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I’d nevereverfound a reason to hug someone like that, and definitely not someone who I barely liked on a good day. It was totally out of character. And when he pointed out how it could be misunderstood, I rushed to correct my sudden departure from sanity.

What the hell was happening to me?

Sadly, it didn’t end there. My eyes naturally followed the mysterious man everywhere he went, wishing quietly he’d say something to me, hoping to spend just a little more time with him.

I explained it all away with the excuse that he was the first person who really got me outside of Grams. Nigel understood to a degree, but Phillip and I shared a massive secret. We shared something no one else did. Our goals perfectly aligned, and it was probably the entire reason I saw the Hunter in a different light after he apologized for overstepping.

Phillip wasn’t cold or uncaring. He was scared like Grams was. Like I was. Like anyone would be in our position. The dude had seen over two and a half centuries of violence and death, so it would be weirder if he’d been the happy-go-lucky sort, anyway.

“I’ll stay here like you requested.”

What possessed me to ask him to come with me? What made me desperate to have him next to me when I finally saw Nigel again? Three days ago, the dude literally gave me a headache with how unfeeling and disconnected he was. A couple of weeks ago, he didn’t exist in my life at all.

How could so much change in so little time?

A month ago, I was beyond happy with my brand-new relationship and a man who made me weak in the knees. No, for three years I pined over the gorgeous upperclassman in a way befitting all those sappy romance novels from the eighties. I crushed so hard that love poems sprouted like a disease in my head anytime Nigel walked even remotely into view.

It wasn’t Nigel who’d changed or gone back on his feelings. It was me. I was the one who transformed the minute my world turned upside down and the reality of the job slammed me back down to Earth.

Everything changed.

Stealing a look at Phillip as he walked beside me, I finally realized why he scoffed at the idea of relationships or my hopeless pursuit of them.

No one who stayed beside us would ever be safe.

The foregone conclusion of every relationship I entered would be either parting ways or death. To even suggest staying friends would risk that very future. I’d been the immature dumbass spouting nonsense to a guy who’d seen nearly three lifetimes.

Phillip’s blue eyes connected with mine. “Still nervous?”

“Did I sound like a total ass when I said I’d have it all and never settle for less. Be honest,” I asked quietly. “I can take it.”

Phillip appeared genuinely confused. “What brought this on?”

“Just had a couple days to think about it. That’s what we teenagers do—talk shit and then regret it a few days later.” I sighed loudly, sweeping back my hair in self-disgust. “The tragedy of being young.”

His husky laughter tickled my ears. “You’d think so, but it’s refreshing and not at all misguided. I wouldn’t let it bother you.”

Something about the dude had definitely changed.

My eyebrow rose slightly. “Is that sarcasm? It’s really hard to tell with your accent. Everything you say sounds like pompous asshole, just as a baseline.”

“Thanks?” Phillip’s amused grin greeted my next glance. “But no, not sarcasm. Believe it or not, I can be genuine on occasion.”

“Are you sure you’re not sick or maybe just a little itty bitty drunk?” I used my fingers to emphasize my point, earning another laugh from the strolling Hunter beside me. “Do you take a flask with you to school or something? No judgment from this corner. If I had to be around smelly, mindless teenagers all day, I’d drink too.”

Phillip clasped both of his hands behind his head in a lax manner. “Alcohol doesn’t affect you and I the way it does normal humans. Our body metabolizes it too quickly to partake in the fun side effects.” His gaze lifted to the clear sky above us. “Doesn’t even burn going down, if I’m honest.”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” I complained.

The one saving grace about becoming an adult was I’d get to drink at some stage and maybe drown my sorrows like a normal person. I had nights planned out for such an occasion. I’d even fantasized about walking drunk down the sidewalk and falling asleep in a bush in some obscure neighbor’s yard. My fantasies were a bit too realistic, Kate said, but I didn’t care. It was a big dream of mine to be the drunkard screaming profanities at random strangers. I even installed an app on the phone Phillip tossed out to count down the days until it was legal to drink.

Turning his head slightly, Phillip smirked. “I wish. Would’ve been a hell of a lot more fun if I could enjoy conventional drug use at my leisure. Alas, the curse of what we are strikes again.”

“That’s some serious bullshit.”

“With the serum, however, you can partake,” Phillip added. “I’ll help. We can do it any time you want. Just say the word and we can knock a few things out of the way—alcohol, piercings, a tattoo or two, and maybe a little something dirtier.”

Yep, there he is.