Page 99 of Hunter

RYLEIGH

I woke up early.Only this morning, I didn’t feel as I usually did.

I felt like I had for the past three days, and I didn’t know why that was, only that I wasn’t going to question it.

My hand moved over my bed absently, pausing when it touched the sheets beside me, frowning a little.

It was still warm.

Had I been sleeping on that side of the bed before and just rolled over to my usual spot before I woke up?

It must be, but there was just something odd about it, considering I didn’t usually roll around in bed at night.

I looked around my room, wondering why it suddenly felt different, yet I couldn’t figure out why that was.

Letting out a small sigh, I climbed out of my bed and got ready for my day.

* * *

It wasmid-afternoon when a knock at my door made my heart strum in excitement.

Only one person was knocking on my door at this time, and I missed him.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I had obsessively thought about another person…

Maybe when I was thirteen and had my first real crush on a boy.

When I realized what it meant to have crushes, Joshua Roberts had definitely taken my teenage heart.

But this wasn’t some adolescent crush that would go away with time.

It was an obsession with a man who, from the outside, didn’t look like he would be good for me or my heart.

I quickly opened the door, only to come up short when I realized someone else could come knocking on my door.

Two someones.

“Well, aren’t you going to invite us in?” Mom asked, her nose wrinkling as she looked around.

The apartment building, although old, was considered luxurious.

And yet, it didn’t meet Vivian Hudson’s high standards.

A flash of annoyance moved through me.

I loved this apartment, but of course, she was going to find something about it to pick apart.

“I’m meeting a friend soon. I don’t have much time to talk,” I said, moving aside so they could pass.

“You don’t have time for your parents?” Mom asked just as she walked inside, and Dad followed behind her.

I looked outside in the hallway, but when there was no sign of Xavier, I closed the door. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be showing up any time soon.

I didn’t want him to meet my parents, not because I was ashamed of him, but because I was embarrassed bythem.

And they would surely say something insulting to him.

I couldn’t have that.

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