The Hunt

2. Everly

2

Everly

What the hell was that?

I sucked a ragged breath into my lungs and hurried along the path, pulse pounding so loudly in my ears that it almost drowned out the annoying squeaky wheel on my suitcase. Once I’d counted out two minutes in my head, I risked a look over my shoulder to see if Rhett was still following me. Thankfully, he wasn’t.

Despite the relief flooding my veins, a tiny, treacherous part of my mind was weirdly disappointed to see the empty path behind me.

Oh my god. Why?

I knew fear could make a person do crazy things, but I’d never experienced it doing something like this to my brain—drawing me to danger and making me crave the presence of a psycho like Rhett.

Every single thing about him disturbed me, from the violence I’d initially witnessed down to the way his mask of harmless jocularity dropped the second he realized I wasn’t falling for his bullshit. Even his attempt at a friendly smile came across as predatory, sending shivers down my spine. But despite all that, there was an undeniable pull there; a heat that lingered on my skin long after I’d walked away.

I took another deep breath and tried to focus my thoughts on something else, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling my encounter with Rhett had left in my chest, like a jagged splinter lodged too deep to reach.

The way his dark, intense eyes seemed to look right inside me, seeing things I wanted to keep hidden from the world, had left me shaky and uneasy. It was beyond unsettling. He shouldn’t have been able to do that. He was just a stranger.

Ah.

That had to be it. That was why I couldn’t shake the thought of him. I was pissed as hell that someone who barely even knew me had so easily teased out the truth about me. So easily deduced that my confidence was just a show. Something I put on to prove to others, and myself, that no one could get to me anymore.

Rhett got to me, though, and he did it in record time, because he gleaned the truth about me in five minutes flat. And that truth was exactly what he claimed it was—at the heart of things, I was just a scared little girl, trying to survive a world with countless horrors.

“Asshole,” I mumbled, heat rising in my cheeks. I had a feeling tonight wasn’t the last I’d hear from him, and I also had a feeling there wasn’t much I could do about that.

I could tell as soon as I made eye contact with him that it was a mistake for me to approach him. He’d seemed so enraged at that Ryan guy before I made him aware of my presence, but the second he caught sight of me, he’d seemingly forgotten all about his hapless victim, not even caring as the smaller guy fled the underpass. Then, as I stepped closer, and our eyes finally met for the first time, I instantly felt like I’d been caught in the gaze of a predator who’d just chosen its next target.

That campus cop was right—I should’ve known better than to walk into a dark tunnel just because I thought someone needed help. My Taser was a godsend for making me feel safer as I navigated the world, but it had clearly made me reckless, resulting in me launching myself right into Rhett’s crosshairs.

Ugh. Why didn’t I just mind my own damn business?

I finally arrived at Ashcroft Hall and let myself in with the code the college admins had sent me prior to my arrival on campus. Then I made my way to my new dorm, wishing the stupid wheel on my case would stop squeaking.

As I fumbled in my pocket for my new keycard, the door opened, and a tall girl with curly red hair in pink and white heart-print pajamas greeted me. “Hi! I thought I heard someone out here!” she said, smiling brightly. “Are you Everly Marlowe?”

I smiled back at her. “Yeah. Are you—”

“Tessa Morgan. I’ve been waiting for you.” She thrust her hand out, motioning for me to let her take my tote bag. “Please, let me help.”

“Thanks.”

She glanced at me over her shoulder as she stepped toward the bed on the right side of the spacious dorm. “I’m so glad to finally have a roomie. Last semester was so boring without anyone in here.”

“Glad to be of service.”

Tessa set my tote on the end of the bed and looked at me again. “So, not to be awkward, but… are you okay?” she asked, brows knitting. “Did something happen?”

I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Yeah. I was supposed to get here around five, but there was some sort of incident on the highway, and they ended up closing every lane, so I had to double back and take a totally different route. Then I ended up getting totally lost for a while. Sorry if I woke you, by the way. I know it’s pretty late.”

“Don’t worry, I was still wide awake. But I wasn’t talking about the time. I meant, like… did something happen just before you got here?” she said, tilting her head. “You kinda look like you’ve seen a ghost, as majorly clichéd as that sounds.”

