took a second, but then I realized they were reacting to my adjusted facial features. After a minute or so, his expression swept clean, leaving behind a blank stare that settled a few inches to the left of my shoulder.
The boy I loved couldn’t bear to look directly at me.
I’d expected this. I’d deserved this. That didn’t make it any easier to bear.
And then, the unthinkable happened. Hunter took a step toward me. And another.
Daniel, Samuel, and Abby maintained their positions, but Hunter kept walking, slowly but with purpose. My android sensors remained functional, but my visual focus, it narrowed to a tunnel, turning everything around us into a foggy haze and leaving only Hunter, me, and the dwindling space between us. The experience was surreal, almost like how I felt when my mind relived one of Sarah’s memories. Like this moment had already happened to someone else and I was just watching it play back like a movie.
15 ft.
10 ft.
5 ft.
Hunter stopped. Hands in pockets, wary, as if searching for something. Behind him, I noticed the others doing the same.
As we finally locked eyes, I was transported back to Clearwater. Hunter in the hallway, flashing me his crooked grin and brushing his hair off his face. Reading his manga on my bench, outside in the school’s courtyard. His glow of excitement as we’d snuck an illicit ride on a Ferris wheel in a deserted amusement park. His lips, closing in on mine . . .
Longing was a sharp twist inside me, a sear of pleasure-pain like the lung-bursting stab after a hard sprint. Did he feel it, too? I lifted my hands, reaching for his. If I could just touch him, and reignite that connection, everything else might fall away.
Reality crashed over me, though, ice water on bare flesh. Hunter would never accept me after what I’d done to his family. There was no coming back from that. Unless we believed in miracles.
“Mila?”
His voice was faint. Like he didn’t want to say my name out loud.
“Hi, Hunter.”
I cringed at the way I sounded. Casual, like we’d just run into each other at the mall. He couldn’t see the ping-ping-ping of my nerves as I scrutinized every inch of him.
Scanning . . .
No gait abnormalities detected.
Limb and body positioning consistent with normal function.
Jeans: Estimate one size too large.
Projected weight loss: 7 lbs.
Hair: ¾ in. regrowth from most recent trim.
I exhaled. He was okay. Tired and a little thinner, but healthy.
Safe.
“Are you all right?” he said. “When you disappeared with Quinn, we were really worried something bad had happened to you.”
Each word came out of his mouth in this very even monotone, like he’d been rehearsing. Suddenly I was aware of our surroundings again. We were in an alley. A bunch of Taser-armed people had purposefully tracked me down.
Yes, I was in love with Hunter. Yes, I was desperate to make him see that I was sorry for what I’d done and that I was worth holding on to. But could I ever trust him like I trusted Lucas?
I didn’t know where my partner was, but I knew he had my back.
“I’m fine. I was worried about you too,” I finally answered. “What are you doing here?”
He shot a look over his shoulder. Daniel kept his hand in his pocket. So did Samuel. Hunter turned back, shifted his weight from foot to foot, and took a stiff step toward me. Then another.
Human threat detected.
My sensors screamed red alert, but I overrode that command, determined to let this play out.
When Hunter opened his arms, all warnings faded away. I would trust him with my life. With everything.
My hands curled around his waist, grabbing his shirt while I pressed my face against his chest, his familiar scent invoking a pungent surge of relief and sorrow.
“I’m so sorry,” I choked out against the cotton of his shirt. My eyes swam. I willed the arms around me to tighten, to pull me closer. Instead they held me loosely while I listened to the thud of his heart.
I wanted to say a million things to him. To shout my joy that he was here, whole and unhurt. To ask him how and why he’d hooked up with Daniel and the others. To tell him how I’d missed him.
I pushed myself away, just a little, so that I could meet his eyes. Tears trailed down my cheeks, wet and warm.
His gaze narrowed on those, his finger whisper-sweeping one damp cheek. I had a flash of Lucas doing