Page 119 of Shattered Pieces

“No, but it’s still hard to get used to being on the outside again. She figured I wouldn’t smother you as much and asked me to pick you up.”

“That was her first mistake,” I grunted, making him laugh.

“I’m not that bad.”

“Whatever you say, stalker,” I hummed as he parked the car and killed the engine.

We walked inside together and sat at a table, Peter coming over with a wide smile.

“I heard you were getting out. Order whatever you want, it’s on the house.”

“I’m happy to⁠—”

“I insist,” he answered, waiting for us to decide what to eat before taking our order back to the kitchen.

“Was it one of you?” I asked quietly while we waited, and he eyed me for a second before sighing.

“Of course it was. We weren’t going to leave you to rot in a cell after promising you’d stay out. I’m sorry shit went wrong.”

“What did go wrong?”

“We’ll talk about it in the car,” he murmured, flicking his eyes around the room to make sure no one was close to us.

I nodded, knowing that was a better idea, and we dug into our food when it arrived. I moaned, enjoying the greasy burger like I hadn’t had one in years, and Hunter chuckled at me while he ate his, not saying a thing.

Peter joined us for small talk when he wasn’t busy, but when the lunch rush got too busy, he said his goodbyes and got back to work, leaving us to finish our meal before we left.

“I was going to suggest a walk around the lake, but with so many people after you right now—” Hunter started as we walked towards the car, but I cut him off.

“I’d rather get on the road so you can fill me in on everything anyway.”

We filled each other in on everything that had been happening that we hadn’t been able to talk about in the prison, and he was still chuckling about me teaming up with Lexi to beat up Anderson in the bathroom by the time we’d reached Briar Falls, the country town just south of Ashburn Valley.

“I can’t believe she conned you into her bed,” he grinned, earning a dirty look from me.

“She didn’t con me.”

“You don’t even like girls.”

“No, but I like orgasms,” I huffed, my cheeks heating slightly. “I’m used to having someone around all the time. It was a hard adjustment that I hadn’t anticipated.”

“We need to talk about a few things, so are you cool with swinging by my place before I drop you home? It’s important,” he said to change the subject, and I didn’t like how serious that sounded.

“Sure. Why can’t you tell me now though?”

“Because if you flip out in the car, I’ll crash and kill us both,” he said with a wince, nerves starting as I eyed him.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Everyone’s fine,” he promised, reaching over to pat my knee.

The drive from Briar Falls to Mount Mercer felt longer than the entire drive from the prison had as I tried to figure out what the fuck could have happened while I was gone, especially if it was something they couldn’t tell me in visitation.

It felt strange to walk in the door at Hunter’s. The last time I’d been here, I’d been dragged out of bed in a T-shirt in the middle of the night by the cops.

“Firstly, here are your things. I cleaned any trace of Max’s DNA off the necklace, and your phone is powered off but charged,” he said as he handed me a small bag, my knife, phone, wallet, some cigarettes, and my necklace inside. I reached for the necklace, putting it around my neck and hooking the clasp, feeling instantly better.

I felt naked when I didn’t wear it.