Page 9 of Hunter or Hunted

Releasing a deep breath through O-shaped lips, Simone nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Sorry I’m such a mess. I don’t even know why it got to me like that. She made some comment about how I’m a perpetual victim, and we went back and forth a little, and then she left, and I just…”

All the memories came back.

“It’s alright,” I said.

“Okay. Coffee, pick Junie up from school, then talk to Rhiannon and the rest of the legal department.” Another calming breath. This one did far more to loosen her tight shoulders. “On the bright side, I think I might be sleeping with a cop soon, so that’ll help with all of this.”

Raising my brows, I snorted a laugh. “I’m sorry, did I hear that correctly?”

Nose still pink, lips and eyes swollen from the tears, a hint of joy pulled at the edges of her lips. “Edwards came down a little while ago. He—Well, he wanted to talk about something else, but before he left, he asked me to be his date to a New Year’s Eve party. One that you and Sebastian are allegedly going to.”

Sebastian had mentioned something about a party next week. I agreed, but I didn’t remember all the specifics.

Still, at the mention of his name, it took a great deal of willpower to keep from rolling my eyes. “Wow. That’s exciting. You and Edwards, huh?”

Her expression could only be described as giddy, like a schoolgirl who’d learned her crush liked her back. “I don’t know, maybe? He’s a good guy. And he’s so hot.”

The hot part, I agreed with. By and large, he seemed like a good guy too. I didn’t have bad things to say about him.

But apparently my face gave me away.

Simone slouched. “What? What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing’s wrong with him.” I lifted my hands. “He’s cool. I like Edwards.”

“But?”

“He’s just not my type.” As I stood, I outstretched a hand to help her up. “But yeah, with everything considered, it’s a good idea for you to get in bed with the cop.”

“What do you mean?” She braced herself on the wall with one hand and used mine for leverage to get to her feet. Once vertical, her eyes flicked over me. “He’s hot, he’s nice, he has a steady job, probably with a pension. Those all sound like your type. Everybody’s type, really.”

“I just can’t do cops.” Another shrug. “He seems like a good one. In the same way that not all men are bad men. You know, just… when in shark-infested waters.”

Grabbing her jacket off the hook by the door, she frowned at me. “I thought, since you’re all happy, hunky-dory with Sebastian, you’d be happy for me too.”

“Not too happy, hunky-dory today,” I said under my breath. “But I am happy for you. I’m especially happy that it could help keep both of us out of prison.”

“Stop that. I’m not using him for his job.” Her frown deepened. “But what did you say a second ago? Something going on with you and Sebastian?”

I could tell her. There was a part of me that wanted to. Given his obscene level of paranoia, however, I settled for the cliff notes. “Sometimes, you meet a man. You think he’s, like, a really good person. All your morals and ideologies align. He sees the world the way you do. And then, one day, he opens his big mouth, and you realize he is just a man. A decent man is still one step below a mediocre woman.”

She laughed. “What did he say?”

“Just some stupid mansplainy shit.” Rolling my eyes, I reached for the door. “It doesn’t matter. I’m mad, but I’ll get over it. Coffee will help.”

We drove to Maple & Thyme, only a few blocks over, in Simone’s car. Given my exhaustion, I asked if Simone would drive home and bring me back to town for my car tomorrow. Walking was an option, but my limbs felt like gelatin. Sand lined my eyelids. Keeping them open was backbreaking labor at this point.

Coffees in hand, we drove another ten minutes to Junie’s school. They let out at 3:30, and we made it there fifteen minutes after. The pickup line already stretched onto the main road.

We didn’t talk much while we waited. I was too tired to keep the conversation alive, and Simone’s head seemed somewhere amongst the stars.

The school attendant must’ve recognized Simone, because someone came out with Junie a few minutes later. Decked out in a red and green dress, hair tied in red and green ribbons, she beamed about her last day before Christmas. They had watched movies, and sang Christmas carols, and decorated cookies. She gushed that it was her favorite school day of the whole year.

Junie was a pleasant distraction from everything else. She offered me one of her cookies, which she had piped excellently for an eight-year-old. Her plan for the evening included watching The Grinch, followed by Home Alone, and finishing up with the masterpiece that was Barbie’s rendition of The Nutcracker.

She asked if I would come over tonight to join.

I doubted I would make it past sundown, but I thanked her for the offer.