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“What is it?” I ask.
“Finley switched schools.” She grins widely as she says it. “I have a feeling it was because of me. The break up was probably super hard on him. He probably hated seeing me with Reed.”
My heart aches at her words as I remember the previous night.
Finley didn’t switch schools. He’s dead. And he came really close to killing me.
We finish eating our breakfast and thankfully all mention of Finley is long forgotten. As we’re about to head to class, Hunter insists on taking a picture of Harper and me together. He sends the picture to Griffin before handing my phone back to me.
Griffin stays quiet, never responding to the text.
East Raven.
Later that evening, I sit on the living room floor to do my homework. I’ve changed out of the ridiculous yellow dress that I will never wear again and am instead wearing a comfortable hoodie that I stole from Hunter. The thing is long enough to be a dress on me, but it’s so comfortable.
Hunter shakes his head at me when he walks into the living room and sees me. “You realize you could sit on the couch. Or the dining room table. Or at the desk in your room.”
I don’t bother looking up from my book. “I like the floor.”
“You’re weird.” He sits down on the couch, looking at his phone. “You have a text from the boyfriend.”
I roll my eyes at him. “I don’t have a boyfriend—just an annoying bodyguard who wants to micromanage my non-existent social life.”
“If I let you decide, you’d never leave the house.” He gives me a pointed look.
“And what’s wrong with that?” I ask, genuinely curious.
He ignores my question. “Are you going to text Griffin back?”
I pull my phone out, curious about what he said.
Griffin didn’t respond to the text Hunter sent from my phone this morning. In fact, he’s been pretty quiet. I’m pretty sure that Griffin thinks I’m into Hunter—he would be correct about that. But what he doesn’t understand is that Hunter doesn’t like me back. He thinks he’s always around because he’s in love with me. If he knew the truth, about the hit, my bodyguard, and how many times I’ve been almost killed, he’d probably run far, far away. I wouldn’t blame him if he did. Sometimes I wish I could run away from this hit.
GRIFFIN:Want to hang out at East Raven tonight?
“What should I feign tonight? A sprained ankle?” I try to keep my tone light, but I am a little bummed. Not about missing the hang out—I would, in fact, rather stay home tonight. But I am tired of lying.
“We can go,” Hunter says.
I look up, my eyes wide in surprise. “What?”
He puts his phone down, looking at me. “I don’t know for certain, but I imagine that Finley was the one who left the notes.”
Right.
I hadn’t thought about that.
“But what if I don’t want to go?” I ask.
He stands up from the couch. “Too bad you don’t have a choice. You, Cove Lawson, need to get out of this cabin. And, as Harper always says, you desperately need a boyfriend.”
“I donot.” My face grows warm, so I lower my head, letting my hair cover my cheeks. “I’m only seventeen. I have plenty of time for boys when I’m older.”
That or I’ll die without ever being kissed.
Wow. That’s a depressing thought.
Hunter holds out a hand to help me up. I accept his help, even though I’m not completely sold on going tonight.
