irritable.
Boner rolled his eyes and stomped on up to the trailer. We were still good; he just didn’t want to get in the middle of another argument.
“I’m just doing a job,” Hunter said. He was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
“I’m still not exactly sure what your job is,” I grouched. It was too early for his shit.
“Right now I’m observing,” he said easily. “Later, I’ll write up any notes. Then I have an academic paper to finish. It’s about saving the planet.”
“You’re like a broken record,” I said, even though I’d heard the sarcasm in his voice. I made to follow Boner up to base camp. To my surprise, Hunter fell into step next to me.
“I spoke to a few people,” he said. “About the letter you got.”
“Oh.” I stopped on the path and turned to him.
“Yeah,” he said. “So you might wanna stop bitching at me.”
“Fine. I’m sorry. What did they say?”
“No one has heard anything,” he said. “It’s got nothing to do with any of the groups I know or I’m part of. I didn’t think anyone would do something like that, but that’s confirmed now.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I didn’t think you were behind it, for what it’s worth.”
He shrugged. “I know. I’ve passed that on to the police as well, so hopefully they’ll leave me alone now.”
I raised an eyebrow and smirked a little. “If you left altogether, then you could be sure they’d leave you alone.”
“Nice try,” Hunter said with a laugh.
“What are you even working on at the moment?” I said. “If you’re not harassing us, what’s left to spend your day doing?”
“I’m actually working on a new article. It’s a new look at whether modern scientific discovery is possible without damaging the environment.”
“Don’t you ever get tired of the same theme?”
“No,” he said with another smile. This one showed lots of teeth. Lots of straight, white, perfect teeth. I immediately thought of a shark. “Part of my responsibility is to explore all the options available to us so we can work together for a better environment.”
“Do you ever go off script?”
This time he laughed. “Sometimes. I won’t keep you from your work. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again soon.”
“I’m sure,” I said drily. “And… thanks for looking that up for me.”
“No problem.”
I raised my hand in a wave and started up the path again.
Maybe unsurprisingly, when I finished work, he was still there. Boner had packed up early so he could go to a doctor to get another inhaler—with all the dust, his asthma was acting up—and River was supposed to be giving me a ride back to my motel. As we walked across the parking lot, Hunter stepped away from his car and ambled over to us.
“Do you need a ride?” he asked.
I looked at River, who shrugged as if to say sure . I nodded. “Thanks,” I said. “See you tomorrow, guys.”
The girls gave me identical knowing smiles and hopped into their car, leaving me alone with Hunter.
“That was nice,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “What do you want?”
“Is anyone else around?”
“No,” I said. “They all left early.”
“That’s what I thought.”
This was weird. Hunter looked weird.
“I know you did that asking around for us,” I said, “but I still don’t trust you. Or like you.”
He crossed to me in two swift steps, caught my face in his hands, and kissed me hard. For a moment I swooned. Then I got mad, mostly at myself, for the way he made me feel. I didn’t want to swoon for him, I wanted to go back to punching him, when everything was simpler and I wasn’t forced to evaluate my fucking feelings .
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I asked, pushing at his chest and taking a step back.
“I thought that was obvious,” he said and licked his lips.
“Are you high ?”
“No.”
“Do you have a death wish?”
He smirked. “Definitely
Boner rolled his eyes and stomped on up to the trailer. We were still good; he just didn’t want to get in the middle of another argument.
“I’m just doing a job,” Hunter said. He was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
“I’m still not exactly sure what your job is,” I grouched. It was too early for his shit.
“Right now I’m observing,” he said easily. “Later, I’ll write up any notes. Then I have an academic paper to finish. It’s about saving the planet.”
“You’re like a broken record,” I said, even though I’d heard the sarcasm in his voice. I made to follow Boner up to base camp. To my surprise, Hunter fell into step next to me.
“I spoke to a few people,” he said. “About the letter you got.”
“Oh.” I stopped on the path and turned to him.
“Yeah,” he said. “So you might wanna stop bitching at me.”
“Fine. I’m sorry. What did they say?”
“No one has heard anything,” he said. “It’s got nothing to do with any of the groups I know or I’m part of. I didn’t think anyone would do something like that, but that’s confirmed now.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I didn’t think you were behind it, for what it’s worth.”
He shrugged. “I know. I’ve passed that on to the police as well, so hopefully they’ll leave me alone now.”
I raised an eyebrow and smirked a little. “If you left altogether, then you could be sure they’d leave you alone.”
“Nice try,” Hunter said with a laugh.
“What are you even working on at the moment?” I said. “If you’re not harassing us, what’s left to spend your day doing?”
“I’m actually working on a new article. It’s a new look at whether modern scientific discovery is possible without damaging the environment.”
“Don’t you ever get tired of the same theme?”
“No,” he said with another smile. This one showed lots of teeth. Lots of straight, white, perfect teeth. I immediately thought of a shark. “Part of my responsibility is to explore all the options available to us so we can work together for a better environment.”
“Do you ever go off script?”
This time he laughed. “Sometimes. I won’t keep you from your work. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again soon.”
“I’m sure,” I said drily. “And… thanks for looking that up for me.”
“No problem.”
I raised my hand in a wave and started up the path again.
Maybe unsurprisingly, when I finished work, he was still there. Boner had packed up early so he could go to a doctor to get another inhaler—with all the dust, his asthma was acting up—and River was supposed to be giving me a ride back to my motel. As we walked across the parking lot, Hunter stepped away from his car and ambled over to us.
“Do you need a ride?” he asked.
I looked at River, who shrugged as if to say sure . I nodded. “Thanks,” I said. “See you tomorrow, guys.”
The girls gave me identical knowing smiles and hopped into their car, leaving me alone with Hunter.
“That was nice,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “What do you want?”
“Is anyone else around?”
“No,” I said. “They all left early.”
“That’s what I thought.”
This was weird. Hunter looked weird.
“I know you did that asking around for us,” I said, “but I still don’t trust you. Or like you.”
He crossed to me in two swift steps, caught my face in his hands, and kissed me hard. For a moment I swooned. Then I got mad, mostly at myself, for the way he made me feel. I didn’t want to swoon for him, I wanted to go back to punching him, when everything was simpler and I wasn’t forced to evaluate my fucking feelings .
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I asked, pushing at his chest and taking a step back.
“I thought that was obvious,” he said and licked his lips.
“Are you high ?”
“No.”
“Do you have a death wish?”
He smirked. “Definitely
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