Page 29 of Theirs to Hunt (Girls Like Us #1)

Chapter twenty-nine

I text him once.

Wait five minutes.

Text again.

No reply.

From where I sit, across the narrow street, I can see through the café's wide window.

Amber light spills across her hair, bringing out the red highlights.

She's laughing again.

Brooks leans in.

No, Reign now.

He presses one hand to the glass beside her head, a mock-cage she doesn't flinch from.

Her smile widens.

Another minute passes.

My phone remains dark.

I tap a single knuckle against the steering wheel.

Once .

Twice.

The sharp sound does nothing to cut through the heat blooming low in my chest.

This was the plan.

Brooks softens.

I close the deal.

We corner her from both sides.

But he's lingering too long.

Testing the boundaries.

Mine.

She lifts her drink to her lips, then glances toward the window, and for the briefest flicker of a second, I know she sees me.

Not clearly.

Not fully.

But she feels me there.

Her lips quirk.

A third text sent.

Still nothing.

My son forgets himself.

And she's learning exactly how far she can push before the snap.

Let her play.

Let him drift.

Her hand rests on his tentatively as she glances at him coyly.

The stylus I didn't realize I was holding snaps between my fingers, at the same time my patience does.

Indulgence is a luxury neither of them has earned.