lips pressed in a tight line as I wondered why he was pretending not to know Ev.

Was he trying to distance himself from whatever mess she’d gotten herself into, or was he just trying to distance himself from the past version of himself that used to know her?

A darker thought crossed my mind. What if he wasn’t lying, and he genuinely didn’t know her? What if Ev was only ever pretending to know Jake when she gave me that whole spiel about him being a terrible person? Hell, she could even be mentally ill, spinning a web of lies in her head that she honestly thought was the truth.

The thought unsettled me, but in the end, it didn’t matter. Whether she was caught in a lie or hiding something else, one thing was crystal clear to me—I couldn’t let her die. I didn’t like her, but the way she’d gotten under my skin made me want to protect her anyway. Fiercely.

I clenched my jaw and stared straight ahead at the altar, considering the issue. On my own, I didn’t have the power to petition to have Ev removed from the Hunt. Too many people stood in my way. Too many powerful hands holding the strings.

That left me with only one option.

When the game started, I’d have to hunt Ev down before anyone else could find her. Keep her safe and hidden until she was the last one standing.

Then I could claim her for myself.

11

Everly

The shower waterpoured over me, scalding hot. I welcomed the sting against my skin, as if it could burn away the exhaustion from the day’s back-to-back lectures, study groups, and assignment-writing. It would also be nice if it could burn away the grime of everything I’d been through lately.

Jake.His name slithered through my thoughts yet again.

I still couldn’t believe that he’d managed to skate away from what he’d done to me without so much as a slap on the wrist. After everything he’d done, and everything he’dtriedto do, he was just out there living his life without a care in the world.

The thought made my hands ball into fists as the water streamed over me, my breath coming faster.

As furious as I was with Jake, Rhett wasn’t far from my mind either. A completely different kind of frustration swirled around him. That maddening smirk, his infuriating arrogance, the way he could go from being the world’s biggest asshole to unexpectedly generous and protective…

Dare I say… even a little sweet?

“No, Idon’tdare say that,” I said to myself out loud, voice echoing loudly in the steamy shower. There was nothing sweet about Rhett Sinclair.

Still, I didn’t know what to make of him, and it pissed me off that he occupied so much of my brain.

I turned the shower off and stepped out, grabbing a towel to pat down my dripping hair. I didn’t bother drying off my body. To me, there was almost nothing better than slipping straight into one of the hotel’s terrycloth gowns after a shower. They were incredibly soft and comfy, and every day, there was a new one hanging on the back of the door, courtesy of the daily housekeeping service.

I padded out of the bathroom, steam trailing in my wake, and froze mid-step.

Rhett was standing there.

I didn’t even have time to process what I was seeing before a startled shriek escaped my lips. At the same time, my arms flew up instinctively, clutching the towel to my chest.

“Wh-what the hell are you doing here?” I managed to splutter, my voice shrill with shock.

Rhett didn’t flinch. Didn’t look away. Just stood there, his gaze steady, sharp, and unapologetic, likeIwas the one intruding.

For a mortifying moment, I couldn’t tell if the heat on my face was from the shower or the way his eyes flickered down, then back up, taking in my body.

“I wanted to see you,” he finally said, taking a step closer.

“Well, you’ve certainly seen me now,” I muttered as I awkwardly wriggled around with the towel, trying to wrap it around myself without exposing anything to him.

I knew it was too late, though—he’d definitely seen my entire nude body when I first stepped out of the bathroom.

He grabbed a fresh robe off the hook on the door and held it out to me. I snatched it from him, heart racing.

“Listen,” I began as I wrapped the soft fabric around myself and cinched the waist with the belt. “It was very generous of you to give me this room, but if you’re going to let yourself in here whenever you want, then I think I should leave. I didn’t agree to an arrangement like that.”

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