Page 46 of The Chase

“I said forget it. You’re right, it’s time for bed. Thank yousomuch for escorting me upstairs.” The sarcasm oozes like molasses. “Now will you please get out of my room?”

He hesitates for a second. Then his shoulders roll up and stiffen, and he gives a curt nod. “Goodnight.”

I let out a frazzled groan the moment he’s gone.

Dammit. Me and my stupid mouth. I really need to stop blurting out exactly what’s on my mind all the time.

__________

A loud thump followed by an even louder curse jolts me awake the next morning.

I’m a light sleeper, so the slightest noise can pull me from a state of deep slumber into wide-awake panic mode. Wild-eyed, I sit up and check the time on my phone. It’s seven-thirty. On a Sunday.

Which one of my roommates is making such a ruckus? I must know this in order to know who I’ll be murdering.

They better not wake Brenna. I assume she’s asleep next to me, but when I look over, I realize I’m alone. I swear she’d said she’d be right up last night.

“Dammit,” someone mutters.

Brenna’s voice.

I fling the blankets off and jump out of bed. I open my door at the same time two other doors swing open. Fitz and Hunter appear in their respective doorways, sporting boxers and some serious bed head.

All three of us gape when we notice whose room Brenna is exiting.

She freezes like a forest animal that just heard a twig snap. She’s wearing nothing but her camisole and black bikini underwear. Her jeans are slung over one arm, and her hair is ’80s-rock-level disheveled.

She meets my eyes and shakes her head in warning. “Not one word.”

I don’t think I’m capable of words. My tongue is on the floor, rendering me speechless.

Brenna is doing the walk of shame out of Mike Hollis’ room?

This is unfathomable to me.

Hunter opens his mouth, but she silences him with a low growl.

“Not. One. Word.”

Fitzy shakes his head in resignation, turns around, and closes his bedroom door.

“I’ll call you later,” Brenna murmurs as she passes me on the way to the stairs.

I nod wordlessly.

She’s gone a few minutes later, the sound of a car engine telling me she arranged for a ride home.

“Wow,” I say.

To my surprise, Hunter follows me into my room and throws himself on the bed. His abs bunch up and ripple as he gets comfortable. “That was unreal,” he says drowsily.

I stare at him. “Is there a reason why you’re lying in my bed?”

“Not really.” He rolls onto his side, thrusting out one long, muscular leg. He cuddles with my pillow and lets out a contented sigh. “’Night.”

Unbelievable. He’s fast asleep within seconds, but I don’t even have the energy to kick him out. It’s too early in the morning, and I’ve only gotten about four hours of sleep.

So I do what any tired twenty-one-year-old woman would do.

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