Page 103 of In The Dark
“It’s that serious?” she asks.
“Yes,” Hunter says without a second thought. “It’s that serious.”
“Okay. I can give you the night off only if you swear on our friendship you’ll be there tomorrow.”
“I will. I’ll be early. I’ll stay late. I will scare the shit out of people like I’ve never scared before. I’ll give the best Halloween performance Adventure Oasis has ever seen.”
“Fine, but I need Leo tonight. I can’t cover for both of your asses.”
“He’ll be there. Thank you, Janey. Really. You’re the best.”
“I know I am.”
They exchange a round of goodbyes, and Hunter’s shoulders sag with relief. He doles out the food onto plates, adding slices of bacon to accompany the pancakes. He takes the seat next to me and touches my knee under the table with a smile.
“You don’t need to skip work for me,” I say.
“I know I don’t, but I want to. When I tell Janey what happened, she’ll understand.”
“Does she know about your…side hustle?”
“You’re making it sound like I belong to a pyramid scheme, angel.” Hunter douses his pancakes in syrup and nods. “But, yes. She knows about my side hustle. She also knows how protective I am of the people I care about, so it won’t come as a surprise.”
“Wait. Do I need to pay you for killing Connor?” I ask, keeping my voice low. “You normally get compensated for that kind of thing, right?”
“Yeah, but your money is no good here.” He smiles at me. “Instead, how about dinner on November 1st?”
“I think my calendar is free.” My smile matches his, and butterflies swarm in my stomach. “It’s a date.”
THIRTY-SIX
HUNTER
I buryConnor and his hands in the back corner of my property, as far away from the house as I can get. I don’t want Max to be able to find any trace of him, so I bury the tarp and the knife too. There’s relief when I toss the last shovel full of dirt over his body. I don’t care about my calloused palms or the sunburn on the back of my neck.
He’s gone, and I’m top of the fucking world.
I whistle on my way to the back porch, knowing I need to get ready to head to work soon. Spending the last twenty-four hours with Max has been magical and exactly what I needed. We stayed in our pajamas all day yesterday after Skyler and Leo left for Fright Nights, curled up on the couch watching shitty television shows.
She woke up abruptly in the middle of the night after a nightmare scared the shit out of her. I turned on the light and held her until she fell back asleep, her head on my chest and my heart in her hands.
I’ll do that every night if she needs me to.
I toss the shovel under the steps and dust off my hands, glad that’s done. There’s a glass of cold water waiting for me in the kitchen and a smile face doodled on a ripped paper towel. I grinand walk down the hall, finding Max on my bed, a book in her lap.
“Did you steal my romance books?” she asks, not looking up from the page she’s reading.
“You’re just now realizing that? Sweetheart. I took them weeks ago.”
“Of course you did.” Max uses her fingers to hold her spot and sticks out her tongue. “Do you plan on returning them?”
“Nope. Why bother transporting them back to your house when you can read them here?” I take off my shirt and head for the bathroom. “It also gives you a reason to stick around.”
“Kidnapping my books is a heinous crime, Hunter.” She appears in the doorway, smiling at me in the mirror. “How are you going to pay for your sins?”
“By building you a shelf in my room and filling it with all the same books you have at your place. You’ll have multiple copies of your favorite stories, so technically it’s not kidnapping anymore.”
“You’re going to build me a shelf?”
