“What?”
He started the car and reversed. “You said you didn’t think you were doing it just for the position at your dad’s company.”
Hehadheard me then. I’d just assumed it wasn’t worth acknowledging. A slight twist in my gut had me swallowing hard. I liked that he listened.
“That’s right,” I said, counting each wave of light rolling over us from the lampposts we passed. “I never thought it bothered me, but I want him to recognize me. See me as someone worth getting to know. I think I’ve associated winning the spot at his company with a chance for him to do that.”
The waves of light were coming slower now; Hunter must have lowered his speed.
“I get it,” Hunter said, his thumbs tapping against the wheelas if he were deep in thought. “I’m sorry for dragging you away from your work tonight.”
I rubbed my hands together, jamming them for warmth between my thighs. “I was probably too tired to produce anything of quality, anyway. Thanks for the distraction. Which reminds me”—I tugged at my seatbelt strap—“I’m gay, or—heavily leaning toward males.”
The van lurched, throwing me forward a couple inches; the seatbelt locked hard across my chest.
“When did you figure that out?” Hunter asked, regaining his control and smoothly turning toward home.
“There were a few signals from the start, so I decided to test my theory out.”
Hunter zipped onto College Street without indicating. I could just make out my apartment from here, its teal trimming a funky dark green in the night.
“Go on,” Hunter said.
I picked at the belt across my chest while I described my findings. “Things felt better with Quinn than they ever have before, and since the weekend I’ve been looking at guys differently. I think I can now say I am empirically more sexually attracted to males than females.”
Hunter raised one sharp eyebrow and gave a smirk that could land a mark in the dark. “Go back to the bit about Quinn.”
“Speaking of,” I said, gesturing out the window toward the path leading to my apartment. Standing opposite each other, arms widely gesturing as if in the middle of a row, were Shannon and Quinn.
Hunter slowed down just before our place, applied the brake, and leaned back in his seat, threading his fingers behind his head. “Well, you don’t see that often,” he murmured.
Even though we were double-parked only a car’s length from my place, neither Shannon nor Quinn seemed to notice us.Hunter used the main control to roll down my window. A cool breeze and Quinn’s voice hit my face.
“I’m telling you because you’re my best friend.” Quinn kicked his heel into the grass at the edge of the path. Then softer, “But I should have told you sooner. Much sooner. I’m sorry for that.”
Shannon’s hair shook free of a loose hold. Her blue streaks shone brightly under the ornate lamppost nestled in front of a large willow lining the path. She was scrunching something in her hand, paper of some sort. “You...” she trailed off, stepping back, her shit-kickers clomping against the concrete.
She glanced to her side, and her gaze latched onto the van. Us. She sought Hunter, eyes glazed and saddened.
Tossing the paper at Quinn, she hurried up the street, quickly disappearing into thick shadows.
“What was that about?” Hunter mused as we watched Quinn chase after her in his pajama bottoms, unzipped parka, and unlaced boots.
I slipped out of the van. Shivering against another breeze, I darted to the path, chasing after the scuttling balled paper. I opened it, carefully flattening the paper against my thigh. The words jumped out at me, sharp and long like Freddy’s fingers had been. It was the flyer from the Jell-O party. The one wanting any and every bit of information on The Raven. The one threatening to hurt him.
For a long, cold minute I stared at that paper until all of my thoughts crashed together and unified to give me an answer.Theanswer.
Calmly, I walked back to the van. To Hunter. I leaned against the door and looked over at him. “I figured it out,” I said, sliding the paper onto the passenger seat. “I know who The Raven is.”
“You just figured it out? Bang, just like that?”
“You sound surprised.”
He tried to laugh, but his curiosity was too dominant. “Who is he then?”
I leaned in and told him. When he’d heard everything I had to say, he shook his head. “No. That can’t be right.” He was already starting the car. He dropped his gaze to his legs, and I shut the door. His head shook again, and he glanced at me one last time before hightailing out of there. “I would have known.”
Chapter Fifteen