As soon as she said it, I glanced in the mirror to my left and felt a jolt of surprise at my reflection. My face was pale and drawn, and my eyes were opened wider than usual, giving them a distinctly haunted look. On top of that, my hair—which was perfectly smooth earlier—was now disheveled from all the sweat on my scalp, with a few damp strands sticking to my forehead.

“Oh, um…” I briefly bit my bottom lip. “I ran into this guy on my way here, and it ended up turning into a whole thing. But I’m okay.”

“Ooh, was he hot?”

Yes.

The answer floated unbidden into my mind before I could consciously think of a response. I hated to admit it, even to myself, but Rhett was damn sexy. Tall and broad-shouldered with tousled dark hair and full lips that seemed like they were designed to be spread in a perpetual smirk. Heat unfurled in my chest as I pictured him, and this time, it had nothing to do with my earlier fury.

“He was one of the biggest assholes I’ve ever met,” I said. It was an avoidant non-answer, but Tessa didn’t seem to notice.

Her thin brows rose. “Oh, so it wasn’t a meet-cute situation.”

“Definitely not.”

“Damn. What happened?”

“He was beating up some guy. I stepped in to make it stop.” I lifted a hand as my new roommate’s mouth dropped open. “I know, I know. It was stupid. But I have a stun gun, so I thought it would be okay.”

Tessa’s eyes were like saucers now. “Oh my god. That’s so badass. Did you use it?”

“No. I didn’t need to. The guy didn’t actually attack me, or anything like that. He was just…” I trailed off, slowly shaking my head. “He was really scary.”

“Did he threaten you?”

Rhett’s words swept back into my mind, along with the memory of his dark gaze when he said them. You have no idea about all the things I could do to you, princess.

My stomach flipped again, as if I was standing right back there on that path with Rhett looking down at me. I swallowed thickly and shook my head.

“No, he didn’t threaten me. Not exactly, anyway. I don’t really know how to explain it,” I said. “He was just so… intimidating. Arrogant, too . Like he just knows the whole world revolves around him.”

“Ah.” Tessa nodded sagely and leaned back against the pale blue wall. “Sounds like you encountered your first Wilder.”

“My first what?”

“There’s a secret society here called The Wild Hunt. Don’t ask me why they’re called that, because I honestly don’t know. But the members are called Wilders for short.” Tessa paused, lips thinning. “Most of them match the description you just gave.”

Of course. There were a few secret societies at my old college, and they were filled with arrogant assholes too. Guys born with the world at their feet, willing to do anything and everything it took to ensure the world stayed that way.

“Mental note: avoid all Wilders,” I said.

“That could be a little hard, given that they throw the absolute best parties. But let’s not think about that right now.” Tessa waved a dismissive hand. “I want to know all about you. I’m guessing you’re a sophomore like me?”

“Yup.”

“Where’d you transfer from?”

“Blackwood.”

“Oh, wow. That’s a great school! Why’d you leave?” she asked. “I mean, Hollingsworth is obviously great too,” she hastily added before I could reply. “But it’s just so far from Blackwood. I’m way too lazy to make a move like that.”

“Yeah, it took a while.” I flashed her a rueful smile. “As for why—long story.”

“Spill the tea, girl.” Tessa’s lips stretched into a playful grin as she sat up straight. “You’re eventually going to realize that I simply need to know everything about everyone . So you might as well make it easy for yourself and fill me in now.”

I laughed softly and sat down. “All right. As stupid as this sounds, I switched schools for my boyfriend,” I said. “Well… ex-boyfriend now.”

“Ouch. What happened?” Tessa raised a palm. “Wait, no, let me guess. He cheated?”

I pursed my lips. Jake did cheat multiple times, as I discovered after our breakup, but that wasn’t the catalyst for the destruction of our relationship. It was only the tip of the iceberg, and not even a tenth as bad as the other fucked-up stuff he did. But I didn’t want to go into any of that right now. Especially not with a girl I’d only just met, friendly as she was.

“Yup.” I nodded slowly, lips pressed in a grim line. “I guess it’s pretty common with long-distance relationships, huh?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Hence that being my first guess.” Her brows dipped in a frown. “But why are you only arriving here now? After the breakup?”

“Like I said… long story. Sure you want to hear it?”

“Of course.” Tessa waggled a finger. “If I ever say no to hearing a story, it’s because I’ve been replaced by alien body-snatchers.”

