Page 163 of The Hunt

“Yes, we definitely should, or else they might send a search party up here,” I said, turning to the pile of fresh clothes I’d dumped on the bed thirty minutes ago. “They were already suspicious enough about our ‘hike’ earlier.”

“Well, we insisted on it being just the two of us, and then we came back covered in scratches and dirt with twigs in our hair,” Rhett said, brows rising. “So we can’t blame them for wondering what the hell we were really up to out there.”

I giggled, head shaking. “I can’t believe you told them we got chased by a deer,” I said. “I mean… adeer? Really?”

He grinned, dark eyes focused on me. “Well, I would’ve said it was a bear, but I don’t think there’s any in this area.”

It was my turn to playfully smack him on the ass. “Let’s get down there.”

We headed downstairs and into the lodge’s main living area. It was a warm and inviting space with a vaulted ceiling, exposed wooden beams, and a massive stone hearth with a crackling fire.

When Tessa spotted us, she jumped up, lips spread in a teasing smile. “That was the world’s longest shower,” she said, padding over to us. “We were starting to worry you guys drowned.”

I patted my damp head. “I had to wash my hair about five times to get rid of all the stuff from the woods,” I said. “So many damn pine needles.”

“Oh, right.” She took a small step closer, sniffing the air. “Hang on… if you just spent a bazillion years showering, why do you smell like the floor of a dive bar?”

Rhett stifled a laugh by pretending to cough.

“I mean, no offense,” Tessa went on, nose wrinkling. “But IswearI can smell whiskey on you.”

“We brought a bottle with us. It must’ve spilled in the suitcase and gotten on my clothes,” I said, eyes wide with practiced innocence. “I didn’t even notice.”

“Ugh. I hate it when that happens.”

I looked over her shoulder. Nikki was curled up on one of the couches with Ari, but the other one was empty. “Where did Bree and Sloane go?”

Tessa waved a hand. “They drove into town to get some pizza and champagne. They should be back soon.”

“Ooh, champagne? What are we celebrating?”

Tessa’s eyes widened slightly. “Um… just all of us being on vacation together,” she said. “It’s nice, right?”

“Yeah, it’s really nice.”

Her phone chirped, and she frowned at the screen. “Shit, I have to take this. Podcast stuff,” she said. With that, she breezed through the French doors that led out to the moonlit balcony.

I watched her go with a faint smile playing on my lips.

After she broke the story about The Wild Hunt three years ago, her social media accounts had rapidly gone from a few thousand followers to millions, instantly turning her into a bona fide influencer. After graduation, she’d spun her online fame into her dream career: a podcast that was a fun and interesting mix of serious news and gossip.

Sloane, Bree, Nikki, and I were all involved in the podcast project too. Sloane helped out with the legal side of things, while Bree did the marketing, and Nikki—who’d recently started her own makeup artistry business—took care of makeup and styling for all of the filmed podcast sessions, which had a huge audience on YouTube.

As for me, I helped Tessa research and write each episode. It was the perfect job for me, because I could work from home and remain behind the scenes, which meant I could easily keep out of the public eye.

The latter had become very important to me after all the shit that went down on Wildercliff Island, because I’d spent severalmonths afterwards being absolutely hounded by the media for my side of the story, and I couldn’t stand it.

Rhett slung an arm around my shoulder and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. “The meteor shower is happening in half an hour,” he murmured. “Still want to go out and watch it?”

“Of course. Nothing cooler than a meteor shower.”

“Oh, really?” He smirked, grabbing my ass with one hand. “Not even me?”

“Apparently, you were chased by a deer tonight, so I think your cool factor has gone down the drain.”

As we teased each other, Nikki and Ari finally unglued themselves from the couch by the fire—and from each other—and headed over to us. Ari and Rhett struck up a conversation about a football game they’d recently watched together, and Nikki asked me to accompany her to the kitchen.

“I got sick of ordering takeout every night, so I finally learned to cook,” she explained, leaning down to grab a tray from the oven. She set it on the counter and proudly looked over it. “This is a baked goat’s cheese log with fig jam and crushed pistachios. Basically, you cook it just long enough to get the nuts all warm and toasty, and then you finish it with a hot honey drizzle and dip crackers in it.”

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