Page 47

He stepped around me and turned the lock on the bathroom door before turning and leaning against it. I folded my arms and held his stare, even though my pulse was trying to crawl up my throat. The way he looked at me back at The Pit flashed through my mind.

“Why did you have to bring me in here, Ryder?”

He gave me a half-smile. Dangerous. Almost amused. It didn’t reach his eyes. “It was the safest alternative.”

My brow furrowed. “As opposed to what?”

His head tilted, like I’d asked a trick question. “We’ll come back to that.”

Of course, he wasn’t going to give me a straight answer. Something twisted in my chest, but I didn’t push. His eyes were still locked on mine like he could see every thought flashing behind them.

“Don’t look so unsure. You wouldn’t be in here with me if you didn’t trust me.”

I glanced away, trying to focus on literally anything else than the lack of space between us. “Trust doesn’t mean I understand why you pulled me into a public bathroom, but I’m listening.”

“Good.” His hand lifted, fingers brushing aside a stray piece of hair from my cheek. “You should know by now that when it comes to you, I don’t take chances.”

“What are you trying to say, Ryder?”

He leaned back slightly, but his gaze never left mine. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”

Oh, shit.

“Nothing you don’t already know,” I answered carefully. “I’m Marked. So are the others. But you knew that already without me having to say it, didn’t you?”

His mouth twitched. “I was still waiting for you to tell me it was made official. Imagine my surprise when I hear it from your soon-to-be ex. In our locker room.”

Soon to be ex? I didn’t remember telling him I was breaking up with Ashton. I was almost positive I didn’t. And as frustrating as it was, I couldn’t be upset with Ashton for letting this news slip.

“I was going to tell you,” I said softly.

“Brooke told me the second she knew.”

Those words felt like a sprinkle of salt on an open wound. “Brooke is your girlfriend,” I replied, keeping my tone level. “Of course, she did. She knows you’ll be her shield. Ashton is mine. Why wouldn’t he—.”

“Say that again.”

I blinked. “Say what again?”

He stepped in, closer, not even a full breath between us now. “That last part.”

I swallowed hard. “I said he’s mine. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“He’s nothing,” he corrected, voice edged in quiet venom. “A stepping stone at best. Someone I should thank for giving you a chance to feel what it’s like to experience less than mediocrity.”

My breath caught.

He went on, voice softening, which was always worse. “You wanted him to be enough. He never has been. He never will be, because he isn’t me.”

“Where is all of this coming from?” I questioned, unable to pretend any of it was wrong or surprising to hear.

He called me out as if reading my mind. “Don’t act like you don’t know.”

“Even if I do, why are you doing this in here of all places?”

“Because you told him before you told me, and that’s a problem.”

I stiffened. “I didn’t mean to tell him, Ryder. I told Kellan first, if you want to get technical. I wanted to tell you before any of them. I swear. Why would I not tell you? Even if you already knew—?”

He laughed, and I cut myself off, not understanding what he suddenly found funny.

“I thought so.”

“What?”

“I knew you’d never go to him before me. We always put each other first.”

“Who are you channeling tonight? Jekyll and Hyde?” I shoved his shoulder. “What the hell was all that just now? And back on the field?”

He caught my hand and smiled at me, suddenly looking boyish. “If I told you what was going through my head right then, you’d never be the same.”

I pulled my hand free and stepped back with a quiet breath, reaching into my bag. I pulled out the Polaroids, mine and Roxxi’s tucked beneath the rest I had collected, and handed them over without a word.

“Good girl.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to will the reaction away at hearing him say that. “Figured you’d want to see for yourself,” I murmured.

He flipped through the photos. One by one, he started letting them fall.

“What are you doing?” I asked with more curiosity than concern.

His attention stayed on the stack in his hand. “Trying to find the only ones I give a fuck about.”

Brooke’s photo slipped from his fingers and landed face down on the tile.

“Hey, you dropped Brooke.”

His eyes briefly met mine. “And?”

I shifted, unsettled by his sudden coldness. “I just thought you’d care.”

“Who I care about is right in front of me.”