I let out another soft laugh. “Noted. But I’ll try to make it as short as possible so we aren’t up all night.” I paused to clear my throat. “So, we met when we were kids. Became really good friends. That turned into a relationship, albeit long-distance most of the time, because I’m originally from Missouri and he’s from Rhode Island. We were officially together for six years. Spent every summer together.”

“Aww, childhood sweethearts! That’s so cute!” Tessa said, brows rising and eyes sparkling. Her face quickly fell flat. “At least it would be if I didn’t already know how it turned out.”

“Yeah. He wasn’t so sweet in the end,” I said. “Anyway, he was always set to attend Hollingsworth because he’s a legacy. I went to Blackwood because they offered me a really good scholarship, and to be honest, I totally needed it.”

“Oh, right.”

“He kept making comments about how he missed me so much. Telling me I should see if I could apply for a scholarship here so we could be together all the time. Stuff like that.”

Tessa’s eyes filled with sympathy. “But he didn’t really mean it? He was just sweet-talking you?”

“Yep. He assumed I wouldn’t do it, because getting into Blackwood on a scholarship was such a big deal for me. He thought I’d never give it up.”

“Ugh. What a prick. He totally led you into doing it!”

I grimaced. “Yeah, he’s definitely a total prick. But the thing is, I had no idea. I mean, like I said, we’ve known each other for over a decade, and we were together for so long. I genuinely believed he wanted me here, because that’s what he told me. So I looked into a few things, and I was able to get my course and my scholarship transferred because Hollingsworth and Blackwood are part of the same collegiate network.” I lifted a hand. “ Huge fuck-around, by the way, and unfortunately irreversible. You can change, but only once.”

Tessa visibly cringed. “I see where this is going now.”

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. “I was due to visit him over the summer, and I figured that’s when I’d drop the big news. But that’s when I found out… all the bad stuff.”

“And by then it was already too late to go back to Blackwood?”

“Exactly. I was totally locked into Hollingsworth at that point.” I lifted my hands in a theatrical surrender. “So now I have to be here whether I like it or not.”

“Ugh, that sucks so much.” Tessa slowly shook her head. “I mean, you practically gave up your whole life to move for him, and he just… ugh. I hate this guy already.”

“Me too.”

“If it makes you feel any better, Hollingsworth is amazing, and I’d never switch. Not even for a billion dollars,” she said. “I love walking around and looking at all the old buildings. Especially in the fall. The vibes are just sooo right then, you know?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve seen photos. It’s beautiful. Also, my ex is a senior this year. So I guess I’ll only have to worry about running into him for a year before he’s gone.”

“See? It’s not so bad.” Tessa smiled. “Also, I might be a hugely annoying gossip queen, but I make the best flavored teas. So as long as you’re stuck here, you’ll never be dehydrated.”

I returned her smile. “You’re not annoying. And I love tea.”

She leapt up. “I’ll make some now. You have to try my caramel apple pie flavor. Oh, and this probably goes without saying, but please don’t ever mention to the RAs that I have an electric kettle in here.”

I mimed a zip going across my mouth. “My lips are sealed. Unless I’m opening them for your tea. Herbal or verbal.”

Tessa grinned. “I knew I liked you,” she said, eyes sparkling. She paused and lifted her hands, displaying her palms. “Also, it’s probably a bit late for me to say this, and awkward as hell given your situation, but… welcome to Hollingsworth!”

My first two weeks of sophomore year ended up going much better than I expected. My professors were all nice, the other students were mostly pleasant, and I didn’t run into Jake anywhere on campus. I didn’t see Rhett, either, as much as that rankled at the tiny, hidden part of me that craved dark thrills.

Tessa had very kindly integrated me into her main friend group, which was originally a trio including her, a gorgeous Alt girl named Bree Bennett, and a petite, freckled brunette named Sloane Parker. Bree was vibrant and cool with a fierce edge, and Sloane was sweet and insanely smart. Above all, the three girls were really nice, allowing me to slot right into their group as if I’d always been there.

I was beyond grateful for their acceptance of me, especially after the rumors my old Blackwood friends had shared about Hollingsworth. They’d begged me not to leave my old course, telling me they’d heard it was difficult—or even impossible—for transfer students to make new friends at Hollingsworth, due to the presence of so many cliques along with the palpable air of exclusivity. I’d heard horror stories about groups of rich legacy kids who seemed to rule the social landscape, viewing so-called outsiders or scholarship kids with total disdain and treating them so poorly they ended up dropping out.

