Page 88 of Hunted

Ugh, what is wrong with me?!

It’s not like I could wake one of them up and ask them to go get Steve. They all need their sleep, and I’m embarrassed enough by my reaction to a simple storm without them seeing me like this.

And I know I’m not scared of the storm itself. It’s that with every crack of thunder, or drop of rain, my mind tries to assault me with memories that I want to keep buried. But it’s as if my mind won’t let me hear the sounds without reminding me about the worst one I’ve ever lived through.

Thunder cracks again, louder than before. At the same time the rain thrashes hard against the window, making me let out a small whimper that I quickly muffle with the blanket. Tears threaten to fall as memories of red paint my vision. I try to pry my eyes open, but I can’t. Even with them closed, I see my hands, covered in blood, while thunder cracks above me and rain pours down around me. The jungle floor is muddy and—

My eyes fly open as strong arms move around me, and I start to struggle against them.

“Shh, shh, Darla, it’s me, it’s Reece.” I instantly stop fighting and let him pull me into his lap. “That’s it, I’ve got you,” he whispers as I curl up as small as I can in his lap, resting my head against his firm chest.

He holds me tight, with one hand stroking down the back of my head as tears spill down my cheeks. I hate crying so much. Since I’ve met the guys, I feel like I cry more than I had in the past fifteen years.

But I know that’s not true. I used to cry myself to sleep every night when I was alone.

“It’s okay, darling. You’re safe.” The bed moves and I feel other hands touching me, running down my back, my leg, and my arm.

Are the others here, too?

I’m not sure if I should feel mortified or relieved. In the end, I just try to think about their soothing hands to keep me distracted.

“Is she always like this during storms?” Reece asks.

“Yeah, pretty much. She’s okay with some rain, but it’s the thunder that really freaks her out,” Kingsley explains from beside us.

“She said there wasn’t a storm that night, right?” Reece asks, but this time everyone is silent, and I wonder if they’re nodding at him.

“It’s something else,” Weston finally says, breaking the silence.

“She needs to tell us,” Bower says quietly and my whole body tenses, my fingers digging into my name over Reece’s heart.

I can’t tell them that. I can never tellanyonethat. They’ll never look at me the same again.

“It’s okay, darling, you don’t have to tell us anything right now,” Reece whispers, feeling me tense up.

The room is silent, and I wonder what they’re all thinking. Do they hate that I’m keeping something from them? There are just some things that they don’t need to know.

The beginning notes to thunderstruck start to play from someone’s phone and I can practically hear Bower’s smirk. “What? We sang it with her on the island. It’s totally appropriate!”

A small giggle escapes me, and that just encourages him further. “See! She likes it!” The sound increases, and although it doesn’t cover the thunder completely, the music, combined with the guy's soothing touches and the pounding of Reece’s heart below my ear, help me close my eyes without memories assaulting me and I soon drift off to sleep.

Chapter twenty-five

Darla

There isn’t much in their backyard - or is it my backyard now, too? Either way, there isn’t much out here, but it does have one huge tree right in the middle, perfect for climbing.

And I know this because I’m currently perched high in the branches, where I can see over the roof of the house, and all the neighboring ones. It feels like another world up here. Like the problems I have down there on the ground can’t follow me up here.

There’s only one thing missing. Reaching into the side pocket on my dark green leggings, I pull out my cell phone. I finally caved this morning when Reece said he needed to go see his dad. I wanted to be able to get a hold of him, and he convinced me if I had my cell, it’d be easy to text or call him at any time.

I’d spent the morning with Weston, Bower, and Kingsley all showing me their favorite apps and things I can do with it. Phones have come a long way in fifteen years.

I open up the Spotify app and click the rainforest playlist Bower made for me. The soft sounds of birds chirping and crickets humming fill theair, and I sigh, leaning back against the tree and closing my eyes, one hand slowly drifting to the seashell charm on my necklace.

I can almost imagine I’m back on the island. Taking a break while Mo-Mo shares my lunch. I miss my little buddy so much. I hope he’s okay and not worrying about me.

I open my eyes and see the roofs of the house and sigh, then frown. I’m not really sad that I’m not on the island anymore, am I? I know that logically it makes no sense, and I feel crazy that thought even came into my head.