I was still debating if I should grab her photo off the floor or not when he added, “I’m not her shield. I’m barely hers. When shit hits the fan, and it will, I’m all yours to use however you want to. I’ll be watching every move around you, even when you think I’m not.”

I stared at him, his words sinking in like a weighted anchor in my chest. Had she told him about that conversation? It was pretty spot on. Despite what I had said to her, though, I wouldn’t take advantage of him like that.

“I would never use you.”

His lips curved with a devilish grin. “What if I beg you to?”

I glanced down to save myself from having to reply to that, and saw he only had two photos left in his hand—Roxxi’s and mine. “These are the ones worth keeping. You’re so beautiful.”

I frowned. “Are… are you talking about yourself? Because we’re literally scribbled out in that picture. You can’t even see my face.”

“I can still tell how gorgeous you are.” He swept his eyes over me slowly and appreciatively. “Not that it compares to the real thing.”

“Ryder.”

He held my gaze as he slid the photos into his back pocket. “If I hadn’t pulled you in here, when were you going to tell me about all of this?”

“I was going to tell you about us being Marked tonight. The photo thing just happened.”

He watched me closely. “How did you find out?”

“When we went into the locker room. Are you really going to keep interrogating me in this gross bathroom? Brooke didn’t tell you about this out there when she was sitting in your lap?”

His brows rose slightly. “Are you jealous?”

“Are you delusional?”

“I think you might be, since you’re seeing things that aren’t there. She wasn’t in my lap.”

“Okay. Whatever you say. You know everything now. Let me out.”

“No, I don’t. You didn’t answer my question. I wasn’t asking how you found the photos. I want to know how you found out you were Marked, officially.”

I looked at him, his piercing stare pinning me in place.

A small voice warned me to tread carefully.

I knew so many shades of Ryder, and something about this one set off every internal alarm I had.

Should I tell him about the bird? Kellan clearly hadn’t mentioned it.

At least there was that. I could lie and say it was in a text, but that wasn’t how The Hunt worked.

If he were Marked, too, he’d know. Wait a minute…

“How did you find out?” I questioned, narrowing my eyes. “If I got hit, then I know you’re Marked.”

“I got a note this afternoon.”

“What did it say?”

His mouth twitched. “We’re not talking about me right now.”

We were at an impasse then. I couldn’t tell him about the bird, not when he was already fuming beneath that eerily calm facade he never let crack.

It was telling enough that he’d just dragged me into a bathroom right in front of half our peers.

Telling him meant revealing I’d seen more masked figures.

There was also the fact that eventually, he’d take a better look at my photo and realize it had been taken from inside my house. Then what?

“I’m not doing this with you in a bathroom, Ryder. We can talk tomorrow, when you’re calm.”

I stepped back further, needing distance , but Ryder didn’t let space stay space.

He followed, brushing his knuckles down my cheek with a gentleness that was at complete odds with what he was feeling.

“Do you really think I’m going to be any calmer after I’ve had all night to think about what you just told me, and the things you aren’t? ”

I exhaled shakily, not sure what else to say to him.

“You can go, Sass. Run like you always do, but know this, it’s the last time I’m going to let you.”

I could have pushed back or argued with him, but I didn’t want to walk away and leave things like this.

Whatever was unraveling between us, it wasn’t just about The Hunt.

It wasn’t about secrets or Marks or tradition.

It was about me and him. If things were already spiraling this badly, before the game had even started , I was going to need a lot of liquor to make it through the next few weeks.

And I had shit alcohol tolerance.

I swallowed thickly and reached up, my hand trembling slightly as I cupped his face . “I’ve never wanted to run from you,” I murmured.

Maybe it was stupid to say that out loud and a bit reckless, but it was also true.

I let him do what he would with the admission and moved toward the door.

My fingers slid over the lock, and I grimaced, remembering that the dude who’d been in there earlier hadn’t washed his hands.

Ryder didn’t stop me, but I felt his eyes on my back.

My heart pounded against my ribs, a traitor aching to stay.

To turn back and place it in his hands where it belonged.

I stepped into the hallway, the dull thrum of the diner swallowing me whole.