Upon my arrival here, the sight of the sprawling campus and imposing Gothic architecture had already made me nervous enough. My unsettling encounter with Rhett had only worsened that anxiety, making me wish I’d listened to my Blackwood friends and never transferred. But Tessa, Bree, and Sloane had shown me my worries were for nothing.

Sure, there were assholes here—like Rhett and Jake, obviously—but there were assholes everywhere in the world. Really, it was just like any other university, albeit with a few more rich kids, given the college’s uber-prestigious reputation and proximity to Havenport, which was one of the East Coast’s wealthiest towns. Nothing to stress about in the grand scheme of things.

Unfortunately, all of my positive thoughts about my new college instantly vanished when I caught sight of Jake standing outside the library.

“Shit,” I muttered, heart dropping into my stomach. I ducked behind a stone column, waited a few seconds, then peeked out, praying Jake hadn’t spotted me. Thankfully, he seemed far too engrossed in his conversation with a perky brunette girl to have noticed my arrival in the area.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I retracted my head, deciding to remain hidden in my spot until I knew Jake was long-gone. I knew it was pathetic and childish to hide from an ex, but I really, really didn’t want to deal with his shit today. Especially not after all the recent messages I’d received from him.

I peeked out again and saw him sauntering away, heading for the east side of the quad. That was the opposite direction from where I needed to go. Thank god.

I stepped out and hurried past the library, glancing at my watch as I went. I was supposed to meet the girls in the West End Café in two minutes, so unless I ran, I would be late.

“Excuse me!”

I glanced to my left and saw the brunette girl Jake had been speaking with waving at me. At first, I assumed she was one of his friends who wanted to berate me for ‘stalking’ him to Hollingsworth, or whatever his latest nasty claim about me happened to be, so I looked past her, pretending I hadn’t seen or heard her.

That didn’t deter her. She waved at me again and smiled brightly. “Hi! How are you doing today?”

“Uh… hi,” I replied, brows dipping in a slight frown of confusion as I stopped. Had I met this girl somewhere and forgotten? “I’m okay, thanks.”

With that, the girl launched into a speech about helping people get off the streets and into housing. “For the same cost as one Starbucks frappe per day, you could help us provide shelter and meals,” she said, her eyes wide with practiced empathy. “It’s such a good cause, and it’s really easy to sign up too. All on a tablet.”

I winced, feeling a tug of guilt but knowing I couldn’t commit to even a small donation right now. “I’m sorry. I’d love to help, but I’m pretty strapped for cash. I can’t even afford a Starbucks frappe for myself once a week, let alone every day,” I replied, managing an apologetic smile. “But if I’m ever not a broke student anymore, I’ll look you up.”

“Oh, no worries! That’s totally fine.” The girl waved a casual hand. “Have a nice day!”

“You too.”

I resumed my walk toward the West End.

“Wait!”

The charity girl called out to me again, and I turned to see her hurrying toward me. I stopped and let her catch up, wondering if I’d dropped something.

“Hey,” she said, fishing a business card out of her pocket. “Sorry, I know this is totally awkward, but when you mentioned being a broke student, I figured this might come in handy for you one day.”

“Um… what is it?”

She handed me the card. “This is the other place I work at. It’s a finance center in Havenport that specializes in loans for students.”

“Oh, thanks, but I don’t really need a loan right now.”

The girl pressed on, seemingly oblivious to my words. “The owner started it to combat all those payday loan places with super high interest rates that prey on desperate students,” she said. “Our rates are very flexible. Some of them are as low as 2%.”

I still didn’t want to take out a loan for anything, but that rate piqued my interest. “Only 2%?”

“Yup. It’s really low, right?” the girl said. She lifted a palm and went on. “Anyway, don’t worry, I promise I’m not trying to sell you anything. But from one broke student to another, I just thought I’d mention it in case you ever end up in a tough spot. Like, say… your computer suddenly dies. Or you get a bigger phone bill than usual. Stuff like that. I know from experience how stressful it can be, and there are just so many horrible places willing to take advantage of people in situations like that.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep it in mind,” I said, tucking the card into my purse.

“Cool.” She smiled brightly. “Anyway, have a nice day.”

The girl went to turn away, but I took a slight step forward and spoke up again. “Sorry, I was just wondering… do you know that guy you were talking to before me?”

Her brows puckered. “What guy?”

