Page 17 of The Hunter

“Mmhmm. Some things are better left unknown.” He turned his head toward her and looked her up and down. “You finally feeling better?”

“Yeah. I survived.”

“Of course you did. You’re tough as fucking nails.”

Lacey hummed as she glanced down at the faint scars on the side of her calf. They were small and close together, forming a large circle that ran behind her leg, left by the sharp teeth of a muckstalker. That encounter had been only one of her many brushes with death since waking up in this world.

But she’d held on through it all, even when things had been at their bleakest. Just like she had on Earth.

Lacey held out the bowl of sweetseeds to Cole, and he scooped up a handful, popping a few into his mouth. Silence stretched between them, though it wasn’t at all unpleasant. They were simply two friends quietly enjoying nature.

Staring out at the jungle, she watched leaves sway and colorful, alien birds flit from branch to branch. She would never stop being amazed by how much her life had changed…and yet was the same.

Back on Earth, she had lived in a tiny, one-bedroom fixer-upper on a small patch of land. She’d owned two goats and a little apiary, and had run her own business from a climate-controlled shed, selling honey, homemade bath salts, bath bombs, soaps, lips balms, lotions, incense, and teas. She’d been damn proud of it.

And what was she doing now?

Making many of the same things, except without all the stress of bills and taxes.

“What would you be doing if you were still on Earth?” Lacey asked.

“Right now? Probably either working or sleeping.”

She chuckled. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

Cole tossed a couple more seeds into his mouth, chewing contemplatively as he looked out at the trees. “Same thing I was doing before. Building shit.”

“You’re still doing that here.”

“Yeah, but I’m doing it for my own enjoyment…and it makes everyone else’s lives happier and easier. I call that a win-win. Back there, I was just doing as I was told. I was up before sunrise every day, lucky to be home before sundown, busting my ass to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head. During my free time, I’d go drinking with my buddies, work out at the gym, or bury myself in my hobbies…basically as a way to run away from the truth of my life.”

Lacey frowned. “What truth?”

Brow deeply furrowed, Cole dropped his gaze to his lap. His voice was soft when he answered. “That I was alone.”

Her lips parted in surprise. She never would’ve expected such an admission from him. Cole always presented himself as a strong, capable, confident man, seemingly without a care in the world. He joked and laughed and was always in good spirits. This was the first time she’d seen him so vulnerable, and her heart went out to him.

Reaching out, she lightly touched his arm. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really. But at the same time…” He let out a slow breath that ended in a humorless chuckle. “You really want to hear about my shit?”

Lacey withdrew her hand and gave him a little smile. “Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”

“Fair enough. You may find this hard to be believe, but back on Earth, I was a complete dick.”

“Was?”

“Yes, was. I identify as an asshole now, thank you.”

Lacey laughed. “No argument from me on that.”

Cole scoffed. “Not even a little? Not going to say, you’re actually not a bad guy, Cole?”

Something in her softened, and she smiled. “You are a good guy, Cole.”

He stared at her, opened his mouth as though to reply, then snapped it shut again. Drawing in a deep breath, he let it out in an audible exhalation. “Thanks. I know I wasn’t before.”

He ran a hand through his short hair as he turned his gaze forward. “My mom died when I was little, and my dad worked a lot, so he wasn’t around much. He was a no-bullshit man’s man, right? A tough guy. He taught me a lot of the stuff that’s helped us out here. But he never set an example beyond that. I never learned how to, like…express my emotions in positive ways, or what a healthy relationship looked like.