Hunter
“You’ve been staringat that door for twenty minutes now,” Chris said, jostling me with his shoulder. “What the hell are you waiting for?”
I turned to him, one eyebrow raised. “None of your business.”
He smirked. “I think I already know. It’s her, right?”
“Fuck off.” I grinned and shoved him away from my locker.
We were back on our usual good terms, as long as he didn’t hit on Laney again. If he even tried that shit for a second, he’d be out of the crew permanently.
He grinned back at me and clapped a hand on my back. “Later, man.”
He turned and headed toward the cafeteria. I stayed by the lockers and checked the time on my phone, pulse racing.
Laney was late. She hadn’t messaged to explain herself, either.
Maybe she wasn’t coming. Maybe two cops were gonna walk through that entryway instead, cuffs at the ready. It wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world. Wouldn’t be undeserved, either.
Three gangly guys from my homeroom stepped through the entryway, laughing with each other, and then suddenly she was there, stepping in a few yards behind them.
I froze in place, staring at the face of the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. Her dark hair was down, fanning around her face and over her shoulders, and her skin looked radiant in the early morning light streaming into the hall. Her plush lips were parted, like she was slightly out of breath.
She caught sight of me and walked over to my locker, cheeks tinged with pink. Now that she was closer, I could see goosebumps peppering the bare parts of her skin.
I took my plaid school scarf off and wrapped it around her neck, taking my time so I could feel her silky hair on my fingertips. “You didn’t call the cops,” I said in a low voice, smile curving up my lips.
Laney smiled faintly in return, emerald eyes sparkling. “I told you I wasn’t going to.”
She probably should have.
After all the shit I did to her, she had no reason to forgive me. I tormented her at school for weeks, and then I moved the game up to literal abduction and torture. Anyone else would’ve called the fucking FBI as soon as they left my house. But instead of turning me in, Laney decided to give me a chance.
I wasn’t going to waste that chance. I was going to do anything and everything to win her trust and make her see how fucking sorry I was. How much I regretted everything I’d done, and how I would do anything for her now that I knew the truth about her. I wanted her to know it in every cell of her body, from the top of her head right down to the tips of her toes.
There was a beat of silence, and then Laney spoke up again. “There’s something I need to tell you,” she said in a tremulous voice.
“What is it?”
Her cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of pink. “Adam caught me leaving your house yesterday, and he took me to get a drink with him and Trina. They were really suspicious of why I was at your place, so I made something up, but they didn’t believe me,” she said, words tumbling out a mile a minute. “I needed to tell them something real to get them off my back, so I told them how we’re looking for the person who hurt Lindsay, and how you thought it was me. I didn’t tell them anything else, though. So you’re not in any trouble with anyone for what happened on the weekend. But I’m sorry for saying anything at all. I know you probably didn’t want anyone else to—”
I smiled again and pressed an index finger over her lips. “It’s okay. I already know.”
“You do?”
I nodded. “Adam came to talk to me about it this morning. He said you guys spent all afternoon working on a list.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you mad at me for telling them?”
“No. You didn’t really have a choice. You had to tell them something. And I’m actually glad Adam heard it from you instead of me.” I paused and ran a hand through my hair. “I think we both know I’m not the best communicator.”
Her shoulders sagged with relief, and she smiled again. The sight of it made my emotions churn like there was a fucking rollercoaster in my chest.
“That’s true,” she said. She tilted her chin to one side. “Anyway, why did you text me to meet up so early? Do you want to see the list?”
“You can show me later. Right now, there’s something else I need to do.” I reached down and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”