Page 71

SANJANA

I stretched my legs out as much as the seat allowed.

The inside of the truck was warm, Ryder’s jacket still wrapped snugly around me.

His hand had yet to leave my thigh, and with only cheer shorts on, he had access to nothing but skin.

He was taking full advantage. His fingers moved lazily, tracing idle shapes that felt anything but innocent.

I was seconds from throwing myself out of the truck before I did something worse and moved his hand where I needed it most.

Cade would for sure launch himself out instead.

My phone started ringing, and I nearly wept with relief at the distraction.

A FaceTime banner slid across the screen.

I answered, and Roxxi’s face filled it, sharp and stunning as ever, her red hair piled in a loose bun, a soft champagne-colored silk robe draped over her shoulders like she belonged on the cover of a perfume ad.

She was propped against the velvet headboard in her grandmother’s guest suite, expensive lighting casting gold over her cheekbones.

Cade leaned forward, catching a glimpse. “Damn, Roxx. Could’ve warned us. I’d have put on pearls or something.”

From the driver’s seat, Ryder let out a short, quiet sound, part scoff, part laugh.

Roxxi smiled faintly in his direction. “Where are you right now?”

I angled the camera around the truck. “Still driving. Not home yet.”

Ryder gave a small lift of his hand in acknowledgment, then returned it right to my thigh, higher this time, closer to the center than before.

It took everything in me not to visibly react. I glanced sideways, and he was smiling wickedly, knowing exactly what he was doing.

“Check your texts,” Roxxi prompted.

“One sec.” I flipped to the chat with just the girls.

A new message sat unread from her. I tapped it open and saw it was a photo of another text.

I read it out loud since Ryder was driving.

“It was sent to Layla from sender 1128. You really thought no one would find out what you’ve done?

Do your friends know who you let in at night? ”

Cade made a low sound behind me. “Hmmm. Wonder what that means.”

I glanced back, but he was looking out the window.

“She got that during practice,” Roxxi explained. “Ari was smart enough to get it with her phone while we were warming up. You know, before things went to shit.”

I nodded slowly, brushing the edge of the screen. “This is vague to me, but I’m sure Layla knows what it means.”

“She played it off remarkably well Ari said. We didn’t want to say anything right away for obvious reasons.”

“It’s not surprising Ferret has secrets,” Cade offered.

Roxxi let out a sharp laugh.

I sighed. “She doesn’t even look like a ferret.”

“Rat wouldn’t be any nicer,” Ryder reasoned.

“ Excuse me?” Roxxi snapped. “Don’t you dare insult Lil Dicky like that.”

Lil Dicky, her black-and-white fancy rat. The thing had its own outfits and posed for pictures better than most influencers. He and Slim Shady—the bearded dragon—were currently living with her mom back home.

Cade grinned. “Hey, I love the little guy. He reminds me of Stu.”

Roxxi’s face scrunched. “Do not compare him to that thing.”

“That thing says hey, by the way,” Cade deadpanned.

“Unfortunately, I only donate to charities that mean something to me.” She sat up higher and adjusted her bun. “I think things are going to be ramping up now. I started getting texts today too,” she confessed.

There was a beat of silence as we all processed that.

Cade was the one to ask, “Care to share with the class?”

“Nope.”

She didn’t elaborate after that. Even when the silence stretched long enough to demand she should. It wasn’t a good sign that Roxxi, who never hesitated to be bold and truthful even at times she shouldn’t, had gone quiet.

“We’ve been getting them for days now. Are yours bad?”

“I’m not sure how to describe them, honestly. Invasive?”

“Specific,” Ryder commented.

Roxxi sighed. “That’s a better way of putting it.”

Specific.

My mind started connecting lines that hadn’t even formed into dots yet. Her messages must have hinted at something she didn’t want the rest of us to know. Ryder and Cade hadn’t voluntarily shared theirs either.

I could be getting way ahead of myself, but from where I was sitting and based on the texts I was receiving, and their avoidance of details, they all had things they weren’t ready or willing to share.

I didn’t like that.

