22

JACK

I ’d never admit this to him, but I’m impressed. I didn’t think the kid had it in him. I took him as an avid hiker given his familiarity with the lesser-known trails around here, but I hadn’t pegged him as a backcountry camper, even under duress.

So that was a surprise. Bunny’s apparently full of them. I sat in my truck for a solid ten minutes after our last scene in the woods, turning over what he’d told me right before I was about to fuck him out of my system. There was no way that was really his first time, right? I gave him the chance to stop, back out, call it off — and he didn’t.

I thought briefly that he might be lying to me, maybe to try and make me rethink our sex-only agreement. I tried to dismiss the thought, though. It didn’t seem like him. But even if he was telling me the truth, did going ahead with it anyway make me somehow responsible for him?

I decided the answer to that was definitely not. We’re both adults here.

But now… fuck me. I sigh as I drive off park property and hit the main road, Bunny still quietly seething in the passenger seat. I had promised myself I was going to disentangle from what was rapidly becoming a potentially messy — and dangerous — situation with him. Well, I guess the universe had other plans, because he basically turned up on my doorstep with no place else to go. What was I supposed to do?

Even if it wasn’t against a dozen different rules, I couldn’t let him live out there in the wilderness. I couldn’t just look the other way while he slept on the ground with nothing but cheap, flimsy nylon between his fragile skin and the elements.

There’s also something else looming over my thoughts. While I can’t exactly fault Bunny for his outburst, it’s not sitting well with me. He’s completely convinced that I hate him with every fiber of my being. That’s what I’ve been trying to get through his head this whole time, but now that I’ve succeeded, it doesn’t feel good. Looking out the corner of my eye at his frown doesn’t make me feel anything like relief or satisfaction. Just something dangerously close to regret.

Staring at the road, I scowl. I know I’m stuck with him under my roof for a little while, but I have to evict this unexpectedly tenacious, submissive bunny from my mind as soon as possible. And I’m definitely submitting that transfer request that’s been sitting on my desk for days now. Tomorrow, for sure.