Page 8 of Hunt Me

I shake my head almost frantically. ‘No.Him.’ I can’t reach the photo, but I point harder.

Milo’s brows fly up. ‘Arhe.’ He fingerspells that really slowly, and by the time he’s done, my eye is twitching. Then he adds, ‘My little brother,’ and I nearly faint.

I was right. My Deaf eyes didn’t deceive me. They are all related, and my heroisconnected to this café.

And oh god…now I have his name. His…really weird name.

Arhe.

What nationality even is that?

A hand waves near me, and I pull myself out of my thoughts, turning my head toward Milo. ‘You okay?’ he asks.

I realize I’m holding my breath and swaying slightly, like a damsel in distress, only I’m not in distress. I’m horny all over again. My hard-on came so fast and suddenly that I’m dizzy from all the blood rushing south.

‘Yes, tired,’ I lie. Luckily, I’m tucking and wearing tight panties, so he won’t catch a tent in my pants, but if I’m not careful, he’s going to notice I’m uncomfortable.

I turn my gaze back to Arhe’s picture. Oh god, he’s so fucking hot. That scar, those eyes. The sight of him should terrify me. He has the look of someone who has beaten people half to death in dark alleys more than once, but all I can think about is the way he touched me. The way he saved me.

‘He have name sign?’ I ask Milo.

He taps anAnear his scar.

‘He here?’ I ask.

‘Why?’ He suddenly looks wary, his signs a little more clipped. ‘Who are you? Who sent you?’

I squeeze the cup so hard it collapses inward slightly. ‘No, no, no. I’m…just a…friend?’ I know that my face betrays any confidence I was trying to portray.

Milo leans forward slightly, and his eyes turn cold. I shiver at the way he’s looking at me, like he could kill me without a second thought and not lose sleep over it. He looks the way Arhe did when he glanced back at the guy whose blood ended up all over us. Like his life didn’t matter.

‘We left that life behind,’ Milo signs, his hands stiff but with purpose this time. ‘If you’re here for trouble, you can leave.’ The way he signsleave, it’s a flick of his wrist, a promise that if I don’t follow his orders, I will regret it.

I swallow and shake my head and then nod because oh fuck, I think if I upset him, he’s going to peel me apart like a banana. And not in a fun way.

When I first stepped into this café, it felt safe, but now I suddenly want to leave. I can find Arhe another time.

‘I’m not here for trouble,’ I manage to say and then swivel on my heels. Only problem is I trip over something.

No, not something. A cat.

The one with no ears.

It scrambles quickly to the side, trying to get away as I fumble forward, my dirty chai living up to its name and spilling all over the floor.

When I finally manage to right myself, I realize that I’ve made a mess, and the earless cat is glowering at me from the top of a shelf.

‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘I can clean this…’ But Milo is eyeing the puddle on the floor and the disgruntled cat.

‘Cat dirty now.’

I grimace, thinking about how hard it would be to give one of these cats a bath. He must be thinking the same thing because he just moves toward the mop, wielding it a bit like a sword before stalking over to me.

This would be a great time to make my escape, but instead, I stand there like a complete chump and watch as he mops thepuddle up. A second later, one of the cats makes its way down to the floor, completely fascinated by the mop’s fluttering wisps.

The more Milo tries to get the cat to leave it alone, the more interested it is, until Milo is mopping the floor with the cat attached. When he stops and sees I’m still there, I offer him a small smile, and he arches an eyebrow at me.

Right, yes. It’s time for me to leave before I make an actual scene.