Not one bit.

Of course, everyone was entitled to their privacy.

That wasn’t the issue. What kind of secrets made someone like Roxxi get cagey, Ryder keep his eyes on the road like he couldn’t look at me all of a sudden, and Cade shut up for more than five seconds?

More concerning was that the Huntsmen somehow knew things we hadn’t shared amongst each other.

Was someone in our inner circle screwing everyone over, then?

Or did we each have one hell of a stalker to worry about until this was all over?

Neither would be great, but one was far worse.

“My texts haven’t been that bad. They’re more creepy and stalkerish than anything.” The words felt flimsy as they left my mouth, but it was the truth.

Did I even have any secrets worth exposing?

Real ones at that. I wasn’t sure whether being in love with my best friend counted.

Most people expected it. Would it qualify as something the Huntsmen would find entertaining?

The gray area where Ashton still existed could be worth exposing, but it wasn’t salacious or criminal.

It was a one-sided heartbreak waiting to happen.

Maybe the secrets didn’t have to be scandalous.

Maybe they just had to hurt.

This whole thing was doing my head in. The Hunt was half psychological, and so far, they had been doing a bang-up job.

I was growing more worried about how this was going to steamroll us once it started officially.

A soft voice carried from somewhere off-screen.

“Hey, I’ve gotta get downstairs. Me and Gran are about to play spades,” Roxxi said suddenly.

“Aww, that sounds fun.” I forced a smile. “I know she’s gonna outdrink you within two hours, too.”

Cade let out a reverent sound. “That woman is a legend. A beautiful one.”

Roxxi made a face so dramatic I nearly snorted. “Cade, don’t make it weird. You’re not fucking my gran.”

“Not with that attitude,” he shot back.

Roxxi ended the call with a middle finger aimed at him, but her tone softened just before the screen went dark. “I’ll check in tomorrow. Love you, assholes. And you too, Sanj.”

“Love you too,” I murmured, already sagging into the seat.

I leaned back and let my head rest against the window. The hum of the truck and the blurred lights of Hemlock drifted past in silence.

“You don’t have anything to worry about, Sass,” Ryder reminded me quietly.

My gaze stayed fixed on the glass. I didn’t answer out loud. He wouldn’t agree with what I was thinking anyway. I was starting to believe all of us should be worried, especially the ones with secrets sharp enough to bleed.

.

Ryder pulled into the long, curved drive nearly twenty minutes later, headlights sweeping across the lion statues that flanked the entrance to the Voss estate. The automatic gates had already begun to open, recognizing his truck before he even slowed.

He parked near the far end of one of the garages, tucked away from the front where guests usually entered.

A few soft amber lights glowed from between the columns of the main house, casting warm reflections across the cascading fountain at the center of the circular drive.

Beyond it, just across the street and barely visible through the skeletal branches of the trees lining the sidewalk, I could make out the dark outline of my home.

We always ended up staying in the pool house when we got in late.

I stretched as I climbed out of the truck, rolling my shoulders until my spine gave a quiet pop.

Ryder grabbed my bags and one of his own without a word.

I trailed after him, Cade a step behind.

The path wove around the edge of the main house, past the stone-paved outdoor kitchen.

The fire pit was off, and the seating area looked untouched, barstools tucked perfectly beneath the marble counter like no one had ever sat there.

Water lapped gently from the heated pool, steam curling in slow tendrils across the surface.

The glow from the recessed lights shimmered off the mist, and the cascading rock waterfall added a soft rhythm to the silence between us.

A breeze rustled through the brittle branches of the maples and stirred the thick blue spruce shielding the yard from the street.

The backyard looked like something out of a resort catalog.

At its edge stood where we would be staying for the night.

Cade reached the door first and flipped the lights on with the ease of someone who knew every switch by heart.

Warmth greeted us instantly with the scent of vanilla and cinnamon, subtle but rich.

Their mom had clearly passed through recently.

A few burnt-orange velvet pumpkins sat neatly along the windowsill, and a plaid throw was draped over the back of the sectional like autumn had unpacked and moved in.