Page 32 of Tag

“Such a stellar wingman,” I joked.

“I aim to please.”

I swore I caught a glint in his eye. It passed too quickly for me to be certain I wasn’t imagining things. “What about the other masked person?” I asked Roxxi. “The one from this morning—or the second one? Have you heard anything?”

Across the table, Ryder’s head jerked up from the questionable lasagna he’d been poking at, his eyes suddenly sharp. “What other person?”

Rook was watching me now, too.

Brooke frowned. “I heard about what happened to you guys earlier. You’re saying there was another?”

Technically, there were three or four at this point, but with tension now wrapped around the table, I decided to focus on the most pressing. “No one is talking about it? They were standing by the tree in the east courtyard during my first class. I’m surprised you guys haven’t heard about it yet.”

Cloe wiped her mouth and then tossed her napkin onto her tray. "Honestly, it’s creepy as hell. Even if it is Hunt-related. You said they weren’t wearing the same thing as the person from this morning?"

"No," I confirmed. "Not even close."

“You didn’t see it?” Brooke asked Cloe. “You two share that class, don’t you?”

Cloe shook her head. “They were gone by the time I looked for them, but the people present were definitely running scared.”

Roxxi's lips pursed in disapproval. "I don’t like that. Whoever’s behind this is either trying way too hard to grab attention or they’ve completely skipped all the other steps that come before this part.”

"This could all be the early stuff. It will be officially announced soon, and the start date won’t be too far behind that. People should find out if they’re a target or not before then, right?" Ari asked.

"That’s usually how it works," Xander replied, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. "Things could be different this year."

Roxxi didn’t look convinced. "Would Crowsfell change a tradition that’s been done the same way for decades?"

Rook opened his mouth to contribute to the conversation, pausing when a girl walking by with her friends slowed her pace.

She flashed a bright smile and gave him a flirty wave, her fingers fluttering in the air.

Layla noticed the exchange immediately. “Was that Sophie Wolfe?”

I took another look at the girl as she continued walking. She was cute. Light-skinned with a head of blonde curls and a gym-fit, lithe figure, poured into an outfit that left little to the imagination, paired with fluffy Crocs. My attention wasn’t solely on Sophie, though, but on the girl walking beside her.

Ellie Newton.

Ryder’s first girlfriend. First, in other ways, too. Seeing her felt like pressing on an old bruise, one I thought had stopped aching years ago. I turned away and grabbed my bottle of water, trying to maintain a neutral expression. As I twisted the cap, my eyes drifted across the table, naturally, without thinking. Ryder wasn’t watching them. He was watching me.

His gaze was steady and unreadable, neither curious nor distracted. I was the first to look away. Whatever he was trying to convey, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to figure it out.

Cade whistled under his breath. “You lucky fuck.”

Rook barely reacted. He gave the barest hint of a smile and went back to eating like he hadn’t been blessed by one of the most gorgeous girls on campus. His silence wasn’t anything new.

Aiden ‘Rook’ Carson didn’t need to say much to command attention. He had the kind of face that stuck with you. Cut jawline, full lips, and warm brown eyes, the color of honey that always seemed to hold more than they let on, with a faint scar beneath one.

Intricate tattoos covered him and wrapped around his throat. His hair was dark brown and slightly tousled, always effortlessly in place without looking like he tried. He wassavagely loyal, a true ride-or-die since we were kids. I thought of him as a quiet protector. He was the one who noticed when you needed a second longer to breathe or when your hands trembled too long on a bad day. He never asked questions you weren’t ready to answer, and he always showed up.

Nick eyed him with a grin. “When did that happen?”

“After she got down and begged for it.”

Roxxi laughed and shook her head. “You are such a menace.”

Arianna and Brooke both shook their heads slowly.

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