Page 10 of Accidentally Kidnapping the Hitman

Jesus Christ. I turn back to the bustling street, too overwhelmed to look at her anymore. Does Annie know I’m not Wyatt? Is she messing with me right now, saying what I’ve always longed to hear? Trying to provoke a reaction? Or does she really think she’s confessing these things to my brother?

The city park saves me from getting lost in my own muddled thoughts, its black wrought iron gate propped open to make the entrance. Streetlamps follow the path inside, lighting a winding trail through the sudden greenery. We turn and follow it, the air here scented with soil and fresh leaves.

The trees are bigger inside the park, looming high above the streetlamps and blocking the stars. There are plenty of people here too, lazing on picnic blankets on the shadowy grass or dancing around portable speakers in the distance.

We keep to the trail. The food trucks aren’t too far inside the park, all clustered in a copse of silver birch trees. There’s a taco truck, a pizza guy sliding disks of dough in and out of his oven at lightning speed, a noodle stand, curries and burgers and falafel. The mingling scents make my mouth water, and my gut growls loud enough to shake the earth.

Annie laughs, delighted, and bops my shoulder with her chin. “You should have said you were starving.”

“Oh, I’m always hungry.”

It’s true. Hungry for food, for good coffee, for a bike rumbling beneath me and the wind in my face. Hungry forher.I’m a man of appetites.

Annie, though, is in no rush. She insists on reading every single menu, leading us around the trucks one by one. At every damn truck, the food smells so good I practically drool down my shirt. At every truck, she hums and pulls me on to the next.

“You don’t like any of them?” I say at last, my whole stomach tensed from trying to keep the growls at bay. If we need to go somewhere else… sure, we can do that. But let’s get moving before I gnaw off my own arm.

Haven’t felt all that hungry until just now—just my constant, low-level background snackiness. But the scents from these food trucks has woken the beast, and I’m ready to demolish a burger or three.

Maybe it’s Annie’s presence. Definitely feels like my body is moreawakearound her, all my nerve endings sparking beneath my clothes. Colors are more vivid tonight, and the air tastes extra fresh as I drag it into my lungs.

“Sorry.” Annie grins at me, mischief sparkling in her eyes. “I’m ready to choose now. What are you getting?”

Anything. Everything! Fuck.

“I’m going for noodles,” Annie says. “Should we divide and conquer?”

“Yeah, okay.”

I’ve never moved so fast to a burger truck in my life. Honestly, I mostly pick the burgers ‘cause the line is short and moving fast. I have time to wait impatiently in line, then order a giant burger and fries combo, collect it, then get to Annie’s truck in time to pay for her meal.

“Hey!” She tries to swat me away, but the deal is already done. The guy at the cash register hands me my change and nods politely, not bothered at all by who pays. “I’m supposed to be treatingyoutonight, remember?”

Yeah, no. That’s not gonna happen. I’m not gonna steal a whole night with the girl of my dreams, have the closest thing I’ll ever have to date with her, and letAnniepay for dinner. Not in a million years.

“What did you order?” I peer over the top of her head, watching veggies and noodles hiss and sizzle in the wok. The steam smells like garlic and black pepper, and I sniff greedily.

“Black bean tofu with noodles and broccoli.”

I nod once, stomach growling. “Good shit.”

Annie snorts and elbows my noisy gut. “Wow, you’re such a foodie. I never knew.”

We eat over by an oak tree, both sitting and leaning against its gnarled trunk. There’s a root digging into my left ass cheek, but honestly, as we dig into our food in the moonlight, I’ve never been more comfortable.

Until Annie glances at my burger and says casually, “So you’re eating meat again?”

My stomach drops. Wyatt is veggie these days? I pause with a handful of hot, salty fries halfway to my mouth, and when I finally speak, all I can think to say is, “Guess so.”

Annie looks me dead in the eye. Her gaze is calm and steady and so fucking knowing. “Interesting.”

“…Uh-huh.”

I stuff those fries into my mouth, wishing I could gag myself forever. Why didn’t I think about whatWyattwould order? Why’d I just beeline to the scent of beef like a Neanderthal? I may be a hit man, but I’d be a godawful spy—forgetting my cover at the first whiff of dinner.

Annie scoops up a mouthful of noodles, so deft with her chopsticks. She’s still watching me, and she raises an eyebrow as she chews. Daring me to admit that I’m not Wyatt Kinnear, not her best friend at all, and not on the verge of marrying some guy named Brent. I’m Dean, the fuck-up twin, and I stole a whole night with her out of sheer greediness. I’m a deadly hit man, and Ilether put a bag over my head and abduct me.

I swallow, forcing the food down my dry throat. Suddenly, I’m not starving anymore. Everything tastes like cardboard, and the burger’s not sitting right.

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