Page 39 of Hunt Me
IRIS
The wine smooths the sharp edges between us.
By the second glass, I’m laughing at his story about hacking MIT’s grading system at seventeen. By the third, I’ve stopped caring that I’m laughing at all.
“You gave yourself a B-minus?” I lean forward, forgetting to maintain distance. “Why not straight A’s?”
“Too obvious.” His eyes glitter in the candlelight. “Perfect grades attract attention. Perfect except for one strategic flaw? That’s just human nature.”
“Devious.”
“Says the woman who tried to frame a Russian collective last week.” He refills my glass without asking. “How’d you fabricate their signature?”
I shouldn’t tell him.
“Analyzed their syntax patterns across three years of dark web activity. Built a linguistic model that mimicked their grammatical quirks.”
“Brilliant.” He says it like he means it, like I’ve done something worthy of admiration. “Did it work?”
“For about six hours.” I swirl the wine. “Then you saw through it.”
“You wanted me to see through it.”
“Maybe.”
His leg shifts under the table, knee brushing mine. I don’t move away.
The waiter brings our entrees—duck for him, sea bass for me. I barely taste it. Too focused on the way Alexi’s hands move when he talks, long fingers gesturing to illustrate his point about encryption protocols.
Too focused on how badly I want those hands on me.
“You’re staring,” he says.
“You stare at me constantly.”
“Fair point.” He cuts into his duck. “What are you thinking?”
I want to leave with you. That this terrifies me. That I haven’t felt this alive since before my parents died.
“That this was supposed to be one dinner and then you’d leave me alone.”
“And?”
“And I’m considering whether that’s actually what I want.”
The confession hangs between us, dangerous and raw.
Alexi sets down his fork slowly. “What do you want, Iris?”
You. I want you in ways that make no logical sense.
“I don’t know.”
“Liar.” His voice drops lower. “You always know what you want. You just don’t want to admit it.”
My pulse hammers. “Maybe I like keeping you guessing.”
“Maybe you’re scared of what happens if you stop running.”
