After he goes, I watch through the window as he drops his suitcase off at his cabana, then heads up to the main part of the resort.
Alone, I fall onto the bed, messing up the straightened and crisp sheets.
And smile.
This isn’t merely a vacation. It’s a kind of therapy the internet recommended. It’s escape, away from home, and somewhere Dad knows nothing about.
Then, there’s Hunter…
He still hasn’t messaged me his plans. How he’ll transition from Levi to Hunter has me curious. What he’ll do. When he’ll appear. How he’ll hide the truth from me when we’re face-to-face, without screens and phones between us.
Shaking off the thoughts, I unzip my suitcase to start organizing the room a bit, since I’ll be staying a while. Levi didn’t provide an exact end date, and truthfully, it doesn’t matter; I have nothing better to do until the next semester in September.
I head into the bathroom to put toiletries away, but on returning, the sunlight that was streaming inside has been quelled by darkness, only strips peeking between the shut blinds. The overhead light has been switched off, leaving the place in dim shadows.
The air is different, packed with an energy that has me wanting to scream, run away, but also fall submissive to. My breaths catch as all the air in the cabana is sucked out when, from the shadow by the door, the darkness moves.
A person—a man, based on his build—dressed to meld with the environment he crafted. Black jeans, black sweater, with the hood drawn over his head. Even so, his face is covered by a mask; one of those light-up ones with Xs for eyes that glow purple.
Hunter…Levi.
If I didn’t know my best friend as well as I do, I might miss how their builds are similar. The way his shoulders move with his stilted breath, and even the tick of his head—Levi’s tell that he’s focusing. I’ve seen it numerous instances while he studies, and even the times when he’s gaming—in front of me as himself, not Hunter.
Someone else might run away with the fear that, arguably, I’m not supposed to know his real identity, so he could be someone who could very well murder me, or at least be incredibly dangerous.
My feet remain pinned to the floor.
Not only will he defend me, but I’ve lived with danger. Andthis—the edged apprehension that spikes my heart rate and heats my core—starts replacing the perils of my past. This is apprehension while being safe, nothing like when Dad came after me.
He’ll expect my fear, for me to be intimidated by my request, which means playing the part and asking questions I know the answer to. “How did you find me already?”
The shadows bend as his moves—just the slightest twitch of his body. “You were never hard to find. When I want something, I go for it. There was no way I was waiting to see you.”
His voice sounds like Levi, but masked as well, like on the phone, when I assume he alters it. He’s always been pretty good at faking other voices. It’s why our virtual friendship went on for a few months. He sounded familiar, but not so much that I didn’t believe it wasn’t a trick of my mind, of hope blending the stranger with the one I actually desired.
A threat lines his words, but one that makes my palms damp. “You want me?”
“Want you?”he repeats with a chuckle bred from my wildest dreams—the fantasies I’ve had of Levi over the years. “I already have you. Why else would you invite me here?”
You do have me.He’s always had me. It’s what I want to tell him. In both forms, he’s dealt with my ups and downs. He’s managed to pull me out of my funk with a mere few words. He’s the person who never gave up on me, insistent on creating a friendship out of dislike.
“The first time we ever gamed together, you called me a ‘pompous player’—definition still unknown.”
The memory brings a smile to my face, but no more than the fact he’s ensuring I’m aware it’s him and not a stranger. From his perspective, he is.
“It’s you.”
“It’s me,” he repeats. “Turn around.”
Holding my breath, I turn until to face the wall beside the bathroom. For a moment, there’s complete silence. Then, the floorboard cracks beneath his weight. His hoodie brushes against my arms, his scent clean and fresh. He must haverecently showered to wash off his familiar cologne, because I’d recognize it.
The steps Levi takes to keep this connection going, though I still don’t understand why, let alone why it began.
His gaze starts at my hair and travels over my shoulders, following the line of my hip. “You listen beautifully. I told you, before touching, we’d talk. You understand everything going forward is for your pleasure, not pain?” His arms come up around me, palms on the wall, until his voice is a low purr in my ear—nothingI’ve ever heard Levi sound like before but everything I’ve imagined. “There will be no one else for you during this. Your days will begin and end with me. I won’t just fuck you, Summer. I’llownyou. Body, heart, mind, and soul—not an inch will be free. I won’t ask permission after tonight, but should anything feel too real, if you want it to end, it ends immediately. No fights, no arguments.” He removes one hand to stroke my shoulder, raising goosebumps. “Understand?”
“Yes.”
To replace my father’s touch with a man I crave, to not feelhimevery time, Hunter instead guarantees my consent.