Page 111 of Tag

“Sass.” His tone said it all.

“I still needed to ask.” I flinched when I touched one of the scorched pastries and burned my finger.

Ryder stepped in, gently easing me out of the way before grabbing the strudels and tossing them in the trash with no reaction to how hot they were. “You know those two live for that shit. Rook’s good too.”

“Why did you let Aiden fight?”

“Let?” He laughed. “I wasn’t gonna be the one to stop him.”

“Fair enough.”

His expression shifted enough for me to notice the edge temper into something quieter. “I did have another reason for coming over tonight, besides laying eyes on you and making it known where we’re at.”

Right. He said he had three reasons. So far, I’d only heard two.

“What is it?”

“What’s upstairs right now?”

“Um… bedrooms?” I offered, confused.

“And?” he pressed.

“My bathroom…” I trailed off, my stomach flipping as realization set in.

He knew.

Someone told him.

He was watching me so closely that he caught the exact moment I registered it. I didn’t have time to blink before he grabbed me by the waist and lifted me clean off the floor like I weighed nothing. I gasped, flailing.

“Ryder—what the hell—put me down!”

He gripped me just beneath my thighs, slinging me over his shoulder. His pace up the stairs was slow. My fists hit his back twice before I gave up.

The only sound was his breathing and my own heartbeat, which sounded like a war drum between my ears. He reached my bedroom and pushed the door open without ceremony, dropping me onto my bed. The mattress bounced under me from the impact, but he was already striding across the room, headed straight for the bathroom. When his eyes landed on the black trash bag taped over the cracked window, he stopped.

“Ryder…” I started.

“Why didn’t you tell me the night this happened?” His voice was low, clipped. “You didn’t mention it yesterday either.”

I started to sit up, heart thudding. In one seamless motion, he was across the room and on top of me, pressing me flat against the mattress. The breath punched out of my lungs.

“Hey!” I protested and tried to shove him off.

He caught both of my wrists in his hands, dragging them above my head and pinning them there, his grip firm but not cruel. The hoodie I wore—his hoodie—rode up as I shifted beneath him, the hem bunching at my hips. Cool air licked my bare thighs. Our bodies aligned too perfectly, hips to hips, chest to chest, and my pulse spiked so violently I was sure he could feel it.

Every nerve ending lit up. I didn’t know if I wanted to punch him or pull him closer.

“Why the fuck would you hide this from me?” he asked again, his voice low and razor-sharp. He never needed to be loud to be lethal. Sometimes, I almost wished he would just yell. This quiet fury was so much worse.

“I was going to tell you,” I said, my breath catching. “I swear, I was going to—”

“Tell me. I know. Of course you were. But when? After they tried again? It got worse during the actual Hunt? When I first heard about this, I told myself there was no way it was true, not after you had every chance to tell me yourself. Turns out it was the truth, and I had to find out through a third fucking party.”

A humorless laugh cut through the air, colder than any shout

“What did I do, Sass? If you trust me… why the fuck have you been keeping secrets from me?”

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