Total pages in book: 186
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
“What is it?”
“Someone’s making plans to try and move on, Ari.”
I sat up straighter. “You got a day and time?”
“Next week. Monday, to be exact, after her second class. They dropped a location pin behind the art building. I’ll stick close to her. Rearranged my schedule already.”
“Perks of being beloved by the entire school board and faculty, huh?”
He chuckled. “We all are.”
“You’re going to give her a whole other reason to be paranoid.”
“She’ll get over it,” he laughed, calm and smug. “Eventually.”
I shook my head. “So, do we know who is running point?”
“Bradley Wells.”
My brows shot up. “I swear this year’s Hunt is for people who know this is their last chance to peak.”
Xander scoffed. “From what I’ve gathered, Deadweight is not one of the Huntsmen, so this is something else.”
That would’ve required more brain cells and backbone than Ashton had. According to Roxxi—my number one ally in all things Sanjana—he was nothing but a shiny trophy boy who mistook his own reflection for depth. Chess Club had at least one of the two qualities Deadweight lacked. In a mask, people could pretend to be anyone.
My voice dropped a notch. “Send me everything.”
“Already did,” Xander replied. “Handled things on the back end too and finalized the list of Marked with last-minute add-ons. We’re good to go. Wait till you see it now. Looks like it’s all of us rich fucks people think are too entitled, and a few pity Marked tossed in for fun. Oh, and I’m sending something extra, but don’t watch it until everyone is around.”
“Thanks, Xan. We couldn’t do this without you.”
“I know. I’ll see you at the gym.”
He hung up, and I stared at my phone. Cocky fucker. I huffed a laugh, fingers drumming against the wheel. A second later, the file came through. I opened the PDF and skimmed it over. It looked to me like a bunch of fools with superiority complexes. The ratio didn’t match last year. When we were all ineligible for the auction block, they picked names with strategy. This year’s list reeked of petty bias and weak attempts at control. In other words, it was going to be a fuck ton of fun now that we were playing along.
My phone went off with a new text.
Sassy
You shouldn’t have heard about what happened from other people. I’m sorry, Rye.
I didn’t answer.
Another ping, this one from the Group chat I’d muted hours ago, followed by a second from Sass.
Sassy
& Thank you for the food.
I waited for that to be the end of it. Then three more bubbles popped up. I opened the group thread while waiting to see what else she had to say.
Roxxi
I’m going to come out and ask what the hell is going on and why Macy was with you all yesterday. Is this some passive-aggressive thing because of The Hunt?
Ari
Please don’t bring Sarah back around, Ryder.
I frowned. Where the fuck did that come from?
Xander
That is not what’s happening, Ari.
I figured it was time to shut that shit down before they all started writing their own fanfiction about what I was doing. Was Sass worried about Sarah, too? Fuck, I hoped not. I should’ve stuck with Ellie Newton and never given Sarah the privilege of breathing near me. Ellie caught feelings, though. Heavy ones. I knew I’d never return them, so I ended it the right way: clean, kind, extra respectful. I had a reputation to keep, after all.
Sarah was a different game entirely.
I wasn’t nice to her. Not even a little. She pushed boundaries on purpose, pretended she was more than a warm body, more than a temporary fling. Seeing Deadweight talk to her, then seeing Macy at the Nest yesterday, was more than enough to set my girl off. She overthought everything, built entire alternate universes in that pretty head of hers. I was already in the process of destroying every reason she might have to question what we were becoming. I didn’t want any wiggle room for her to ever doubt me.
I wouldn’t let her near me. She can’t set foot in my driveway.
Nick
See, no reason to worry. Especially you @Roxxi. We don’t need you going to prison, Vixen.
Roxxi
Daddy has too much money for me to go to prison, and I would never get caught. But if I did, could you imagine me in a uniform?
Rook
Would that actually be your main concern?
Nick
You’d look just as good in that as you do in everything else.
Roxxi
The slay would be immaculate.
Aw, Blackwell. That was so sweet.
I laughed softly.
Cici
Don’t start, y’all. We already have enough friendcest going on with Ryder and Sanj.
Ari
Friendcest??
Sassy
Wow. Thanks, Cloe.
Rook, I’m about to text you.
Why was she texting him? I wasn’t worried, just curious. I backed out of the chat and checked our message thread.
Sassy
FYI, I know you’re mad at me, but I’m mad at you too.
I stared at the screen, and a laugh broke from my chest involuntarily.