Page 8 of Theirs to Hunt (Girls Like Us #1)

Chapter eight

I tap FaceTime, and Bobbie answered mid-bite of a protein bar.

“Tell me this is the call where you finally flee the city and change your name to Shania.”

I laughed quietly. “I’m in bed. But I’ve been thinking about it.”

“You should think about therapy. Or a new vibrator. Depends on how this call goes.”

I hesitated. “Bobbie… they knew things about me. Before the party.”

That got her attention. She straightened. “What kind of things?”

“My name. My work. I mean… who knows how much? What if she told them about what I read?”

Bobbie didn’t miss a beat. “Well, it’d definitely make it easier for them to know you’d love to be railed by, which one? ”

I groaned. “Both. It’s like someone built a boyfriend based on my Kindle library and then dropped him into my life with a tiger mask, a lion mask, and a scary smile.”

“Okay, but was it the scary-hot kind of smile?”

“Bobbie.”

“I’m just saying, it matters. Creepy is sending a toe. Sexy is knowing your primal kink because you highlighted every other page in Mila Crawford’s The Mask. ”

“It should scare me more. They watched me. They planned.”

“And yet… here you are. Not running.”

My voice softened. “I think part of me wants to have someone want me that much. Like I’m their first choice. Even if it’s dark.”

“Girl. You want to be cracked open and rearranged. I get it. Just make sure they’re not rearranging your spinal cord. Or planning to eat your liver.”

I snorted. “You’re the worst.”

“I’m the best. And I’ll be at your door tomorrow after work. You’re still calling out sick, right?”

“Yeah. They obviously know where I work, so probably where I live. I just… I need to figure out if I want to play into this. Or pack up and live my best Shania life.”

I hesitated again. “I, uh… did some Googling. On Genevieve.”

Bobbie perked up. “Spill.”

“She came from the California office, where Calhoun’s headquartered. Been here just under a year. And she had some seriously above-her-pay-grade designer stuff. Her purse alone didn’t look knockoff. Don’t get me started on her shoes or jewelry.”

“Well, what’s her last update?” Bobbie demanded.

I swiped on my phone. “Saturday morning. Just a short post. Said, Heading back to Cali. Miss the sunshine and waves and all my besties. Nothing since.”

“That’s it?”

“She usually posts a lot. Like, daily. This is… weird.”

Bobbie frowned. “So, she ghosted social media right after she brought you Friday?”

“Yeah.”

Bobbie leaned closer to the screen. “Okay, Rae. You can’t Shania yet. We’ve got work to do.”