Page 18 of The Hunt

I grinned and waved a hand, signaling for her to go ahead. We’d lost Bree and Sloane to a sexy masked guy and a pretty woodland nymph earlier, so I was already half-expecting to lose Tessa at some point too. “Sure! I’ll be okay. The house isn’t that far.”

“Thanks, babe!” She grinned and took the vampire’s hand, and they disappeared into the crowd.

I headed down the path, rubbing my bare arms as goosebumps cropped up all over them. By the bonfire, the air was warm and toasty, but out here, the air was cold, and the breeze blowing through the trees wasn’t helping.

My breath hitched as I caught sight of the smaller fire that the Wilders had marked out as their exclusive spot for the evening. Jake was sitting on a log, loudly telling the others a story about some beach club he’d visited last summer.

Thankfully, he was too distracted by his own bullshit to notice me creeping down the path near the fire. The golden mask around the upper half of my face probably helped too.

I let out a small sigh of relief and kept walking. A familiar deep voice echoed through the frigid air a minute later.

“You lost, princess?”

I stopped in my tracks and whirled around to see Rhett staring down at me, dark eyes looking even more intense than usual due to the creepy skull paint on his handsome face.

Ugh.Apparently, my mask wasn’t much of a disguise after all. Unless he called everyone ‘princess’.

“I’m fine,” I said curtly, lifting my chin high. “I’m just going to the bathroom.”

He jerked a thumb in the opposite direction. “The house is that way.”

“Oh.” I looked around, brows furrowing.Damn. Just a minute ago, I’d genuinely believed I was heading in the right direction, but Rhett was right. If I’d continued down my current path, I could’ve wound up hopelessly lost in the woods for the whole night.

Rhett’s eyes narrowed slightly as he regarded me. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I… um… thanks,” I muttered, stepping past him.

“Ev. Wait.”

I turned back to him, my forehead wrinkling. “What?”

“I didn’t just stop you to give you directions. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Oh. Um… okay.” I hated how squeaky my voice suddenly sounded, but I couldn’t help it. “What is it?”

“Well, I know you think I’m a giant asshole, and I fully admit that Iamin some respects, but still…” He trailed off and flashed me a smile; one that probably always got him exactly what he wanted from women. “I think we got off on the wrong foot when we met. I want to fix that.”

My eyes narrowed. “Rhett, I saw you beating up a guy half your size like some sort of pathetic high school bully. I doubt there’s much you could say to fix that,” I said. “Besides, I gave you the opportunity to explain yourself that night, and you said no.”

“I can explain it now.” He paused and rubbed his jaw, eyes slowly traveling over the lines of my dress. “Unless you’re too busy getting yourself lost in the woods.”

I raised a scornful brow. “I thought you said it was none of my business.”

“It’s not, and I really shouldn’t be telling you anything at all.” Rhett took a step closer. “But I want to anyway.”

I swallowed thickly, pulse picking up. “Why?”

“Because I don’t like it when hot girls hate me for no reason.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “Wow, what a line. Truly the height of romance.”

“Well, you haven’t run away screaming yet, so it obviously worked,” he said, baring his teeth in another wolfish grin. “I thought I might have to chase you through the woods to get you to talk to me.”

“Okay, whatever. Go ahead and explain,” I said, waving a nonchalant hand.

On the inside, I wasn’t nonchalant at all. I was practically hyperventilating in my mind, trying to push away thoughts of Rhett chasing me and pinning me against a tree, his skull-painted face looming over me as his hot breath fanned over my throat and—

Stop it,I chastised myself. I’d already dated one major asshole. I didn’t need to start obsessing and fantasizing over another one.

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