Page 51 of Hunt

“I tried yesterday, but he got away,” he told me. “Why?”

“Let me speak to him, okay?” I ordered, hoping he’d let it be.

He groaned, making a face like he was in pain. “I don’t know. I need to speak to him about a few things, like why he betrayed me.”

“Can you speak to him without planting a hole in his head?” I challenged. “Remember what Mikky said, ‘don’t attract unwanted attention’.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll ask him about Riley, and that’s it. I won’t touch him,” he stated.

“Do you promise, Gunner?” I asked, doubting his ability to converse with Shaun without wanting to punch him.

“Scouts honor,” he replied, and when I rolled my eyes at him, he added, “I promise.”

“Fine,” I resigned, returning to my bedroom to dress for class.

I suspected Riley left out a few details of what happened when Shaun broke her phone because she didn’t want Gunner running after him and doing more damage than dislodging a tooth. I’d bet that Shaun and that big buffoon that Shaun hung out with tried to do something terrible, maybe tried to fuck her.

But perhaps the only reason I was thinking that way, was because I found her desirable and want to fuck her do badly, so I assumed other men would like to fuck her too.

And if I wasn’t fucking her and Gunner wasn’t fucking her, I hoped, then she might go wandering and spread her legs for someone else.

I didn’t like the thought of another man fucking her, but worse of all the idea of another man hurting her or forcing himself on her filled me with rage.

Maybe Gunner was the better option to confront Shaun after all. And if Shaun ended up with an arm missing or found dead in a ditch, then he would no longer be a problem for us. We’d have to hide him from the snooping cops, that’s all.

20

Don’t move,” I ordered Shaun as I trapped him in the living room of the frat house. I didn’t spend much time here as I preferred to stay at Ronan’s apartment. He was alone playing Xbox, and Callum was nowhere to be seen, allowing me to confront him alone.

“Riley,” my nostrils flared as his hand automatically went to his mouth, where I’d knocked his tooth out. “Tell me what happened yesterday.”

“She’s bad news, bro,” he stated, twitching and playing with the collar on his polo neck shirt.

I screwed my face up, annoyed at his bullshit statement. “Why didn’t you leave her alone? I told you to keep your dirty fucking hands off her and you defied my orders. You keep pushing me to the edge.”

“She’s bad fucking news, Gunner,” he repeated and I rolled my eyes. Was this the road he was going down? To make up some bullshit to turn me against her. I could see through his little act and ignored it.

“Then after I punched your fucking head in, you defy me again by confronting her and breaking her phone,” I leaned back in the couch and laced my fingers together in no hurry to go anywhere until my job was done.

“Let me show you something,” he said slowly, holding his hand up like he was trying to calm me down. I was calm. This was me being calm.

“Were you trying to fuck her? You already fucked her when I told you not to. Were you trying to touch her again?” I pressed as tiny beads of sweat gathered on his forehead by his hairline.

“No,” he replied, but I didn’t believe him. “Look, let me show you something.”

“Sit the fuck down,” I spat as he stood up over me. “You’re not going anywhere.”

He sat back down and wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. “I found a bug in her phone. I’m telling you she’s bad fucking news.”

“You found what?” He had my attention now, but I wouldn’t believe him on his word.

“A bug in her phone. She entered the basement, walked in uninvited, and recorded our conversation. I’m telling you she’s fucking trying to screw you over,” he explained in a trembling voice.

“Why were you in there? I thought I told you to stay out and return your key?” I demanded an answer.

“I followed her there, curious to see where she was going. I saw her going down the stairwell into the basement and figured she was up to no good, so I followed her.” I shot him a scathing look. “It’s true.”

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