Page 67 of Dolls & Daggers
Bunny greeted me earlier, but she didn’t ask about Dove, which I find odd. After seeing me here alone, why wouldn’t she ask where my girlfriend, her best friend, is?
It’s a little weird.
Does she know who Dove really is?
I’ve always wondered how those videos make it to the police station. Dove doesn’t seem like the type to edit footage into the eerie, cinematic style they always appear in. She hates it when marketing asks aboutlayouts or design choices, always huffing about how she can’t figure it out to save her life.
Is Bunny in on it?
“The Shadow Siren struck again. We haven’t released details yet. Want an exclusive?” Hunter asks, tearing his gaze away from Bunny’s table.
“Yeah, that sounds good. Dove sure as hell isn’t letting me write about the Doll anytime soon, so I should probably give that one up for now.”
“How are things with you two?” Hunter asks, and for once, he sounds like he genuinely cares—even though his knee bounces restlessly, his fingers flex around his beer, and his eyes keep flicking sideways, trying to catch glimpses of Bunny in his peripheral vision.
“Things are good.” My foot taps against the stool’s lower bar. Whether it’s Hunter’s anxiety bleeding into my space or my own unease about Dove’s whereabouts, I don’t know. “They’re great, actually. Life-changing, once I got out of my own way.”
He claps me on the back. “I’m happy for you both, truly. You seem a lot better. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy with a girlfriend before.”
I pick up my phone, giving him an opening to let his gaze drift where he wants. “Why don’t you man up and make a move?”
“You think I haven’t tried?” he asks bitterly.
“I hate to say it, Hunt. But maybe you should let her go then. Or force her hand. She doesn’t like seeing you with other women. She went ballistic about you kissing Dove—which I still haven’t forgiven you for—so give her a taste of her own medicine. She clearly cares. Maybe if you act like youdon’t, she’ll finally face her feelings.”
He scoffs. “Ican’t. She’s got me so wrapped around her finger I’d sit and watch while she let him fuck her if she asked me to.”
My head whips toward him, an incredulous look on my face as I try not to choke on my drink. “I’m sorry…what?”
He snorts. “I’d kill him afterward, of course. But that goddamn woman has me under her spell, and I’m at my fucking wit’s end. I know she has feelings for me. I just can’t push her. She puts up this strong front, but that’s all it is—a facade of indifference because her husband hurt her so badly I don’t know if she’ll ever trust another man like that again.”
I don’t know the full extent of Bunny’s story. Dove keeps telling me I can ask, but it’s not hers to share. I think she encourages Bunny and me to spend time together because she doesn’t want her friend to feel left out now that she’s in a relationship.
But honestly? I just want Bunny and Hunter to get their shit together so we can all be happy.
Hunter exhales sharply. “A man’s pride can only take so much.”
“Ever wonder why she keeps dating?”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you ever just offered her a one-night stand? A chance to fuck yourselves out of each other’s systems?” I think back to that night—Dove, sitting a few stools away, making the same proposition.
The memory of how she felt beneath my fingertips. The warmth of her skin and the heated look in her eyes. The moment I realized she felt the same way I did.
The moment everything changed.
Hunter’s gaze shifts, now studying Bunny with something new simmering in his amber depths. “I want more from her than that. I’d rather have nothing than a taste of happiness just to have her rip it away.”
“Maybe she needs a taste first.” I shrug. “Then she’ll be hooked. And you can go on to have annoying little babies that look exactly like you, just like you’ve always dreamed.”
Hunter has always wanted a big family. As an only child, he never had siblings and only had a few friends besides me. He always used to say he wanted enough kids to make a baseball team. I don’t know Bunny well, only hearing one-sided bits and pieces of their historyfrom Hunter, but I think his need to settle down scares the shit out of her.
“Tone down the long-term intensity, Hunt. I know you love her, I still have no idea how, or why, but I know you do. But maybe what Bunny needs is a good fucking, and that’s it. I hate to be crude about it, but I think Dove would agree if she were here.”
Hunter mulls over the information as he continues watching the object of his obsession with renewed curiosity. “WhereisDove tonight?” he murmurs, uninterested.
I check my phone discreetly. Her dot is still moving. In one swift moment, my resolve snaps.
