Page 52 of Lost to the Woods

As the weeks passed since I’d planted the cameras inside her apartment, it became abundantly clear to me that she was obsessed with me. And I mean that in a normal way—a girl having a crush on a guy. Not nearly in the same stratosphere as my level of obsession.

I just needed to wait until she was desperate enough to admit it to herself.

Winter was dark and long. She never tried to reach out, but the proof was right there in front of my eyes—how much she missed talking to me.

I missed her too, and I resented her even more for it.

She made me weak.

Then, the opportunity finally presented itself. Mid-April. Bunny was about to turn twenty-six. She cried for three whole days leading up to her birthday, throwing herself a pity party each night with ice cream and wine, and I knew I had to fly to NYC to stay close.

So I did.

She went out with Kendra and Nate. I followed, just to keep an eye. Or that’s what I told myself anyway.

The place they picked was pretty lowkey. There was a lounge on the first floor where they had reserved a booth and started with some drinks and a bunch of bar appetizers.

I sat in the dark corner by the bar, no mask, just hood pulled low, and the balaclava bunched around my neck in case I needed to cover my face. Not that it mattered since nobody knew my face. I blended into the shadows as I watched her. I shouldn’t have even been there. Not after the way she’d fucking discarded me. But it was her birthday. And no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t stay away.

Not from her.

The whiskey burned as it slid down my throat, but it wasn’t nearly enough to dull the rage simmering beneath my skin.

Bunny was laughing. Tossing her head back, her curled-up hair bouncing, eyes glossy from too many drinks. Instead of being miserable, she was glowing. In that tiny pink dress that barely covered her ass, the one I knew she wore just to flaunt herself—for attention, for validation, for control. She loved it. Loved being the center of gravity in a room full of men who would trip over themselves just to get a taste.

She didn’t even know her fucking limits.

Nate was beside her, sticking close like the pitiful, lovesick dork he was, but he wasn’t a threat. He never would be. She humored him, let him flirt, let him think he had a shot—but he didn’t.

Then some other fuckhead at the bar started buying her drinks. Sending them over one by one like some fucking gentleman, earning smiles, giggles, those wide, innocent“Oh my God, for me?”eyes she did so well.

I gritted my teeth, gripping the smooth wooden handle of the knife under my hoodie, just to cool myself off.

She was so fucking predictable. Always needing to be admired. Always flirting, teasing, tempting. Like a fucking slut.

Her painted lips wrapped around the rim of the glass, tongue flicking out to catch a drop of liquor, and I felt it. That pull. That hunger. That fury.

Perhaps I’d waited too long. She seemed ready to try to move on. Obviously, I’d never let that shit happen.

Then, the girls went upstairs to more of a club area that was much busier. There was a live DJ and a dance floor, but not many people were dancing. People were drinking, talking loudly as they hung around. And her. In the middle of it all, swaying her hips, arms lifting above her head, eyes closing like she was in a rave.

I wanted to drag her out of there by her fucking throat.

But I leaned against the wall, seething, stewing, simmering.

Until that fucking guy from earlier made his move.

He was cocky. He had that smug goddamn grin that told me he’d done this before, that he thought he had a chance. He leaned into her, whispered something in her ear, making her laugh, blush, bite her fucking lip.

I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached.

She was wasted—I realized that. She didn’t know what the fuck she was doing.

And yet, my mind spun—she let him touch her, that traitorous cunt. A hand on her waist, fingers brushing her arm. She let him whisper in her ear, let him murmur sweet little lies while she batted her lashes and played along.

I hated her. I fucking hated her.

But I still wanted her.

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