“Tall. Sandy-blond kind of hair. Black sweatshirt.”

“Oh, him. ” The girl wrinkled her nose and waved a dismissive hand. “I don’t know him. I was just trying to get him to sign up for the charity. But he said no after wasting my time trying to flirt for ten minutes.” She sighed, eyes rolling upward. Then she cocked her head. “Anyway, why do you ask?”

“I just wanted to say—if you happen to run into him again, be careful. I know him, and he’s a bad guy. A really bad guy.”

“Oh. Wow. Okay. Thanks for the heads up.”

“No problem.” I glanced at my watch. Shit. I was really late now. “Sorry, I have to be somewhere. Nice to meet you, and thanks for the tip about the finance center!”

I made it to the West End Café five minutes later. Tessa, Bree, and Sloane were at a table by the window, chatting over mugs of coffee and plates of pastries.

“Sorry I’m late,” I said, sliding into a chair next to Tessa. “I got caught up talking to someone outside the library.”

“No worries. I got you a pumpkin cream chai.” Tessa nodded toward a tall mug and pushed it closer to me. “But it looks like you might need some water too. You’re literally sweating , babe.”

“Yeah, I ran all the way here,” I said with a rueful smile.

“You didn’t need to run!” Bree said, grinning at me. “You aren’t that late.”

“I know, but I was also kinda worried about running into you-know-who.”

“Oh my god, did you finally see him?”

“Yup.” I grimaced. “This is so embarrassing to admit, but I hid from him . Like, full on crouched behind a column. I must’ve looked crazy to anyone who went past and saw me.”

“Girl, we’ve all been there,” Sloane said, brows rising. “No judgment from me.”

I sighed and wrapped my hands around the warm mug in front of me. “I guess I just need to get used to it. Now that we’re here, we’re bound to keep running into each other.”

“Yeah, it really sucks ass,” Tessa replied.

Bree and Sloane nodded, but their eyes were now focused somewhere over our heads. Tessa and I turned and looked over our shoulders to see a tall, dark-haired guy in jeans and a dark green Henley striding into the café. The tight shirt showed off his Greek-god physique, attracting lusty stares from every single woman in the spacious café.

Oh, for fuck’s sake. Of course it had to be Rhett.

He caught sight of me and smirked, brows rising. Then he gave me a mocking wave before striding away to the other side of the café.

I groaned and turned back to face the others. “I guess today’s the day where I meet my quota for running into assholes,” I muttered.

“You know Rhett Sinclair?” Bree asked, brows shooting up.

“Yeah, why did he wave at you?” Tessa added.

“I don’t really know him. I just ran into him on my first night here.”

“Wait, Rhett is the Wilder you got into an argument with in that tunnel?” Sloane asked, leaning closer. “The one you told us about?”

Tessa lifted a hand, flashing me a guilty look before she addressed the other girls. “The one I told you about,” she said. She turned back to me again. “I didn’t know it was Rhett, though. Was it actually him?”

“Yup.” My nose wrinkled. “Do you know him?”

“Not really. I know of him, though. He’s like, the hottest senior at Hollingsworth, bar none. And he’s also the head Wilder, I guess.”

“At the collegiate level, that is,” Sloane added. “I’m pretty sure The Wild Hunt is a lifelong membership thing.”

“Oh. Right.”

“It’s not exactly a secret who the members are on campus,” she went on. “All the uber-rich guys, basically. Like, the ones from billionaire families. They share a house off-campus, and they all wear silver skull rings.”

“How is it a secret society, then?” I asked, brows furrowing. “If all the members are known.”

“It’s more about what they do. No one knows.”

Bree nodded. “A friend of mine dated one of them for two years and he never breathed a single word to her about any of it,” she said. “There are rumors, though. Based on the name.”

My interest was really piqued now. “Like what?”

Bree lowered her voice. “I heard they run some sort of sex club where they hunt down women and fuck their brains out.”

“No way.” Sloane scoffed. “Someone would’ve talked at some point, if that was what they were getting up to.”

“Maybe they make the women sign NDAs,” I said, raising a brow.

“Honestly, I think they’re just assholes who like to shoot deer,” Tessa said. “Like, actual hunting.”

“Why would that be a secret, though? Tons of people hunt.”

“But it’s totally mean, right? Killing cute, innocent animals,” she said. “I bet they wouldn’t get laid half as much if everyone knew they were shooting at Bambi every weekend.”

