I WOKE UP CONFUSED. I scanned my surroundings, finding myself in some sort of cave. It wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small, either. A small fire was dying out next to me. The sky outside was completely dark, and it was pouring rain.
Feeling something warm behind me, I frowned. I tried to get up but to my surprise I found my body held in a tight embrace. Someone’s legs were stretched out and lined up against mine. I cringed and quickly pulled myself away.
“Kinn!” I called out to the man behind me, eyeing him warily. We were both shirtless—completely forgetting where I was, I could only come to one conclusion: You and me? Again?!
“You’re awake…? Ngh… Has the rain stopped yet?” Kinn pushed himself up from the rocks and blearily rubbed his eyes before looking at the smoldering fire. He got up and went to grab some twigs and leaves to throw on it.
“I could tell it was getting cold,” he said, squatting down next to the fire and trying to relight it. I watched him warily. When had that lunatic stolen my lighter?
“Where’s my shirt?” I asked. Kinn pointed to a big rock on the other side of the cave, where both our shirts were laid out to dry.
“It’s still soaked. Don’t bother putting it on,” he said, yawning.
“What did you do to me?” I demanded, glaring at his back.
“What could I do to you?” Kinn asked, tilting his head as he turned to look at me.
“Well, my clothes are…and you were holding me!” I growled.
“You don’t remember a thing, do you? It was raining. You said you were cold. I didn’t know how to help with that, so I hugged you. Was it warm?” he asked with a shit-eating grin. I wanted to kick his smug face right into the fire pit, but I wasn’t strong enough right then. My head was spinning.
“And who said you could do that?!” Shit, it wasn’t like I’d forgotten everything. I knew we were chased into the middle of the woods, then it started raining, and my body ached to the point that I couldn’t take it anymore. I also remembered Kinn giving me…a piggyback ride? I bit my lip hard as I felt my heart skip a beat.
“Come on, Porsche. You really think I’m in the mood for that? Read the room!” Kinn said with a laugh, but I didn’t find it funny in the least.
“Who knows? A coldhearted son of a bitch like you could do it. Motherfucking scum of the earth.”
Kinn sat there poking at the fire. “That sharp tongue of yours is back to normal. You must be feeling better, hmm?” he said, turning back to face me.
I ignored his remark. “Damn it! Where the hell are we?” I hugged my knees to my chest. The rain made it fucking cold and damp in here.
“I don’t have my phone. And I don’t know if Pete could even track us if I did,” Kinn said. He walked up to the opening of the cave and held his hand out, checking the rain.
“I’m thirsty,” I mumbled to myself, looking around for something to catch the rain, but it wasn’t like I had a water bottle at my disposal.
“What do we do? We don’t have a cup,” Kinn said.
I turned to him and frowned. He’d just said the stupidest thing ever. Of course there was no cup—we were in a fucking forest!
“Go get some big leaves. We’ll collect water that way,” I said, annoyed.
“I can’t. It’s raining.”
I didn’t bother replying to him and kept searching, but there was absolutely fuck all in the cave apart from twigs and leaves.
“If you’re that thirsty, you can take a drink from me,” he joked, his gaze shifting toward his crotch.
“Fuckin’ pervert!” I cursed.
Kinn just chuckled before walking out into the rain. I watched him, curious to see what he had planned. Soon after, he ran back with a few big leaves. He rolled them into cones to catch the rain.
“Here,” he said, handing one to me. I hesitated briefly, but took it anyway and drank from it; Kinn followed soon after.
“What kind of leaves are these? There’s no sap or anything on them, is there?” After I finished drinking, I unfolded the leaf to check.
“Dunno. But it didn’t kill you. So it’s safe, yeah?” Kinn remarked before raising his cone for another gulp. Had this jerk tricked me into tasting it for him? Yeah, he definitely waited for me to take a sip before he started drinking, the bastard.
I moved closer to the fire pit and held my knees. Why had life screwed me over this bad?! Damn it! Being hunted down was bad enough, but now I was stuck in the forest with Kinn! I was so fucked.
Kinn walked over and sat across from me. “You heard them talking in the van, right?” he asked.
“Mm-hm.” I hummed a reply without looking at him. My eyes were fixed on the fire. I didn’t know how to act around Kinn now. At least I’d gotten some of my anger out earlier when I punched him in the face. But under the current circumstances, it wasn’t a good idea to start a fight.
“They were targeting you, not me,” Kinn said flatly.
“I have no enemies except you!” I growled.
“Hah! Bullshit,” Kinn said.
I shot him a burning glare. What made him think he could talk to me like that? That treating me like this was acceptable?! Asshole!
“This is the second time they’ve targeted you,” Kinn said, concerned. “And they also know who I am. I don’t know what their motive is. Who are they? What do they want?”
I was just as surprised as he was. Kinn was targeted all the time. But they’d wanted me. I didn’t get it either.