Page 54 of The Hunted
She shifted her face to the mid-morning sun, letting it warm her. There was a slight chill in the air, but she didn’t feel it. She was still sweating, her body still too warm, but her heart had finally started to slow. She opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. She’d been on autopilot since she decided to go for a run. Her apartment building and neighborhood was a complete blur as she pounded her feet into the pavement.
She kept going until she could no longer feel the unwanted hands on her body, could no longer smell the suffocating scent that burned its way into her sinuses, and her mind finally shut off the voices that haunted her. She pushed herself until her mind shut off and her body wasn’t too far behind.
“You’re fine,” she repeated, hating how quickly she’d been pulled back into the past. She hadn’t had a nightmare in years. Not since the last person she’d gotten close to had seen underneath her armor.
As soon as she exposed her scars the nightmares started.
“And then you had to leave,” she mumbled, pulling her phone out of the sleeve to check her messages:
Santino: I’m sorry you didn’t sleep well, princess. Hopefully the run helps settle whatever was causing you a sleepless night. I have to be honest, I didn’t expect you to be a runner. Though you do kick box, so maybe it makes sense? Anyway, text me later if you’re feeling up to it. Or maybe I can bring you coffee?
Silva’s fingers slide over the touch screen, debating what to type out. She should probably put some distance between them, at least until she buried her past deep enough that her attraction to him wouldn’t cause it to come out.
“Because I’ll invite you in, and I don’t think I’ll let you leave until the morning.”
She had practically jumped Santino in his car last night. Her body was on fire for him the second she figured out Amra was into him. She wasn’t a jealous person. At least she didn’t think she was, giving her barely there love life and the friends she could count on one hand. But something primitive and primal had made her skin run hot and want to claw Amra’s eyes out for even thinking she had a chance with Santino.
He was hers.
Technically, he wasn’t.
They weren’t.
She had no clue what they were doing.
Dating didn’t seem like the right term, but anything less or more than that didn’t seem correct either. He had this pull on her—an invisible string that made her stomach tighten and her pulse race. Even now, she knew she should put space between them but her fingers were typing out a different response.
Silva: actually I hate running
Silva: It’s terrible.
Silva: anyone who enjoys it is a sociopath
Silva: I’m at Bentley Park
Silva: if you have time to bring me the coffee?
Her hands felt clammy for a different reason. She chewed on her thumb waiting for him to respond.
Why him?
The question popped into her mind as she watched the bubbles appear and disappear. She didn’t want to compare him to the last semi-serious relationship she had, he was different and things were different all around this time, but it was hard not to. It took time for Silva to open up to people and want to be around them in both friendship and anything more than that.
Mari had forced herself into Silva’s life. She was like a puppy in a charming way that made Silva let her guard down enough to be intimate with her. But it had taken Mari almost a year before Silva could imagine kissing and touching her.
Santino? She would have probably kissed him had she stayed at the coffee shop where they literally ran into each other. Each interaction after that had only heightened her curiosity about him and her attraction toward him. She couldn’t put her finger on it. She hardly knew him and yet her lips were pulling back into a small smile when she felt her phone buzz and saw his name come across her screen.
Santino: I’ll be there in ten.
Silva: Okie dokie.
Silva: I’m on a bench near the swings.
Silva: I have on purple pants and a black tank top.
She was nervous typing. When she realized what she was doing she got out of her text messages and opened her work email to keep from texting away. It wasn’t like she was hiding behind a bush or something. She was out in the open and he’d have no trouble finding her whenever he showed up. She took a quick whiff of her armpits, not remembering if she put underarm deodorant on before running out of her place.
“I don’t stink, but I don’t smell like roses either.” She started bouncing her leg, wondering if she should tell him to forget it. At least until she went home and showered.