“I don’t know about that,” Sloane replied. “My mom’s an environmentalist, and she said the deer population in this area is actually way too high. It can mess up the ecosystem, so hunting isn’t exactly the worst thing that can happen to them.”

As the girls debated the ethics of hunting animals, my gaze drifted to the table that Rhett had gone over to earlier. He was holding court with a few other guys… including Jake.

Shit.

I jerked my gaze away, cheeks instantly aflame. I hadn’t even noticed Jake come in. It made sense that a prick like him would be friends with Rhett, though. Birds of a feather stick together.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glaring over at me. Damn. I hadn’t looked away fast enough, and he’d spotted me. Like clockwork, my phone chimed with a text from him thirty seconds later.

J : Stalking me now, huh? You really need to get the fuck out of Hollingsworth, you crazy cunt. You’re not welcome here. Get it through your fucking head.

“Asshole,” I muttered.

Tessa frowned. “What happened?”

“See that guy three spots away from Rhett? With the blondish hair,” I said, slightly tilting my head. “That’s him. ”

“He Who Shall Not Be Named?”

“Yup. He just sent me this.” I lifted my phone to show the girls the nasty message.

“Why don’t you just block him?” Bree asked, eyes flashing with anger.

“I have him blocked on socials already. But I left his number unblocked.”

“Um, why ?” Tessa said, forehead wrinkling. “Are you a masochist or something?”

“I want to have proof to show to the police if he ever gets really bad. Like, full-on threats or whatever.”

“Oh, right. That makes sense.” She slowly shook her head. “Still, it sucks that you have to deal with this. Why can’t he just leave you alone?”

“Because he’s a monumental dickhead, clearly,” Sloane said before I could reply.

A shadow fell across our table, and we all looked up. Rhett was standing there with a familiar smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. His dark eyes held a glint of amusement, like he knew the effect he had on women and wasn’t shy about using it.

“Ladies,” he said, voice smooth as he slid his hands into his pockets. “How are you doing?”

“Um… good?” Sloane practically squeaked.

“I wanted to let you know that there’s a bonfire party at the Wilder house on Friday, and you’re invited.” His gaze lingered on me a beat longer than necessary, a silent dare flashing in his eyes. “All of you.”

Bree’s face lit up, and she exchanged a glance with Sloane, barely able to contain her enthusiasm.

I suppressed the urge to shout, ‘ Fuck no! ’ and met Rhett’s eyes, trying not to give him the satisfaction of a reaction. “Thanks. I’ll see if I’m free,” I said, keeping my voice steady even as my heart raced at a million miles an hour.

His sardonic smile widened. “See you there,” he said confidently, as if there was no room for argument. With that, he turned and strolled away, his sense of casual dominance lingering in the air long after he’d gone.

“Oh my god.” Sloane was jokingly fanning herself with a napkin, lips cracked in the widest grin I’d ever seen on her pretty face. “I can’t believe we got invited to the bonfire party!”

“Is it a big deal?” I asked, brows rising.

Tessa nodded. “The Wilders always throw awesome parties, but their annual bonfire party is like, the absolute best. At least from what I’ve heard. I didn’t go last year, because the invite list is pretty exclusive.” She paused and threw up her hands. “But hey, apparently we’re on it this year!”

“We’re totally going, right?” Bree asked.

“Um, obviously!” Tessa said, eyes widening. “Why wouldn’t we?”

“I don’t know,” I murmured, fidgeting with my hands on my lap. “I already have a ton of assignments to do.”

“You have to come! You’re probably the first brand new transfer student to get invited to a Wilder bonfire party in the history of time. Plus, you were personally invited by Rhett freakin’ Sinclair! No one says no to that.”

My nose wrinkled. “Maybe I do. Rhett’s an asshole.”

“Yeah, but he’s a sexy-as-fuck asshole.” Bree waggled her eyebrows. “Anyway, you don’t need to hang out with him. Just come with us and have fun.”

“Exactly. It’s a party! That’s what it’s for —having fun!” Sloane added.

“Did we forget to mention that it’s a costume party?” Tessa said in a wheedling tone. “I seem to remember you telling me how much you love costume parties last week.”

I slowly shook my head, lips stretching with a slow smile. “Okay, fine,” I said, throwing my hands up in mock defeat. “I’ll go.”